Guest appearance
Encyclopedia
In show business
Show business
Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz, is a vernacular term for all aspects of entertainment. The word applies to all aspects of the entertainment industry from the business side to the creative element ....

 (music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

, TV shows, etc.), a guest appearance is a participation of an outsider performer (musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

, etc.), usually called guest artist (guest dancer, guest violinist, etc.), in an event (music record, concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...

, show
Performance
A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which a performer or group of performers behave in a particular way for another group of people, the audience. Choral music and ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience...

, etc.), i.e., the participation of a performer which does not belong to the regular crew (cast, band, contract personnel, etc.) In performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...

, the terms guest role or guest star are also common, the latter term specifically indicating the guest appearance of a celebrity
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...

. The latter is often also credited as "Special guest star" or "Special Musical Guest Star" by some production companies.

In pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 guest appearances are often described with the words featuring, featured, etc., and abbreviated in credit lists as Feat., Ft., f.

In television series, a guest star is an actor who appears in one or a few episodes. In radio and television shows, a guest star is a guest of the show who is a celebrity.

Classical performance arts

Guest appearances have been known in theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

, ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...

, and classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

 for centuries, with guests both from the home country and from abroad. The advent of air transport has made this practice much more practical and global.

In classical music, guest orchestra conductors are a common practice.

Guest artists should not be confused with touring groups, troupes, orchestra, or even individual artists, although the distinction may be blurred. In the case of touring, their act is independent in itself, while the guest takes part in the act of the resident staff.

The duration of involvement of a guest artist may vary, from separate short-term acts with fees per concert to fixed temporary contract
Contract
A contract is an agreement entered into by two parties or more with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. Contracts can be made orally. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" or compensation of money. In equity, the remedy can be specific...

s for several seasons.

Pop music

In the early days of the pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 industry the band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...

s were relatively stable units, and while guests were not uncommon, they were seldom given credits on album covers. For example, Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...

 was not credited in print for his guitar in the release of While My Guitar Gently Weeps
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is a song by George Harrison, first recorded by The Beatles in 1968 for their eponymous double album...

of the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

. Still the term "featuring" was used as early as in the July 1954 UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 by "The Four Aces
The Four Aces
The Four Aces is an American male traditional pop music quartet, popular since the 1950s. Over the last half-century, the group amassed many gold records. Its million-selling signature tunes include "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing", "Three Coins in the Fountain", "Stranger in Paradise", "Tell Me...

 featuring Al Alberts
Al Alberts
Al Alberts was a popular singer and composer. -Biography:Born Al Albertini in Chester, Pennsylvania, he went to South Philadelphia High School, whose alumni included many others who would become famous in show business, such as Joey Bishop, Buddy Greco, Al Martino, Mario Lanza, Chubby Checker,...

" with "Three Coins In The Fountain
Three Coins in the Fountain (song)
"Three Coins in the Fountain" is a popular song which received the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1954.The melody was written by Jule Styne, the lyrics by Sammy Cahn. It was written for the romance film, Three Coins in the Fountain and refers to the act of throwing a coin into the Trevi...

" at 5th place.
Gradually guest appearances have become a fully credited staple of music industry. The custom of guest appearance has become especially prominent in rap music, and this influenced rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

ians as well.

To have a guest star on a record, the production coordinator
Production coordinator
A Production Coordinator is a unionized position in stagecraft under the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and is governed in Los Angeles by ....

 must obtain permission from the record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

 of the guest and make sure that proper credits are delivered to the host record label to be printed on the album cover, often in the form "Artist name, courtesy of Record Label name." The permission is not always guaranteed or negotiations may take a long time.

Reasons for guest appearances

A common reason for guest appearances is to draw attention to an act by including a celebrity into it. And vice versa, in the fashion-driven environment of show industry older stars keep themselves in the limelight by associating themselves with emerging stars.

In rap, mutual and multiple guest starring was recognized as a way to diversify the performance.

In theatre and ballet, guest appearances diversify actor's repertory and experience under different choreographers, and give more acting opportunities. Even for established stars prestigious overseas engagements increase their home status. Conversely, a guest star benefits the receiving troupe, bringing new inspiration and technique. Audience would welcome diversity, and theatrical business benefits as well: theatre connoisseurs will come to see the same piece with a new star.

Drawbacks

Commercialization of guests policy may also have negative consequences. Local theatres may limit the growth opportunities for their performers in favor of guests. Sometimes rehearsal times are inadequate to fully integrate the home and guest styles. Touring increases physical load on an actor. It is also associated with multiple stress factors: from jet lag
Jet lag
Jet lag, medically referred to as desynchronosis, is a physiological condition which results from alterations to the body's circadian rhythms; it is classified as one of the circadian rhythm sleep disorders...

s to close calls due to unanticipated travel delays.

With a television series, the appearance of a special guest star could mark the moment when a series "jumps the shark
Jumping the shark
Jumping the shark is an idiom used to describe the moment in the evolution of a television show when it begins a decline in quality that is beyond recovery....

," that is, a doomed attempt to reverse a decline in popularity.
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