Staff Writer

Nowadays, it’s getting more difficult to find true love.

However, if you’re a celebrity, finding a potential significant other has become much easier.

Are you a celebrity whose career is failing? Do you want to find the right person for you?

If you answered yes to these questions, you may be next in line for your own reality dating show.

Public Enemy hype-man Flava Flav has “Flavor of Love,” Poison member Bret Michaels has “Rock Of Love” and internet sensation Tila Tequila has “A Shot At Love,” which are shows where these celebrities attempt to find an “average” person to fall in love with.

The premise is simple; 20 people who are obsessed with the featured celebrity are put in a house with a bunch of alcohol to compete for the affection of said (washed-up) celebrity.

Each week another contestant is voted off until there is one left standing who not only wins the contest, but wins the celebrity’s heart. But there is one thing that’s quizzical about all of these shows.

These are shows that promote love and being put in a situation where one could potentially wind up with a celebrity of certain stature, but what happens when the cameras stop rolling?

Nothing. Nothing happens at all.

Bret Michaels goes back to making music, Flava Flav goes back to ruining Chuck D’s legacy and Tiffany “New York” Pollard goes back to doing whatever she does.

There isn’t a fairy tale romance where an ordinary person is whisked away with a celebrity and they live happily ever after in Hollywood. Instead, the celebrity’s stock rises now that they are back in the spotlight and the contestant winner lives an abysmal life of notoriety as “that dude” or “that chick.”

Take for example “Rock Of Love” winner Jes. You would think since she won Bret Michael’s heart, she would be living the life of a rock star. That’s not the case. According to her official MySpace, she’s no longer with Bret and living back in Naperville, styling hair.

Her fifteen minutes isn’t fleeting just yet because tonight she will be the star attraction at Energy, a nightclub in Melrose Park.

With “I Love New York” in its second season and “Flavor Of Love” approaching it’s third, it makes you wonder about the accuracy of the shows. Maybe the contestants have to sign a consent waiver agreeing never to talk to the celebrity again, or break-up with them at a reunion show. Either way, it seems like a farce.

I don’t know why America is buying into the fact that these shows promote trying to find true love in a planet with six billion people. Should we all begin looking for our soul mates by holding challenges of physical endurance? Should we give people we think to be attractive giant chains and ask them if they love us?

These shows give the feeling that sexual promiscuity and indulging in massive amounts of (Tila) Tequila is the way to find true love. Each episode is filled with one horny celebrity amongst a bunch of glorified groupies who get drunk and start fights.

Sure it’s entertaining to watch for its soap opera appeal, but it’s confusing as to what the show’s point is. There is no love involved. Perhaps instead of calling it “Flavor Of Love” the producers should call it “Flavor Of Hooking Up On National Television, Humiliating My Parents And Then Never Talking To Mr. Flav Again.”

It’s television, so it’s all about ratings. The more sex, alcohol, drama and drummed up drama, the bigger the ratings. Instead of misleading the viewer and disguising their faults with entertaining train wrecks, the producers of these dating shows should examine the ugly connotations they are putting on love.