This word should fit in this blank:
A: Why are you wasting your time listening to that album?
B: All my classmates are huge fans of this singer!
A: That's only because s/he is (a) _____ .
Phrases or idioms referring to such a person will also be appreciated.
Because s/he is (over) hyped / hyped-up.
The subject didn't reach its height on its own merits. Rather, it was boosted by a hype machine, marketing scheme, fad or viral campaign. Some external factor to the person in question.
From the Cambridge dictionary:
Overhype: Make exaggerated claims about (a product, idea, or event); publicize or promote excessively:
"the film was overhyped by the press"
There are numerous terms, such as fad
An intense and widely shared enthusiasm for something, especially one that is short-lived and without basis in the object’s qualities; a craze: prairie restoration is the latest gardening fad in the Midwest
Oxford Dictionaries Online
Similarly
- craze
- flash in the pan
- the rage
- passing fancy
- the latest thing
- whim
- novelty
- gimmick
- hot shit (taboo and very negative)
You don’t specify the age or gender of the classmates (you do, however, say “all my classmates”), so depending on the context/type of school you could say:
“That's only because he is (a/n) “[no-talent/untalented] hit with the ladies (from ‘Graces Movies’ under 17. Alex Pettyfer) (for settings where the classmates are all females of all ages)
(note that the lack of talent here would have to be limited to his singing talent; otherwise using across-the-board "no-talent"/"untalented" with "a hit with the ladies" would be an oxymoron, in my opinion);
or in another context:
““That's only because s/he is a “no-talent teenybopper”
or
“… because s/he is a/n ““[no-talent/untalented] hit with [the] teenyboppers" (from Google Books and Wikipedia)
(primarily in settings where the classmates are adolescent girls, but in spite of Wikipedia’s definition, adolescent boys can be “teenyboppers.”)
For a phrase that could work for all friends and acquaintances of all shapes and sizes (and which wouldn't necessarily require adding "no-talent" or "untalented" because that notion is already built-in), you might say:
“That's only because s/he is a lightweight (alone as a noun)/lightweight pretender (as an adjective with ‘pretender’) with a damn/ed good agent/who must have a damn good agent.”
Lightweight-noun: “3. A person of little ability, intelligence, influence, or importance.” (from ‘The American Heritage Dictionary’)
Example use of “lightweight pretender” from ‘Drive’ by Clayton Lachmund via Google Books)
Example use of “must have a damn good agent” from a random ‘Whisper’ user’s reaction to Ben Affleck getting the role as Batman.
Please note that all of the above could be preceded by “nothing but/nothing more than” for emphasis (as in the example from ‘Drive’) but it wouldn’t be necessary.
"That's only because he(she) had his(her) 15 minutes of fame".
From Wikipedia: it is short-lived media publicity or celebrity of an individual or phenomenon.
The expression is credited to Andy Warhol, who included the words "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes" in the program for a 1968 exhibition of his work at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm.
Assuming the singer/actor guy is popular with teenage girls, let me offer another alternative in the vein of @Papa Poule's fine answer:
That's only because he's an untalented tween heartthrob.
heartthrob: a famous actor, singer etc who is very attractive to women
(Longman)
tween: a girl ages about 9-14... too old for toys, but too young for boys.
Very easy to market to, will usually follow any fashion trend set for them
Well I don't think this works with your sample dialogue, but to answer the title question, I'd suggest "hack." It's defined in part as:
one who produces banal and mediocre work in the hope of gaining commercial success in the arts
I'll suggest the simple 'popular':
- adapted to the tastes, means, etc., of ordinary persons
[popular. (n.d.) Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary. (2010). Retrieved October 29 2015 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/popular].
If that isn't sufficient for your use, it could be appropriately modified with 'undeservedly', as in 'undeservedly popular'.
un·de·served (ŭn′dĭ-zûrvd′) Not merited; unjustifiable or unfair.
un′de·serv′ed·ly (-zûr′vĭd-lē) adv.
[undeservedly. (n.d.) American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. (2011). Retrieved October 29 2015 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/undeservedly].
From the foregoing discussion it sounds as though media celebrity might fit.
