Shivali Best
The streets of London, New York, Dublin and Toronto have been full of thousands of people hoping to try and win celebrity lookalike contests in recent weeks.
The phenomenon started last month, when Timothee Chalamet doppelgangers flocked to New York to try and win $50 for their resemblance to the Dune star.
Since then, we’ve seen a Paul Mescal contest in Dublin, a Harry Styles contest in London, and even a Dev Patel contest in San Francisco.
Amid the madness, you might be asking yourself – could I ever win a celebrity lookalike contest?
Thankfully, help is at hand to answer this question, in the form of an app called Star by Face.
The app uses a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and facial recogntion technology, and is described by its deveoper as the ‘ultimate celebrity lookalike finder app.’
‘We compare your face to thousands of famous faces and determine your closest celebrity matches,’ it explained.
So, are you a dead ringer for Davina McCall, or the double of David Beckham? Here’s how you can use the AI tool to find out.
Once you’ve downloaded Star by Face, open the app, and you’ll be prompted to either take a photo, or choose one from your photo gallery.
Alternatively, if you’re not feeling brave enough to analyse your own face just yet, you can pick a face from the app’s gallery.
Once you’ve made your selection, the first thing the app will do is detect the face in the photo, and create a ‘facial pattern’.
‘It can locate the key components of faces, including eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth and position,’ Star by Face explains.
Next, the app will use a combination of AI and facial recognition to compare your facial components to those of thousands of celebrities.
‘The Neural Network compares the person with celebrity faces and suggests the most similar ones,’ Star by Face added.
Within seconds, you’ll see your celebrity doppelganger results.
Firstly, you’ll be shown the celebrities of the same gender as you, who the app thinks you resemble.
Scroll down to see all 12 suggestions, and tap on any of the faces to see a direct comparison with your face.
A second tab will then present you with 12 celebrities of the opposite gender who the app thinks you look like.
Finally, you’ll be able to see the ‘Best Pair’ – the male and female celebrity who you look like the most.
If you want to share the results with your friends, tap the ‘Share’ button and you’ll be given the option to share via a range of apps including WhatsApp, Instagram, or Facebook.
Several curious MailOnline and Mail on Sunday reporters and editors tested the app out, with hilarious results.
Executive Science & Technology Editor, Shivali Best, was delighted to be told she resembles Victoria Justice, Brittany Murphy, Vanessa Hudgens, and Charithra Chandran.
However, she was brought back to Earth with a thud when it came to her male doppelgangers.
According to Star by Face, Shivali’s top male match is Cheech Marin, who at 78, is more than twice her age!
Head of Editorial Insights, Chris Clemo, was found to be a close match for Tim Curry, Danny McBride, Jackie Gleason, and Blake Shelton.
His female matches included Phoebe Cates, Anne Bancroft, Leah Remini, and Jessica Sutton.
However, it appears that the app was swayed by Senior Visual Storytelling Designer, Harry Lewis-Irlam’s strawberry blonde hair.
Harry’s top match was Grey’s Anatomy star, Kevin McKidd, while Ed Sheeran was fourth on his list.
The Star by Face app is free to download on both the Google Play Store and and App Store.
The celebrity lookalike trend has been driven by Gen Z, with a string of low-stakes competitions taking place in the UK and US following a demand for ‘fun, innocent, free things to do’ among youngsters.
A recent Harry Styles doppelganger contest was held in London’s Soho Square on Saturday, with several hundred people in attendance.
Organiser Katrina Mirpuri, a 29-year-old journalist, was inspired by two recent events themed around actors Chalamet and Paul Mescal.
With a panel of judges, 22-year-old Oscar Journeaux was crowned the best Harry Styles lookalike and took home a £50 reward.
Meanwhile, the New York Police Department was at the scene of the Timothee Chalamet doppelganger event last month, after the actor himself made a surprise appearance in front of hundreds of fans.
Former The Only Way Is Essex contestant Gemma Collins and the Gallagher brothers from Oasis are among the stars being considered as the focuses of the next event in London, it is understood.
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