All-star (also All-Star) is a term designating an individual as having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. It can also be used for a group of individuals, who are popular in certain areas.
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"All-star" as a sports refers to an individual named as an "all-star" on a team representing the top performers in a given sport, or to a list of top participants in individual sports such as golf and bowling. Events limited to such honorees are referred to as "all-star games" or events.
In American team sports the premier all-star games are the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, NBA All-Star Game, Pro Bowl, NHL All-Star Game, and the MLS All-Star Game. Many all-star teams, such as collegiate "all-conference" and All-America squads, are recognitions of performance only, without the connotation of those selected ever being teammates in a game.
The term all-star is often used as a form of ballyhoo to promote the cast of a movie in which high-profile motion picture stars appear, sometimes merely in cameo roles. Well-recognized examples include Grand Hotel (1932), Dinner at Eight (1933), Ocean's Eleven (1960), It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Murder on the Orient Express (1974) and The Expendables (2010).
In television, there are a number of groups who could be considered All-Stars.