this is "nightline." tonight, this is the beautiful people club. you need a dazzling smile, a perfect body, and thick skin. because most who want in are rejected which may be causing some to go to great lengths for acceptance. iphone accessories, jewelry. you might pay handsomely. but these amazon all-stars do not. they're the most trusted reviewers online where their word carries weight and bring in a constant stream of free stuff. ♪ imagine dragons takes us to a surprise secret concert in sin city where they first struck it big. ♪ i'm on top of the world ♪ >> now the grammy-winning band is on top of the world. but first the "nightline 5."

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good evening. thank you for joining us. what if you could live in a world populated by only beautiful people? that's the concept behind an exclusive online dating site that uses strict standards to keep out the rest of us. they say they reject most applicants. but if you're genetically or

surgically blessed enough to get in, true love is just a click away. maybe. here's abc's nick watt. ♪ >> reporter: these people are beautiful. officially beautiful. they're in an elite club. and they're radiating in a bar on sunset boulevard, hollywood. >> i'm not going to walk into a bar and, yeah, it might be a fat girl or whatever girl looking the way she looks. and like, oh my god, she might have an exciting personality. she might be the best woman i've met on earth. oh my gosh. i say, you know what? eh. >> reporter: well, on the outside at least are members of an exploding online dating site. >> have you ever dated an ugly dude? >> yeah, i lost my virginity to one. i learned real fast. >> not to go there again? >> exactly.

no, went there once not going back. >> reporter: members of the site only vote you in if they think you're gorgeous. based on one picture. it's called simply "beautiful people." >> beautiful people is based on a fundamental principle of human nature. and that is that we all, at least initially, want to be with someone we find attractive. it might not be politically correct but it's honest. if the online dating club was for beautiful people. >> beautiful people don't have to be bothered by ugly people? >> in a nutshell. if you're in a bar or a social situation, if you're going to approach someone you're attracted to them. >> did you get on the first time trying? >> no the first time no. it was before i had my nose done. it did help me get on the site. >> you think? >> well i wasn't accepted before the nose job, so i think afterwards if i was accepted i would blame it on the nose. >> are those eyelashes real? >> no, they're fake just like my boobs.

>> reporter: i can't speak to that. but this is tawny lin's bedroom. >> i had to have this picture framed above my bed. and it's absolutely amazing. >> reporter: tawny is an actress/model. >> i made some enhancements. now i'm perfectly on the site making lots of connections and meeting lots of people. >> reporter: here are some of the others who have gone to extremes to join the elite club for the exquisite. they like to claim the site is a motivator for people to live well and take care of themselves. that's the spin. they've even launched a mentoring program coaching rejects for another try. >> i want to help other people pay it forward. the rules to the game is like okay, i was buck toothed. i got my teeth done. >> reporter: 10 grand he spent on those teeth. >> a lot of people want to get on the website they've had no surgery or have had breast augmentation or whatnot. you'd be surprise surprised. a facelift that was on a woman that was not 30 years old yet. >> the fact that a woman would

undergo plastic surgery to alter her appearance so significantly to be deemed attractive on some website makes me very very scared for what's going on in our heart and mind. >> reporter: back at the beautiful mixer, tawny's meeting lots of people. greg has his eye on the door. >> we have someone at the door who screens people. looks at the pictures from the site and makes sure they look as good as they've represented themselves online. >> really? >> yes. and they have been coined the beauty police. people show up and don't look like they've represented themselves, don't look like their picture, they're quietly asked to leave and removed from the site. >> reporter: one woman in attendance tonight, who we won't show was deemed too ugly and asked to leave. >> that person sent home how are they feeling right now? >> they're feeling terrible. it's the most difficult part of the job. i saw that woman. and she was nervous. and she was kind of you know,

trembly. she wasn't comfortable. but unfortunately, you know she's put up a picture on the site that didn't look anything like her. our members pay a premium. they pay that premium to be invited to events where there's attractive people. >> reporter: he sounds like a totally awful person. but the most unsettling thing about greg is i really liked him from the moment i saw him. maybe that's just because he's good looking. we are now, more than ever conditioned to care about the immediate and the external. think selfies, instagram, tinder. giving and receiving instant likes and swipes. >> we're becoming so focused on immediate gratification and initial impulse decisions and immediate reactions to the external that we're going to get lost somewhere along the way. and not only lose ourselves but lose amazing opportunities for love when we discard people who maybe on first glance aren't perfect, but on second glance

are extremely attractive and perfect on the inside. >> reporter: beautiful people launched in denmark in 2003. it's now global with 800,000 members. okay i'm sorry. i have to try this. what kind of lifestyle am i trying to project? i don't want to scare them off. chris, maybe you should take it for me. okay. remember, the life i'm trying to project is kind of you know dangerous. >> reporter: members of the site then vote yes or no. women vote on men, vice versa. >> is part of the attraction of being on the site having that power to -- >> they're addicted to it you love it. you're self-policing but guarding the velvet ropes yourself, deciding who comes in and who doesn't. saying that i see people in here i wouldn't necessarily have voted in myself. >> reporter: the exception rate is just under 30%. 7 million people and counting have been rejected worldwide. >> if a woman's not necessarily beautiful, not in the classical

sense, if she looks kind of sexy or showing skin, she's got a good chance of getting in because men are dogs. women look at the bigger overall picture. does this guy look like he has money? >> in the next 48 hours, strangers will determine my fate. they will vote whether i'm beautiful enough. to be amongst them. or not. >> sometimes i'll just feel bad when ugly people are submitting and say, yes yes, yes, yes, just to give them a chance. >> that's -- that's very -- generous. magnanimous of you. >> reporter: maybe there's hope for me. and i can track realtime how i'm doing. >> what bothers me is that so few people get in. >> from a business perspective, when people get turned away it's bye-bye dollar signs at the end of the day. >> reporter: once you're in you're still not safe. profiles are reviewed. periodically. >> we've removed numerous people over the years for letting themselves go. >> reporter: by the way, my application was not successful. i was overwhelmingly

humiliatingly rejected. i had the "absolutely not" tally. i shouldn't be here. any moment greg's going to show me the door. i'm nick watt for "nightline" in hollywood. next meet the amazon all-stars whose reviews are so trusted they're bombarded with free products. and later on "nightline," a sin city success story. no more demons for the band imagine dragons. having chantix as a partner made it more successful. along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. chantix helped reduce my urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. some people had seizures while taking chantix. if you have any of these stop chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix

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goodies you didn't order arriving at your door all the time. for amazon's top reviewers, it's not christmas come early, it's everyday life. these critics are so trusted, a digital thumbs-up from them can result in major sales. but keeping up with the onslaught is practically becoming a full-time job. here's abc's brandi hitt. >> let's open some packages. two rubber iphone cases. this is a coffee mug. headsets. >> reporter: in a world where everything has a price, bob debaez managed to get all this stuff for free. >> usb charger. >> reporter: by day an i.t. specialist in washington, d.c. by night, he's an amazon celebrity. >> a box that's full of surprises. >> reporter: he's gained celeb status on amazon by reviewing hundreds of products over the years. for most like bob, it started off small. a review here or there. and now? >> this is a speaker i did get

sitting here on the shelf -- >> reporter: companies september him product for free. he gets around 30 a week. >> it's something i enjoy doing. it's my slice of my 15 minutes of fame. >> reporter: bobby's in the top ten of amazon's trusted reviewers. and has been in what they call the reviewers hall of fame for the past five years. >> these headphones are very light. less than seven ounces. >> reporter: for him it's more than just a hobby. he spends three to four hours a night reviewing. >> it's time consuming to be a hobby. >> reporter: and he goes all-out. setting up photo shoots for his reviews. and doesn't mince words writing comments like "what i received was next to worthless." he even posts video reviews. all in the hopes of raising his rankings. >> 25 separate compartments. i think it's a very nice wallet. >> reporter: and their words can oftentimes make or break a product. manufacturers hoping to cash in on their high standings shower them with goods because that

golden star of approval translates to big money. >> that's what amazon is. it's like -- it's like the new mainstream. >> reporter: mandy is number nine on the amazon celebrity list. a political consultant and single mom she spends her spare time building up a review count on amazon. >> how much stuff are you getting on your doorstep? >> it varies. it's slowed down. i slowed down a lot. but around christmas time i was getting sometimes, you know 15 to 20 boxes a day. >> reporter: many of mandy's free items include clothing like scarves, household goods, lotions, beauty products jewelry. all free under the guidelines that she can't sell them. >> it's a little locket. looks very expensive. >> how do you review jewelry? based on taste? >> i've done that. that again will be a five-second review. i might take a picture of it. >> what's the biggest item you've reviewed? >> a washing machine. >> that's an expensive item. >> yeah, pretty expensive. >> reporter: amazon says the number of reviews doesn't

necessarily help the person's rankings. it's the number of helpful votes that plays a bigger role in reviewers reaching amazon's top rank. >> they're hugely powerful. they give -- on average they do between one and five reviews a day. they sell tens of millions of dollars worth of product. >> reporter: pr specialist howard bragman says amazon reviewers are often in the same circles as other online celebrity celebrities. >> the famous people who have huge twitter followings or facebook followings or youtube followings. we trust this person so that person gets taller by nature. >> reporter: to some reviewers there's a negative consequence. >> have you ever gotten threats before? >> yes. when initially told me what a horrible mother i was and a cheat and a -- and i think i said, let's coexist, let's agree to disagree or something. he e-mailed back and said that he would not coexist with me on this planet. so it had a very threatening

tone, the e-mail. i called the police. >> you went as far as calling the police? >> it was a little scary. i'm not the only one who's been threatened, i'm sure. >> reporter: overall, these issues aren't frequent and haven't escalated past online trolling. >> that's the nature of the world we live in. if we love a product and somebody else doesn't, we're not happy about it. but i can tell you being in the crisis pr business, death threats are pretty commonplace in this world. >> reporter: and while it sometimes may seem like a full-time job, this hobby and all of the products isn't for everyone. >> for one thing you're inpaid. you don't make any money off of this. i wouldn't buy most of this stuff. it's not that it was bad. if i was in the market for silicone barbecue gloves then maybe i would. and what do you do with all of it? >> reporter: many reviewers give the extra products away. but with close to $100 billion if revenues last year amazon

hopes these reviewers keep on giving their opinions. >> do you think this is glamorous? >> not at all. this is actually a little embarrassing. and i may have no life but i don't want people to know i have no life. >> reporter: as for bob's social life, his wife certainly has an opinion. >> she hates that we come home from work together every day and when she sees a package or two or three piled up in the driveway, i invariably get a dirty look. she'd rather i spend time doing chores around the house or bathing than doing amazon reviews. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm brandi hitt in los angeles. and next grammy-winning band imagine dragons takes us back to their beginnings before "radioactive." with a secret concert to celebrate. ♪ ♪

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for a bunch of rock stars, the members of imagine dragons are surprisingly down to earth. they may win grammys but nobody's keeping their dressing rooms at a perfect 72 degrees or picking out all the green m&ms. tonight these chart-topping musicians are returning to their hometown to say thank you. a little place you might have heard of called las vegas. here's abc's rachel smith. ♪ ♪ i'm on top of the world heh ♪ >> reporter: feeling on top of the world isn't just a catchy lyric for this band. hitmakers imagine dragons seem to have the formula down for

chart-topping pop rock anthems like "radioactive." ♪ welcome to the new age welcome to the new age the new age ♪ >> how does it feel? essentially being on top of the world? >> every day, we still go onstage thinking, really? are 20,000 people coming to see us tonight? and they come. >> you have the piano bar right there. >> reporter: they started booking gigs in small las vegas bars, struggling to make ends meet. >> we did play the salon of beauty right there. maybe they'll let us in. >> reporter: a few years later they're selling out stadiums. >> vegas kept us alive because we went to the hotels and begged to play their lounges. they said, if you earn 100 covers we'll let you do a six-hour stint and pay you a little bit of money, enough to survive and eat lima beans, ramen. >> reporter: these once-starving artists invited me back to their hometown fare a surprise charity

concert right on the vegas strip, benefiting music programs at local schools. >> imagine dragons! >> now we're en route to their secret show. don't really know much about it. hence, secret. they're going to do about three songs. ♪ whoo whoo whoo ♪ ♪ so i buildet my life ♪ >> reporter: performing the hit song "i bet my life." they come across like the ultimate un-rock stars, who say they aren't motivated by the awards and fame. >> you've seen bands come and go for any number of reasons. whether drug abuse, relationships within the band are deteriorating. yeah, we just want to avoid all of that for as long as we possibly can. >> it was never i want to join a rock band to get girls, to be popular. it really was literally because

we love music. ♪ i feel it in my bones ♪ >> reporter: it seems fame keeps finding them. ♪ welcome to the new age to the new age ♪ >> reporter: netting a grammy last year for best rock performance. ♪ when you feel my need look into my eyes ♪ >> reporter: rocking the big stage at the american music awards. ♪ it's when my demon's high ♪ >> reporter: "night vision" making to it two on the billboard charts. "smoking mirrors" releasing later this month is already getting buzz. what is the creative process like with it? >> our lives have changed in a lot of ways in the last couple of years so that finds its way into the record. we've had so many highs and lows. you lose a lot of friends along the way because you -- you're never home. then you make a lot of false friends along the way because suddenly your band's successful. i feel like it captures the emotions of a young band that has gone through what we've gone

through, which is a lot of crazy transitions. ♪ radioactive, radioactive ♪ >> reporter: back on the strip, performing "radioactive," they seem truly grateful to these hometown fans that set off the wild ride to stardom they hope is just beginning. >> we love you, las vegas! >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm rachel smith in las vegas. >> good for them. it's a reminder of what's been said. there are only two kinds of people on this earth. those who are humble and those who will be humbled. thank you for watching abc news. tune into "good morning america" tomorrow.

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