center of attention

the center of attention

The main focus of people's interest or attention. This phrase sometimes has a negative connotation when it refers to one who pursues or seems to crave attention. My little sister always has to be the center of attention, so of course her drama overshadowed my birthday party. And in this corner of the room, a gorgeous, three-tiered cake will be the center of attention.
See also: attention, center, of
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

center of attention

the focus of people's attention; the thing or person who monopolizes people's attention. She had a way of making herself the center of attention wherever she went.
See also: attention, center, of
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • the center of attention
  • follow the crowd
  • follow/go with the crowd
  • go with the crowd
  • be at (one's) beck and call
  • be at someone's beck and call
  • be waiting for the other shoe to drop
  • be holding (one's) breath
  • be holding your breath
  • at one's beck and call
References in periodicals archive
The true center of attention at the annual media event was aging heavy metal rocker Ozzy Osbourne, star of MTV's reality show "The Osbournes," which (in the words of an AP account) "chronicles the family's wacky, profane home life." In his prepared remarks, the president went out of his way to highlight the foulmouthed rocker, brought as a guest by Fox News' Greta Van Susteren.
Where's the presidential "dignity"? (Insider Report)
Horta's style is a mix: modern, contact, acrobatics, capoeira, and what I can only call "Horta-isms." This segmented-fragmented movement idiom frequently features buckling knees as the center of attention, if not the center of gravity.
BERLIN INTERNATIONAL DANCE FESTIVAL
Do I really miss the kids now, or do I just miss being the center of attention? I came to grips with the fact that a tree has many roots and I have many roots--some of them good and some of them not so good, such as loving to be the center of attention.
THOU SHALT KNOW THYSELF
But when more than 1,700 mathematicians gathered in Atlanta to kick off a year-long celebration marking the centennial of the American Mathematical Society, the center of attention was a machine: an advanced scientific calculator with many of the mathematical capabilities of a computer.
Calculus in the palm of your hand
But what soon becomes clear is that there is nothing genuine about them; in fact there is something almost supernatural about their ability to find themselves the center of attention. Jane does not believe in the supernatural aspects of their popularity, but when she is asked to join the group she begins to understand how the girls are able to maintain their popularity, and it is a price that Jane does not think she is willing to pay.
Myracle, Lauren. Rhymes with witches
At the ICA, the center of attention will be not the building, but rather its contents and views of the city beyond.
Room with a view: Daniel Herman on Diller + Scofidio's new ICA, Boston. (News)
He could not keep himself from being the center of attention: Everyone else on the stage was swept aside by the obsessive energy Bowery put into performance.
Leigh Bowery