Paul Boutin

Five clips to help you catch up on the genre. Wait a minute for the vids to fully load, then click carefully on the Play button (>) of each clip to watch it right inside this page. Play-in-page is a big part of YouTube’s crazy success. (Be careful, though: If you click outside the Play button it will pop open a separate window onto YouTube’s site.)

1) Gary Brolsma, Numa Numa Dance
The song is Romanian, but Gary is American. “Dragostea Din Tei” by O-Zone was a huge 2003-2004 hit in Europe. Americans recognize it from trailers for the movie Chicken Little. “Numa Numa” comes from the song’s chorus. Numa Numa videos were an international Net fad when Gary uploaded his version in 2004, well before YouTube arrived. He became an instant hit, like the Star Wars Kid, and appeared on Good Morning America, but Gary has since shunned media attention. “Internet Fame is Cruel Mistress,” the New York Times wisecracked. But even without Gary’s participation Numa Numa has legs of its own, largely through YouTube. Current TV did a video report on the phenomenon after Google searches for “Numa Numa” doubled those for “nude women.”

It’s easy to laugh at Gary, but the intimate precison with which he mouths every syllable sung by several Romanian vocalists is what makes his performance so funny (and why many viewers presume he’s Romanian.) It’s hard to appreciate until you’ve watched other YouTubers try to match him. Slate culture critic Sam Anderson says, “You have to commune with a song for weeks, even years, before you can properly sync it.”

2) Ashley, Will You Go to Prom with Me
Notable not just for Ashley’s performance, but for the improvisational participation of two people most fans presume to be her grandmother and little brother. Near the end someone pounds on the door (or maybe it’s the wall? the floor?) shouting “turn it off!” Ashley doesn’t just lip-sync, she sings. She does an impressive “cookie monster”—the studio term for death-metal distortion vocals. The song is Hellogoodbye’s “Jesse Buy Nothing … Go To Prom Anyways” from the band’s self-titled 2004 EP.

3) Back Dorm Boys, I Want it That Way
Wei Wei and Huang Yi Xin are sculpture majors at the Guangzhou Arts Institute. Also known as “the two Chinese boys,” they’ve put America’s lip-sync superpower status in jeopardy. The video ends with outtakes of the Boys practicing—and practicing—the song prior to recording this take. I know musicians who don’t work their own songs this hard. Their Wikipedia entry charts their fast-expanding oeuvre. Trivia: The Backstreet Boys’ recording engineer is a Hollywood A-lister also named Paul Boutin.

4) Anthony Padilla and Ian Heathcox, Pokemon Theme
This video by the northern California duo known as Smosh is YouTube’s most-watched clip, with nearly 10 million views to date. The sets, choreography and special-EFX camera work are impressive for a lip-sync video shot at home. But the pair make no attempt at acting—it’s clearly all fun and games. Nightline and The New York Times have picked up on the video’s popularity. More at Smosh’s MySpace page.

5) Fanta (?) and Courtney, Vacation
Many lip-sync videos double as documentaries of friendships. This relatively unknown 30-second clip (the song is by Simple Plan and can be found on the soundtrack of the Olsen Twins’ movie New York Minute) is a prime example. It raises the bar on the two-girlfriends subgenre by adding some amateur choreography. Also note, like Gary Brolsma, the carefree disregard for gender issues. I hope they save a backup for their grandchildren.