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"Numa Numa" () is an
Internet meme based on a video by American
vlogger
A video blog or video log, sometimes shortened to vlog (), is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in ...
Gary Brolsma made after the song "
Dragostea Din Tei
"Dragostea Din Tei" (; official English title: "Words of Love", also informally known as "Maya Hi" and "Numa Numa") is a song by Moldovan pop group O-Zone, released as the second single from their third studio album, ''DiscO-Zone'' (2004). The s ...
" as performed by
Moldovan pop group
O-Zone
O-Zone was a Moldovan Eurodance group that was active from 1999 to 2019. Originating in 1998 as a duo consisting of Dan Bălan and Petru Jelihovschi before the latter's departure, their official trio lineup in 1999 consisted of Dan Bălan, R ...
. Brolsma's video, entitled "Numa Numa Dance", was released on December 6, 2004, on the website
Newgrounds.com under the username "Gman250" and shows Brolsma
lip-synching
Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals.
Audio for lip syncing is generated th ...
the hit song with lively
gesticulations and dance moves. The video title is derived from the
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
*** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
words "" that occur in the refrain of O-Zone's song. It was the first Numa Numa-themed video to gain widespread attention.
"Numa Numa Dance" has since spawned many parody videos, including those created for the "New Numa Contest", sponsored by Brolsma, which promised US $45,000 in prize money for submissions. His original video was named 41st in the 2006 broadcast of
''100 Greatest Funny Moments'' by
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
in the
UK. The video was featured on
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
's ''
Virtually Famous'', and was ranked No. 1 in
VH1's "40 Greatest Internet Superstars" in March 2007.
estimated that by November 27, 2006, the video had been viewed over 700 million times.
History
On
Newgrounds
Newgrounds is an entertainment website and company founded by Tom Fulp in 1995. It hosts user-generated content such as games, films, audio, and artwork. Fulp produces in-house content at the headquarters and offices in Glenside, Pennsylvania.
...
, "Numa Numa Dance" has since been seen more than eighteen million times. From there it has been copied onto hundreds of other websites and blogs. According to a November 27, 2006, report by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, based on page impression figures collated by
viral marketing
Viral marketing is a business strategy that uses existing social networks to promote a product mainly on various social media platforms. Its name refers to how consumers spread information about a product with other people, much in the same way tha ...
company The Viral Factory, "Numa Numa Dance" was the second-most-watched viral video of all time, with 700 million views, losing out only to "
''Star Wars'' kid". Brolsma received mainstream media coverage from
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
's ''
Good Morning America'',
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's ''
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014.
The fourth incarnation of the ...
'', and
VH1's ''
Best Week Ever
''Best Week Ever'' is an American comedy series created and executive produced by Fred Graver. The series originally aired from January 23, 2004, to June 12, 2009, on VH1.Harris, Scott"VH1 Cancels 'Best Week Ever'". ''Inside TV''. January 13, 2 ...
'' and the "Numa Numa" video was listed as number 1 on
VH1s ''Top 40 Internet Superstars''. According to ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', however, he was an "unwilling and embarrassed Web celebrity".
[Feuer & George (2005)] He cancelled media appearances but reappeared in September 2006 with a professionally produced video, "New Numa", featuring a song specially made for him by Variety Beats. This video, hosted on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
, marked the start of the "New Numa Contest", which promised US $45,000 in prize money and a US $25,000 award to the winner.
On December 5, 2014, Brolsma uploaded a video entitled "Numa Numa 10-Year Reunion" to Newgrounds, a video of him lip-syncing several songs, including "
Shake It Off
"Shake It Off" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, taken from her fifth studio album, ''1989''. Swift wrote the lyrics and composed the melody with producers Max Martin and Shellback. An uptempo dance-pop song featuring a saxop ...
" by Taylor Swift, "
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
"Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1962, recorded on November 14 that year, and released on the 1963 album ''The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'' and as the b-side of the ''Blowin' in the Wind'' single. The song was cov ...
" by Bob Dylan, and
"Firework" by Katy Perry. Both the original video and the 10-Year Reunion video have since been deleted by the Newgrounds moderation team due to
music licensing
Music licensing is the licensed use of copyrighted music. Music licensing is intended to ensure that the owners of copyrights on musical works are compensated for certain uses of their work. A purchaser has limited rights to use the work without ...
issues and the site's focus on
animations
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
. Brolsma later stated in an interview, "...I found "
Dragostea Din Tei
"Dragostea Din Tei" (; official English title: "Words of Love", also informally known as "Maya Hi" and "Numa Numa") is a song by Moldovan pop group O-Zone, released as the second single from their third studio album, ''DiscO-Zone'' (2004). The s ...
" in another (I believe it was Japanese) flash animation with cartoon cats".
On November 20, 2022, an emote based on the viral dance was released in
Epic Games' ''
Fortnite: Battle Royale'' as a collaboration with Brolsma and O-Zone.
Gary Brolsma
Gary William Brolsma (born January 14, 1986)
is an American vlogger and musician who gained worldwide attention after posting the ''Numa Numa Dance'' video in 2004.
He made appearances on
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
's ''
Good Morning America'',
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's ''
The Tonight Show
''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...
'', and
VH1's ''
Best Week Ever
''Best Week Ever'' is an American comedy series created and executive produced by Fred Graver. The series originally aired from January 23, 2004, to June 12, 2009, on VH1.Harris, Scott"VH1 Cancels 'Best Week Ever'". ''Inside TV''. January 13, 2 ...
''. A story in ''The Believer'' (June/July 2006) explored the song's spread and global homogenization, while arguing that Brolsma's video "singlehandedly justifies the existence of webcams... It’s a movie of someone who is having the time of his life, wants to share his joy with everyone, and doesn’t care what anyone else thinks". In 2007, he was voted the Number 1 Internet Icon by
VH1 in their ''40 Greatest Internet Superstars'' list, beating the
''Star Wars'' kid who placed at Number 2.
On October 15, 2007, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' reported that Brolsma had recently collaborated on a video with
lonelygirl15
''Lonelygirl15'' is an American science fiction thriller web series created by Miles Beckett, Mesh Flinders, Greg Goodfried, and Amanda Goodfried. It was independently released on YouTube from June 16, 2006 to August 1, 2008, and was also briefl ...
's
Glenn Rubenstein Glenn Rubenstein (born March 2, 1976) is a writer, director, and journalist based in Northern California.
Journalism
Rubenstein has been a columnist for the ''San Francisco Examiner'', ''Sports Illustrated'' for Kids, CNET's (now defunct) GameCente ...
, as well as
Chad Vader
''Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager'' is an American fan web sitcom created by Aaron Yonda and Matt Sloan, who wrote, directed, and appeared in the series, which parodies '' Star Wars''. The show's central character is Chad Vader, the day-shift mana ...
's
Aaron Yonda
Aaron Yonda (born January 19, 1973) is an American comedian, writer, actor, director, and YouTuber from Menomonie, Wisconsin.
He portrays the title character in '' Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager'', a web serial he co-produced with his friend Ma ...
and
Matt Sloan, as a part of
Canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western ca ...
's ''Battle of the Viral Video Superstars''. In 2008 Brolsma released his first album, ''Weird Tempo''. In 2019 he released his second album, ''Haunted House of Pancakes''.
References
External links
*
{{Newgrounds
2006 YouTube videos
Viral videos
Internet memes introduced in 2004