"JK Wedding Entrance Dance" is a

viral video A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhong Lan, Alexander Haupt ...

originally uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, 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 ...

on July 19, 2009, featuring the wedding of Jill Peterson and Kevin Heinz, using "

Forever Forever or 4ever may refer to: Film and television Films * ''Forever'' (1921 film), an American silent film by George Fitzmaurice * ''Forever'' (1978 film), an American made-for-television romantic drama * ''Forever'' (1992 film), an American ...

" by

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

as the song for their

wedding march Music is often played at wedding celebrations, including during the ceremony and at festivities before or after the event. The music can be performed live by instrumentalists or vocalists or may use pre-recorded songs, depending on the format o ...

. In its first 48 hours, the video accumulated more than 3.5 million views. The original upload of the video was the third most popular video on YouTube in 2009, and as of July 2021 had been viewed over 100 million times. ''Time'' magazine ranked the video at number fifteen on its list of the fifty greatest YouTube videos.

Synopsis

The video begins with ushers closing the church doors with everything appearing normal, getting ready for the start of a wedding. "

" by

then begins to play. To the surprise of the audience, the ushers, groomsmen and bridesmaids then progressively dance down the aisle, culminating in the groom, Kevin Heinz, tumbling through the group. Ultimately, Jill Peterson dances down the aisle, eventually met by her husband-to-be. According to Peterson, " hey practiced foran hour and a half" the Thursday before the ceremony. The wedding occurred on June 20, 2009, at Christ Lutheran Church, in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...

. The video was posted on YouTube a month after the wedding at the request of the bride's father who wanted to share it with relatives who were not there. Tommy Alsop recorded the video.

Outcome

On July 26, 2009, sales of Chris Brown's 2008 song "Forever" reached number 4 on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

and number 3 on

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

as a result of the post. Due to the controversy regarding Chris Brown and

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

, the married couple set up a charitable contribution effort on their website for donating funds to the

Sheila Wellstone Sheila Ison Wellstone (August 18, 1944 – October 25, 2002) was an advocate for human rights, the environment, and peace. She was married to U.S. Senator from Minnesota Paul Wellstone. Wellstone focused much of her work on domestic violence, ass ...

Institute, an organization whose efforts are to end

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

. Two months after the appearance of the video, donations had reached $16,000.

Parodies and media

Peterson told ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

'', Patterson and Heniz appeared on ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...

'' on July 25, 2009, to talk about the video. The entire wedding party re-created the wedding entrance dance on stage live the next day. In Australia, the remaining contestants plus guests recreated the wedding dance on ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

''. The wedding dance was recreated in the "

Niagara Niagara may refer to: Geography Niagara Falls and nearby places In both the United States and Canada *Niagara Falls, the famous waterfalls in the Niagara River *Niagara River, part of the U.S.–Canada border *Niagara Escarpment, the cliff ov ...

" episode of U.S. TV series ''The Office''. All main characters, except the bride and groom themselves, participated in the dance down the aisle. According to Peterson and Heinz, they had no idea the show was going to recreate their wedding dance, and "nearly passed out" when they saw it. The

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

Humane Society in

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

has produced a video take-off, celebrating the adoption of a dog from the shelter, to tie in with their campaign to find "Forever Homes" for animals. NHS officials tell the Reno Gazette Journal the video has gotten 40,000 hits on their website at nevadahumanesociety.org since posting the video July 22, 2010. On April 15, 2011,

T-Mobile T-Mobile is the brand name used by some of the mobile communications subsidiaries of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG in the Czech Republic (T-Mobile Czech Republic), Poland (T-Mobile Polska), the United States (T-Mobile ...

uploaded a video parody of the JK Wedding Entrance Dance portraying the

wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton took place on Friday, 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London, England. The groom was second in the line of succession to the British throne. The couple had been in a relationship since ...

weeks before the actual Royal Wedding. The music used for the choreography was

East 17 East 17 are an English pop boy band started by Tony Mortimer, Brian Harvey, John Hendy, and Terry Coldwell in 1991. As of 2020, the group consists of Coldwell, Robbie Craig, and Joe Livermore. East 17 have undergone multiple lineup changes, ...

's " House of Love". The video, which was shot in London, had portrayed mostly recognized personalities related to the actual Royal Wedding such as

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bish ...

(the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

who conducted the Royal Wedding marriage ceremony), The Duke of Edinburgh (William's grandfather),

The Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

(William's grandmother), Michael and Carole Middleton (Kate's parents),

The Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers o ...

and

Duchess of Cornwall Duchess of Cornwall is a courtesy title held by the wife of the eldest son and heir of the British monarch. The current title-holder is Catherine, wife of William, Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall. Duchesses of Cornwall Until her husband' ...

(William's father, son of the Queen, and step-mother),

Pippa Middleton Philippa Charlotte Matthews (née Middleton; born 6 September 1983) is an English socialite, author and columnist. She is the younger sister of Catherine, Princess of Wales. Born in Reading and raised in Bucklebury, Berkshire, Middleton attende ...

(Kate's sister and bridesmaid),

Prince Harry Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger son of Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. He is fifth in the line of succ ...

(William's brother and best man),

Prince William William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was educat ...

and

Kate Middleton Catherine, Princess of Wales, (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne, making Catherine the likely next ...

(now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge). T-Mobile stated in their video's YouTube account, "lifesforsharing", that they wished William and Kate a long and happy marriage.

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://jkweddingdance.com/ 2009 in the United States 2009 YouTube videos Viral videos Weddings in the United States