Gary Brolsma

Infobox Internet celebrity
name = Gary Brolsma


imagesize = 200px
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birthname = Gary Brolsma
birthdate = birth date and age|1986|1|14
location = flagicon|US United States
deathdate =
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othername =
nationality =
spouse(s) =
webalias = "The Numa Numa Guy"
period active = 2004-Present
host service = Newgrounds
genre =
subjects =
influences =
influenced =
meme = Numa Numa
meme date = December 10, 2004
notable works =
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signature phrase =
homepage = [http://www.newnuma.com/ www.newnuma.com]

Gary Brolsma (born on January 14, 1986 from Saddle Brook, New Jerseycite web | last = Feuer | first = Alan | coauthors = George, Jason | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/26/nyregion/26video.html | title = Internet Fame Is Cruel Mistress for a Dancer of the Numa Numa | publisher = The New York Times | date = 2005-02-06 | accessdate = 2007-11-28 ] ), also known as simply the Numa Numa Guy, gained worldwide attention after posting onto the Internet, near the end of 2004, a webcam video of himself miming to the song "Dragostea din tei" by Moldovan pop band O-Zone. It was known as "Numa Numa", after a phrase in the song, and became an Internet phenomenon watched by millions of people, leading to mainstream media exposure for him. He initially withdrew from the attention, but returned with a band and a new video "New Numa" in the late summer of 2006 and began to do interviews. The Numa Numa video has been made famous for Brolsma's bizarre arm moves and facial expressions.

He graduated from Bergen County Technical High School in Teterboro, New Jersey in June 2004.Fact|date=November 2007

History

Brolsma has created variants of the Numa Numa video since it became popular. One version also contains some puns, among them pictures of feta cheese during the lyric "fericirea" (happiness) and a LEGO representation of Bob Ross during the singer's words: "sunt eu, Picasso" (it's me, Picasso). Other versions include a showdown between him and a German Kid getting angry at his computer. The video also had a cameo by the Star Wars kid.

He made appearances on ABC's "Good Morning America", NBC's "The Tonight Show", and VH1's "Best Week Ever", but then became uncomfortable with the amount of attention.Fact|date=September 2008 He stopped taking phone calls from the media; he cancelled an appearance on NBC's "Today Show" on 17 February 2005; and he did not cooperate with "The New York Times" for their 26 February 2005 article about him.Fact|date=September 2008

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". [ [http://believermag.com/issues/200606/?read=article_wolk The Believer - The Syncher, Not the Song ] ]

Gary's video inspired singer/songwriter Dan Balan, formerly of O-Zone to re-create Dragostea Din Tei, as a new single "Sugar Tunes Numa Numa". He appeared in a New York City signing event at an F.Y.E. store on June 29, 2007.

He was voted the Number 1 Internet Icon by "40 Greatest Internet Superstars" on VH1, beating the "Star Wars" kid at Number 2.

He set a record in the Guinness World Records 2008, for the original Numa Numa video. "The Starwars Kid" clip is the most popular ever with an estimated combined 900 Million views, followed by Gary Brolsma dancing to the tune of Numa Numa (Dragostea din tei) with 700 Million views.

[http://www.youtube.com/v/60og9gwKh1o&hl=en&fs=1"]

New Numa

On September 8 2006, a "New Numa" video was posted on freaks that sing.com and promoted on a dedicated website, NewNuma.com. [ [http://www.newnuma.com Gary Brolsma & New Numa! - $45,000 WorldWide New Numa Contest! ] ] Although initially unexpected, he says he had been urged to make such a move by fans of his original video. [http://www.garybrolsma.net/id11.html] The video was produced by Experience Studios (Seattle, WA). It features Brolsma and his garage band, The Nowadays, lip-synching and dancing to "New Numa". [ [http://www.myspace.com/thenowadaysnj MySpace.com - The Nowadays - Saddle Brook, New Jersey - Alternative / Rock / Expérimentale - www.myspace.com/thenowadaysnj ] ] The song is a repeated Russian children's rhyme and performed in Russian by Chad Russell, a singer/songwriter from Minneapolis, MN, for producer and DJ, Variety Beats, on the BeLive label.

To coincide with the video release, a US$45,000 contest, in which entrants submit their own user-created one- to ten-minute long "New Numa" music video, was launched on the website. The "New Numa Contest" [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHv5d735A3E YouTube - $45,000 Worldwide New Numa Contest Promo ] ] ended on 22 May 2007 with the winning entry "11197 Virus (Complete)" created by fan Keith3D announced on the NewNuma website on 21 June 2007. Keith3D won $25,000 for the top entry. But he was not the first to do this another video was posted 6 months before.

Numa Three: Crazy Loop

On November 14, 2007 Gary Brolsma released his third installment in the Numa series entitled "Numa Three: Crazy Loop!" [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGXiN-_BCts YouTube - Numa Three: Crazy Loop! ] ] Like the original Numa Numa video,Numa Three was self-produced and recorded in his bedroom. Gary is lip-syncing and dancing to a new Dan Balan production entitled "Crazy Loop (Mm ma ma)". [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qTFqnDpuvE YouTube - Crazy Loop (Mm ma ma) ] ]

Other media

Gary most recently appeared in the video for the Weezer single "Pork and Beans", singing along with the band while doing the Numa Numa dance. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muP9eH2p2PI YouTube - Butts and Beans ] ]

Gary has appeared in episode 1204 (#171) of the animated series South Park, "Canada On Strike!". It was first broadcast on April 2, 2008. The episode parodies the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike and popular Internet videos.

Gary also made a video promoting the Discovery Channel's National Body Challenge, which he stated he was joining. [ [http://health.discovery.com/national-body-challenge/index.html National Body Challenge : Discovery Health ] ] In it, he parodies, among other things, the Atkins Nutritional Approach and "Star Wars" kid.

Gary also appeared in the music video for the Barenaked Ladies song "Sound of Your Voice", which featured a compilation of YouTube celebrities.

Gary once had a small part on "The War at Home" when Dave was talking about him, [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQpeCzLNNp8 YouTube - Numa Guy on The War at Home ] ] giving his "trademark" "Aló" to a person on the phone in a short scene.

On October 15, 2007, "The New York Times" reported that Brolsma had recently collaborated on a video with lonelygirl15's Glenn Rubenstein, as well as Chad Vader's Aaron Yonda and Matt Sloan, as a part of Canon's Battle of the Internet Superstars. [Callender, David. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/15/business/media/15chad.html "In a City Far, Far Away From Hollywood, the YouTube Tales of a Lesser Vader"] , "The New York Times", October 15, 2007. Accessed November 28, 2007.]

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/206373 Newgrounds.com - Numa Numa Dance] - Numa Numa Dance where it was originally submitted.
* [http://www.newnuma.com NewNuma.com] - Gary Brolsma's Official Website
* [http://www.myspace.com/newnuma Gary Brolsma's MySpace profile] - Gary Brolsma's MySpace profile
* [http://www.youtube.com/newnuma Gary Brolsma's YouTube profile] - Gary Brolsma's YouTube profile
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoFMRXlNJ6Y Barenaked Ladies - Sound of Your Voice] - Gary in Barenaked Ladies - Sound of Your Voice
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/26/nyregion/26video.html Internet Fame Is Cruel Mistress for a Dancer of the Numa Numa] - New York Times Article