Back dorm boys
The Back Dorm Boys ( Chinese 後 舍 男生 / 后 舍 男生 ) are a male mandopop duo from the People's Republic of China who became known for their podcasts and short films in which they sing songs by the Backstreet Boys and other pop stars playback . They are also known by the names Back Dormitory Boys, Chinese Backstreet Boys, Dormitory Boys, Two Chinese Boys, and Houshe Boys . They put their videos, which they recorded in their dormitory with the help of a simple webcam , on the Internet. They became very popular especially among Internet users in China . They triggered what is known as an Internet phenomenon by being parodied by numerous internauts and posting their own podcasts on the web.
people
The two main actors are Wei Wei ( 韋 煒 / 韦 炜 ) (* October 18, 1982, 189 cm) and Huang Yi Xin ( 黃 藝 馨 / 黄 艺 馨 ) (* November 16, 1982, 173 cm). They met while painting in 1998, went to the same middle school and college together. They later studied sculpture at the Guangzhou University Art Institute , where they recorded their first videos for fun. Huang Yi Xin was a board member of the student organization. They completed their studies in June 2006. One of her final projects was to create life-size sculptures of herself. Many fans don't know the names of the Back Dorm Boys. Wei Wei is often just called "the big one" and Huang Yi Xin "the little one".
In most of the videos, Wei Wei sits on the right and Huang Yi Xin on the left as viewed from the viewer. In early videos, Huang Yi Xin wears a cast on his left arm. Most of the videos show a third "Dorm Boy", Xiao Jing (* July 18, 1984, 170 cm). While Wei Wei and Huang Yi Xin appear in the foreground, he often plays the computer game Counter-Strike in the background. He usually sits with his back to the camera and you rarely see his face. Occasionally he also gets a role. For example in the video for the song " Da Da Da " by the German band Trio , where he stands up and holds a cardboard soccer ball in the air, which Huang Yi Xin kicks away.
distribution
Initially, it was very well known, especially in China. Her films quickly spread to other parts of the world via websites such as YouTube and Google Video, encouraging countless webcam users to emulate them.
In the US , they became known from October 2005 through popular television programs such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show . Among other things, they were parodied in the first edition of the NBC television series Heroes , where two Asians in red basketball jerseys sang the Backstreet Boys song "I Want It That Way" in a pub.
Commercial
Due to their great popularity, the BDBs were soon discovered by business. For example, companies such as Motorola and Pepsi hired them for their advertising campaigns.
Motorola: In order to promote the sale of their mobile phone devices in the Chinese market, Motorola launched a playback video competition in August 2005. The campaign started with the video "Radio in My Head" by the Back Dorm Boys, which was already popular at the time, and was aimed at young first-time customers. Potential customers could post their own playback videos on a special website and vote on the best performance. The turnout was very high. On June 28, 2006, Motorola was awarded gold at the 2006 Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards in Hong Kong . The Back Dorm Boys played a key role in this success.
Pepsi: Pepsi engaged the BDBs for the "Pepsi Creative Challenge" - and with the song "Da Da Da" for their "Mydadada" campaign. Together with pop star Nicolas Tse , they also appeared in a TV commercial for Pepsi Max.
Trmusic : In February 2006, she acquired Taihe Rye Music Co., Ltd. ( Trmusic ) under contract.
sina.com: You also signed an advertising contract with sina.com , one of the largest Chinese Internet portals. They run their own blog in Chinese on Sina.com . There is an English blog called "Dormitory Boys" on Blogger.com , but it is probably not run by Wei Wei and Huang Yi Xin.
swell
- ^ Cover version of Da Da Da the Back Dormitory Boys
- ↑ Mihai Mustata: Motorola Wins Gold in Lipsyncing from June 30, 2006, at Softpedia
- ^ Taihe Rye Music Co., Ltd. (Trmusic) ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (in Chinese)
Web links
- sina.com BDB website Official website (in Chinese)
- sina.com Official Blog (in Chinese)