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GAGS TO RICHES: The Back Dorm Boys
A life in showbiz beckons for a pair of college jokers whose
spoof music video shot them to mainland stardom
From SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST July 23rd, 2008 Print Edition
By Mina Choi
If you don’t know the Back Dorm Boys, you’re really not
with it – the catchphrase that went around mainland campuses a
couple of years ago illustrates the media sensation Huang Yixin and
Wei Wei have become. Life has been a roller-coaster ride for the art
school graduates since March 2005, when they posted a clip of themselves
lip-synching to a song by the Backstreet Boys on the internet.
Revved up by an enthusiastic response to their antics, Huang and Wei,
then final-year students at the Guangzhou Art Institute, hammed it up
in more webcam music videos parodying various over-the-top productions
by the likes of Taiwan girl group S.H.E and the Black-Eyed Peas. The
hilarious clips were downloaded in the tens of millions and made them
instant internet stars. Companies such as Motorola recruited them for
youth-orientated campaigns even before they graduated. They were quickly
signed to a five-year contract with mainland entertainment company Taihe
Rye, and have been building a career in show business since moving to
Beijing two years ago.
“We got lucky. The internet is so popular in China that if we
hadn’t done these videos, somebody else would have,” says
Huang.
Somewhat like a Chinese version of Laurel and Hardy, Wei, a Shandong
lad who stands at 189cm, is a towering contrast to comical Guangzhou
native Huang, who is just 173cm. Under Taihe Rye, which manages other
high-profile talent such as Supergirl contest winner Li Yuchun, Beijing
rocker Pu Xu and Jackie Chan’s son, Jaycee, the boys have appeared
in Pepsi ads and started taking dance and vocal lessons, and honing
their stage performance.
Although household names on the mainland, especially among the twentysomething
crowd, the two haven’t let fame go to their heads. “We still
have a long way to go. Every new experience adds to our knowledge and
we have a lot to learn,” says Huang.
While they continue to make lip-synch videos, Huang and Wei have ventured
into other areas as television presenters, recording artists –
“very cheerful and funny songs with athletic themes” says
Huang – and more recently as actors. Last year, they starred in
three comedies – Zi Shou (Turn Yourself In), Shi Quan Jiu Mei
(Not Quite Perfect), which are still in post-production, and HaHaHa,
which was released in May. In the latter, Huang and Wei play hapless
con artists who try to scam inexperienced drivers by faking injuries,
but become entangled in a kidnap caper involving a stolen baby.
Friends since high school, the pair are slowly adjusting to their new
careers and homes in the capital, where they live in the same building
in the hip Chaoyang district.
“We’re getting used to it now, the weather is very different
from Guangzhou and it’s a different kind of city – more
cultural,” says Wei.
Much of their time is devoted recording songs and making television
appearances. The two sculpture majors haven’t lost touch with
their art training, and still do a little drawing, painting and sculpting
to unwind.
Both sports fans, the boys often hang out together playing basketball
and badminton and Huang recently flew to Thailand to watch a badminton
tournament. Was he recognised? “Yes, but only by the Chinese,”
he says.
“We still spend about 50 to 60 per cent of our time together,
either playing basketball or working, but we try not to go out together
because if we do, then we get recognised by everyone – like 90
per cent of the people,” says Wei.
“[Huang] can go out with a bit of disguise – a hat, sunglasses,
and sometimes with a surgical mask – but it’s harder for
me because I’m so tall. We can’t really even go out with
our regular friends without getting recognised so there’s no question
of going out with a girlfriend.
“Our life has changed a lot. Before we used to hang out with students
and average people, but now we mostly mingle with arts and entertainment
people.”
For Huang, one of the more aggravating new demands is skin care. “We
put on so much makeup all the time, so we have to take care of our skin
like girls. Every night, I use masks and skin creams,” he says.
“Whenever I go abroad, I stop at the cosmetic counters and ask
the clerks for creams. I say ‘pore’ in English and they
give me some products. I wish I knew how to say blackheads in English.
We never had to worry about this before.”
Quizzed about their unexpected career trajectory, Huang says he sometimes
wonders if he’s dreaming. “It’s pretty amazing to
go from being students to be the main characters in a film,” he
says. “We had no idea that so many would respond so enthusiastically
to our first post.”
Huang and Wei made the first clip to amuse themselves while stuck in
dormitories in suburban Guangzhou with nothing to do. The simple webcam
video filmed in their dorm room was initially posted on their college
network, and was such a campus hit that fellow students quickly circulated
it on the Web.
“A lot of our classmates couldn’t believe that was us doing
the lip-synching because we’re usually quiet and composed when
they see us,” says Wei.
However, the boys’ flippant, playful image belies a serious work
ethic. Luo Yan, the director of HaHaHa, found them to be extremely professional
on the set. “When they weren’t in front of the camera, they
kept themselves busy, drawing and painting and experimenting with computer
games,” says the Shanghai-based filmmaker, who first saw them
in a talent show in 2006. Even then, she felt they delivered the best
performance of the evening – “It was outstanding.”
But recent comments on their efforts haven’t been so kind. HaHaHa
disappeared soon after its release and online blogs have criticised
the production for not using the duo’s talents properly.
Huang concedes it’s a big leap from making spoof music videos
to movies. “We’re pretty good at lip-synching. Lip-synching
is liberating, we can explode and go crazy, but acting in films is all
about control, control, control.” However, the boys aren’t
interested in going back. “Lip-synching is really just a hobby
and something we did when we were students,” says Huang. “I
prefer acting and hosting television shows.”
For now, their unexpected detour into show business remains a novelty
and the two funny guys-next-door hope to have a movie written specially
for them.
It remains to be seen whether the Back Dorm Boys’ viral video
stardom can be transformed into successful movie and television careers,
but Huang plans to “keep trying, keep working, keep learning”.
And despite virtually living in each other’s pockets, he says
they remain “very good friends”. And that’s not be
a bad place to be after three years of whirlwind activity in the spotlight.
For a complete list of Culture Articles by Mina Choi click HERE