Monday, August 10, 2009

Pop Chart: Wonder Girls and "Nobody", robots and Granado Espada



Top of composite is a screengrab from one of the "robots" video versions of "Nobody"; bottom of composite is a promotional image made by Darrick/Mr. NG for his forthcoming Granado Espada version of the same song.

A quick glance at the Wonder Girls' Wikipedia page shows that not only have the Wonder Girls (currently composed of Ye-eun, Sunye, Sohee, Sunmi, and Yubin) been around since 2007, but that song of theirs that's been ruling both the airwaves and the Internet - "Nobody", of course - was released in 2008!

So why are we only hearing that song now? Part of the answer is that the band and their management chose "Nobody" to become their North American debut single. The single hit American musical outlets in June 2009 - and now everyone's at least HEARD of it (pun most definitely intended).

The song and the video have since gone viral on YouTube. Part of that may be attributed to the insanely catchy tune and lyrics, and part to the dance moves.

It's gotten to the point where it's become a mini-trend on not only YouTube but the social networking sites. Either you make your own video of you doing the dance moves, or you share the more interesting versions with your social network.

The "robots" version (made by Yongchul Lee of KAIST, South Korea; posted online by YouTube user jcbazin) is one of my favorite takes on the song. It's been mistakenly described all over the place as featuring Optimus Prime, Starscream, and Bumblebee. It doesn't look as though the robots in the video have Autobot/Decepticon badges, though - I think it's just that people are associating it with the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie.

Taking inspiration from the "Nobody" phenomenon, my good friend and fellow blogger Darrick/Mr. NG of the blog Fantazzztic! has decided to put together a machinima version of the full song, with dance moves by female stock characters from the MMORPG Granado Espada (which I've already mentioned here).

Sample video 1 - pilot
Sample video 2 - first set of props added

I'm really rooting for him to complete this video soon, the more so since September will mark the second anniversary of Granado Espada in the Philippines! Please cheer him on along with me!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

i want your money, your body not you! *clap clap*

now repeat after me.. :)