Gary Brolsma
Encyclopedia
Gary William Brolsma also known as simply The Numa Numa Guy, is an American singer who 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 Moldova
n 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 entertaining arm moves and facial expressions.
representation of Bob Ross
during the singer's words: "sunt eu, Picasso" (it's me, Picasso). Other versions include a showdown between him and Angry 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
.
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".
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.
In November 2008, Gary started NumaNetwork.com, which re-directs to his YouTube channel. Through this venue, he uploaded shows from various production companies across the country. These shows included Good at Cooking with Andy, Dr. Depend, Tales from Taffytown, Smooth and Rusty, Rock That Ride, Bill Cafe, Bob And Rob Save A Buck, Soap Athetic, The Kristy Storms Show, Tobias and more.
commercial lip-syncing the Mysto & Pizzi version of "Somebody's Watching Me
" for one of their commercials in 2009.
Brolsma 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.
Brolsma also made a video promoting the Discovery Channel
's National Body Challenge, which he stated he was joining. In it, he parodies, among other things, the Atkins Nutritional Approach
and Star Wars kid
. He also plays Warcraft 3.
Brolsma also appeared in the music video for the Barenaked Ladies
song "Sound of Your Voice", which featured a compilation of YouTube celebrities.
Brolsma once had a small part on The War at Home
when Dave was talking about him, giving his distinctive "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.
In 2008, Brolsma was featured among many other Internet/YouTube stars in the music video "Pork and Beans" by Weezer
.
On October 21, 2008, Brolsma finished his first musical album, titled Weird Tempo. He has been working on the CD for the past 2 years since releasing his last Numa 3 video. The album is a mix of electronic beats with rock influences.
On October 28, 2008, Brolsma was featured in the original Numa Numa
video on the CBS
series NCIS
.
On October 26, 2009, Brolsma appeared in a two part video series in which he was stalked and pursued by reporter Kristy Storms, a character frequently featured on his website.
On February 7, 2010, Brolsma was featured in a Super Bowl commercial for Vizio
TV.
On April 5, 2010, Brolsma was "kidnapped" by band Those Mockingbirds. A video demanding a reward appeared on Gary's YouTube channel, along with a website.
On April 28, 2010, Gary Brolsma starred alongside recording artist Randy Reiman in a new music video for the song, M.I.S.H.A.P.
In late 2010 a Vizio
commercial began circulation featuring a long shot of someone (either Brolsma or a look alike) reenacting his famous "Numa Numa Dance" during a montage of various examples of internet content available on Vizio's new television line.
Webcam
A webcam is a video camera that feeds its images in real time to a computer or computer network, often via USB, ethernet, or Wi-Fi.Their most popular use is the establishment of video links, permitting computers to act as videophones or videoconference stations. This common use as a video camera...
video of himself miming to the song "Dragostea din tei
Dragostea din tei
"Dragostea din tei" , also informally known as "The Numa Numa Song" , is the most successful single by the Moldovan pop group O-Zone, sung in Romanian. It shot to the number one spot on the Eurochart Hot 100, where it remained for 12 weeks between June and early September 2004...
" by Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
n pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
band O-Zone
O-Zone
O-Zone was a Romania/Moldovan pop music trio that was active from 1998 to 2005 and consisted of Dan Bălan, Radu Sîrbu, and Arsenie Todiraş. The group gained global popularity with their song "Dragostea din tei" and their subsequent album DiscO-Zone....
. It was known as Numa Numa
Numa Numa
Numa Numa is an Internet phenomenon based on amateur videos, most notably Numa Numa Song by Gary Brolsma, made for the song "Dragostea din tei" as performed by O-Zone. Brolsma's video, released in December 2004 on the website Newgrounds.com, was the first Numa Numa–themed video to gain widespread...
, 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 entertaining arm moves and facial expressions.
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 LEGOLego
Lego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...
representation of Bob Ross
Bob Ross
Robert Norman "Bob" Ross was an American painter, art instructor, and television host. He is best known as the creator and host of The Joy of Painting, a television program that ran for 12 years on PBS stations in the United States.-Personal life:Ross was born in Daytona Beach, Florida, and...
during the singer's words: "sunt eu, Picasso" (it's me, Picasso). Other versions include a showdown between him and Angry German Kid getting angry at his computer. The video also had a cameo by the Star Wars kid
Star Wars Kid
"Star Wars Kid" is an Internet meme involving a video of a high school student from Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada, wielding a golf ball retriever in imitation of Darth Maul's lightsaber moves from the Star Wars films....
.
He made appearances on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
, and VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's Best Week Ever
Best Week Ever
Best Week Ever is a weekly television program on the United States cable/satellite network VH1. It started airing in 2004 and was put on hiatus in the summer of 2009...
.
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".
Gary's video inspired singer/songwriter Dan Balan
Dan Balan
Dan Mihai Bălan is a Moldavian singer, songwriter, and producer. He was born to Mihai Bălan and Ludmila Bălan, a TV presenter. Dan Bălan has performed eurodance and commercially pop music...
, formerly of O-Zone
O-Zone
O-Zone was a Romania/Moldovan pop music trio that was active from 1998 to 2005 and consisted of Dan Bălan, Radu Sîrbu, and Arsenie Todiraş. The group gained global popularity with their song "Dragostea din tei" and their subsequent album DiscO-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
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
, beating the Star Wars kid
Star Wars Kid
"Star Wars Kid" is an Internet meme involving a video of a high school student from Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada, wielding a golf ball retriever in imitation of Darth Maul's lightsaber moves from the Star Wars films....
at Number 2.
He set a record in the Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
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.
In November 2008, Gary started NumaNetwork.com, which re-directs to his YouTube channel. Through this venue, he uploaded shows from various production companies across the country. These shows included Good at Cooking with Andy, Dr. Depend, Tales from Taffytown, Smooth and Rusty, Rock That Ride, Bill Cafe, Bob And Rob Save A Buck, Soap Athetic, The Kristy Storms Show, Tobias and more.
Other media
Brolsma was featured in a GeicoGEICO
The Government Employees Insurance Company is an auto insurance company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway that as of 2007 provided coverage for more than 10 million motor vehicles owned by more than 9 million policy holders. GEICO writes private passenger automobile insurance...
commercial lip-syncing the Mysto & Pizzi version of "Somebody's Watching Me
Somebody's Watching Me
"Somebody's Watching Me" is the debut single by R&B artist Rockwell, released on the Motown label in 1984. The song's lyrics relate the narrator's paranoid fear of being followed and watched. It featured former Motown artists Michael Jackson on the chorus and Jermaine Jackson on additional backing...
" for one of their commercials in 2009.
Brolsma has appeared in episode 1204 (#171) of the animated series South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
, "Canada on Strike". It was first broadcast on April 2, 2008. The episode parodies the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
The 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, more commonly referred to as simply the Writers' Strike, was a strike by the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West ....
and popular Internet videos.
Brolsma also made a video promoting the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
's National Body Challenge, which he stated he was joining. In it, he parodies, among other things, the Atkins Nutritional Approach
Atkins Nutritional Approach
The Atkins diet, officially called the Atkins Nutritional Approach, is a low-carbohydrate diet created by Robert Atkins from a research paper he read in the Journal of the American Medical Association published by Gordon Azar and Walter Lyons Bloom. Atkins stated that he used the study to resolve...
and Star Wars kid
Star Wars Kid
"Star Wars Kid" is an Internet meme involving a video of a high school student from Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada, wielding a golf ball retriever in imitation of Darth Maul's lightsaber moves from the Star Wars films....
. He also plays Warcraft 3.
Brolsma also appeared in the music video for the Barenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian alternative rock band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart. Barenaked Ladies formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario, then a suburban municipality outside the City of Toronto...
song "Sound of Your Voice", which featured a compilation of YouTube celebrities.
Brolsma once had a small part on The War at Home
The War at Home (TV series)
The War at Home is an American sitcom that ran from September 11, 2005 to April 22, 2007 on Fox. It follows the antics of a largely dysfunctional Long Island family...
when Dave was talking about him, giving his distinctive "Aló" to a person on the phone in a short scene.
On October 15, 2007, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported that Brolsma had recently collaborated on a video with lonelygirl15
Lonelygirl15
lonelygirl15 was an interactive web-based video series which began in June 2006 and ran through to August 1, 2008. Developed under the working title The Children of Anchor Cove, the show gained worldwide media attention when it was outed as fictional in September 2006.-Overview:lonelygirl15...
's Glenn Rubenstein
Glenn Rubenstein
Glenn Rubenstein is a writer, director, musician, and journalist based in Northern California.-Journalism:Glenn Rubenstein has been a columnist for the San Francisco Examiner, Sports Illustrated for Kids, CNET's GameCenter, Wizard Magazine, and many other national publications...
, as well as Chad Vader
Chad Vader
Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager is an American comedy web series created by Aaron Yonda and Matt Sloan, who are also credited as actors, directors, editors and writers of the program. The show's central character is Chad Vader, the day-shift manager at the fictional supermarket Empire Market, who...
's Aaron Yonda and Matt Sloan
Matt Sloan
Matt Sloan is an Ex- New Zealand, Australian ex special effects and animatronics technician. He now works in Visual Effects. He has worked on such features as Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Superman Returns, Charlottes Web and the Matrix trilogy...
, as a part of Canon's Battle of the Internet Superstars.
In 2008, Brolsma was featured among many other Internet/YouTube stars in the music video "Pork and Beans" by Weezer
Weezer
Weezer is an American alternative rock band. The band currently consists of Rivers Cuomo , Patrick Wilson , Brian Bell , and Scott Shriner . The band has changed lineups three times since its formation in 1992...
.
On October 21, 2008, Brolsma finished his first musical album, titled Weird Tempo. He has been working on the CD for the past 2 years since releasing his last Numa 3 video. The album is a mix of electronic beats with rock influences.
On October 28, 2008, Brolsma was featured in the original Numa Numa
Numa Numa
Numa Numa is an Internet phenomenon based on amateur videos, most notably Numa Numa Song by Gary Brolsma, made for the song "Dragostea din tei" as performed by O-Zone. Brolsma's video, released in December 2004 on the website Newgrounds.com, was the first Numa Numa–themed video to gain widespread...
video on the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
series NCIS
NCIS (TV series)
NCIS, formerly known as NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is an American police procedural drama television series revolving around a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which conducts criminal investigations involving the U.S...
.
On October 26, 2009, Brolsma appeared in a two part video series in which he was stalked and pursued by reporter Kristy Storms, a character frequently featured on his website.
On February 7, 2010, Brolsma was featured in a Super Bowl commercial for Vizio
Vizio
Vizio is a privately held producer of consumer electronics, based in Irvine, California, USA. It was founded in October 2002 as V Inc. Vizio's major partner in the consumer electronics arena is AmTran Technology, a Taiwan-based OEM/ODM that manufactures more than half of the televisions sold...
TV.
On April 5, 2010, Brolsma was "kidnapped" by band Those Mockingbirds. A video demanding a reward appeared on Gary's YouTube channel, along with a website.
On April 28, 2010, Gary Brolsma starred alongside recording artist Randy Reiman in a new music video for the song, M.I.S.H.A.P.
In late 2010 a Vizio
Vizio
Vizio is a privately held producer of consumer electronics, based in Irvine, California, USA. It was founded in October 2002 as V Inc. Vizio's major partner in the consumer electronics arena is AmTran Technology, a Taiwan-based OEM/ODM that manufactures more than half of the televisions sold...
commercial began circulation featuring a long shot of someone (either Brolsma or a look alike) reenacting his famous "Numa Numa Dance" during a montage of various examples of internet content available on Vizio's new television line.
External links
- Newgrounds.com - Numa Numa Dance - Numa Numa Dance where it was originally submitted.
- NewNuma.com - Gary Brolsma's Official Website
- Gary Brolsma's YouTube profile - Gary Brolsma's YouTube profile
- Gary Brolsma's CD Weird Tempo - Gary Brolsma's CD, Weird Tempo
- Barenaked Ladies - Sound of Your Voice - Gary in Barenaked Ladies - Sound of Your Voice
- Internet Fame Is Cruel Mistress for a Dancer of the Numa Numa - New York Times Article
- NumaNetwork.com