FOR Nicolas Jovani, YouTube has provided a stab at fame on an island that had so-far shunned his attempts at stardom.
“OPA Cyrus Style”, Jovani’s local parody of the hugely famous song “Gangnam Style” by South Korean pop sensation PSY, has amassed more than 600,000 views just one month after being uploaded.
While it still has a long way to go before it betters the original which is now the most-watched video on YouTube ever with more than 800 million views, “OPA Cyprus Style” is now being sung and imitated by thousands of children and teens in Cyprus.
“After being given small parts on different TV series the reaction I got was that I wasn’t good enough or funny enough,” Jovani said.
By day, Jovani is a behind-the-scenes technician at a leading TV channel and for years has been itching to get in front of the cameras but had only managed to land a selection of cameo appearances on local TV shows. “Because the island is small and there aren’t many TV series, if you don’t get accepted, then you’re not left with much of a choice but to get exposure on YouTube,” he added.
“I got together with some friends, people from my neighbourhood and some of my family to make a funny video just for ourselves,” he explained. “I didn’t have a clue it was going to become so popular, I can’t even go to the Mall without being mobbed by people wanting photographs and autographs.”
Jovani attributes the video’s popularity to the fact that Cyprus television is full of gloomy programmes.
“I think it’s really important now, during the economic crisis, that we watch things that cheer us up instead of all these depressing dramas on TV,” he said.
There has been a host of Gangnam Style parodies uploaded to YouTube since the original song’s release in July but Jovani’s version was the first one from Cyprus. “Finally” and “We could hardly wait for the Cypriot version” were some of the responses that the video received according to Jovani.
“We are Cypriots, the centre of the world,” the song begins, “All the Cypriots are bankrupt and owe the banks money, they don’t care, they just have their fun and let everyone else shout about it,” the song continues.
The song covers other aspects of Cypriot society including cabarets, donkeys, goats, Facebook, Nike trainers, fried food and being on a diet.
“I just used different experiences from my own life that I thought would be funny to ridicule, unaware that it would be so relevant to the majority of people on the island,” Jovani joked.
He has a number of other videos on YouTube and is even planning another satirical follow-up to Gangnam Style although he did not want to reveal it yet.
So has fame arrived at last? Well, last night he performed his hit live at Club Nuovo in Nicosia despite not really being a singer.
“It shows how popular the song has become that I was asked to perform at one of the top clubs in Nicosia even though I’m not a proper singer,” he said.
OPA Cyprus Style can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhHKstK-iPU
Nicolas Jovani (right) in OPA Cyprus style