Internet Fame is Actually an International Superstar? In Russia he’s basically all-four Beatles meet vitas russian David Bowie happening at once.
The internet has given birth to a generation of fleeting characters. They’re faces we’ve seen over and over again, to the point of being more familiar with them than some of our actual mates, without ever knowing their names. They surge in popularity and notoriety for brief spells, only to dip, and later reappear. They are anonymous but known to all. People who exist only as far as a gif, a meme, or a viral video. This is no truer than of the man in this video.
The chances are you will definitely have seen that video before. The throbbing trance pads, the flat claps, the ethereal backing singer, and then that voice. Quite out of nowhere, this strange Macaulay Culkin lookalike in a sequined suit opens his mouth to reveal what can only be described as: “ah oh ah, ah oh ah, ah oh ah, ah oh ah ah, blululululu, ah oh ah. Your first response is to laugh, because it’s funny right? It’s this experience that has turned the performance into the anonymous phenomenon that it is. Supposedly following its posting by the Facebook page of American TV show The Soup, the song’s chorus has become known all over the Western world. Why use the phrase Western world?
Well because it was already pretty well-known elsewhere. The song is actually called “7th Element,” and the performer’s name is Vitas. He is, in fact, a pretty huge deal. While the version embedded above is probably the Vitas video you’ll have seen, it’s worth having a look at this one as well. This is the trailer for his 2003 Baltic tour. He has won awards declaring him Russia’s laureate ten times through various competitions.
He is recognised as Russia’s most prolific live performer between the years of 2001 and 2003. He is the youngest artist to have ever performed solo at the Kremlin. He was MTV Asia’s best foreign performer in 2011. He is also a fashion designer, having presented his Autumn Dreams collection in 2002, again, at the Kremlin. His album A Kiss As Long As Eternity sold more than 2 million copies in less than half a year.
