From The Straits Times    |

A saccharine-sweet pop tune by a South Korean indie singer has inspired a rash of dance spoofs among K-pop stars. And Singaporeans are getting in on the act.

Gwiyomi, a song released earlier this year by Hari, has sparked a popular repertoire of hand gestures.

Performed to the ditty’s lyrics of a girl asking her boyfriend never to leave her, the “gwiyomi” – which means “cutie” – involves index fingers pointing to puffed cheeks, and the miming of bunny ears and heart-shaped signs.

The next dance fad: Gwiyomi

The final flourish? Six light kisses – one for each finger on one hand, and both thumbs.

So far, various versions of the original song and video have garnered around one million hits each.

South Korean pop stars such as members of bands Super Junior and SNSD have been imitating the moves on videos and variety shows.

From Seoul to Busan, pretty, wide-eyed girls are vying to become the “gwiyomi” flavour of the week in their own clips posted online.

Netizens in the region have also gotten in on the act. More than 200,000 videos have already surfaced of fans aping the song’s actions, from countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines.

In Singapore, the fad is just taking off, with about five netizens posting videos of themselves performing the dance.

The next dance fad: Gwiyomi

One of them, Mr Alvin Chua, 27, posted two videos last week of him doing the gwiyomi. In one, he even upped the cute factor by waving a teddy bear’s limbs to approximate the moves.

The video is a way to express himself while “catching” a popular fad, says the director of a family trading business. His videos have garnered about 60 to 120 hits each so far.

This is Mr Chua’s sophomore attempt at following a dance fad: Last year, he horsed around in a homemade video to South Korean singer Psy’s Gangnam Style, but the video was later removed by YouTube due to copyright issues.

Public relations account executive Jeremy Sing, 35, has also shot a video of himself, in response to his friends’ spoof versions on Facebook. “I just wanted to try doing my own version,” he explains. “In this YouTube age, there is no need to be shy.”

The clip on the popular video-sharing website has chalked up more than 100 views. A few viewers have even left private comments to ask him to perform the gwiyomi in drag, he adds.

His response: “No way.”

Local movie Ah Boys To Men actor Tosh Zhang, 24, has also posted a video of his version, with co-star Ridhwan Azman, 19, filmed at *Scape. The duo performed it “to make people laugh”, says Zhang, of the clip that has been viewed more than 94,000 times.

Most clubs, including Zouk, Ku De Ta, Shanghai Dolly and St James Power Station, say they have not seen these moves on the dance floor – yet.

The next dance fad: Gwiyomi

But a “handful” of Korean girls have been spotted executing them at local nightspot Attica in recent weeks, says Attica’s marketing manager Amanda Ng.

“We have many Korean clubbers coming to Attica, and we play some K-pop on Saturday nights, which draws them in,” says Ms Ng, 33.

Gwiyomi early-adopter Chua says gwiyomi will probably not take off in the way that the “highertempo and more catchy” Gangnam Style did here.

“In countries such as Thailand or Taiwan, it seems to be the norm for girls to ‘act cute’,” he says. “Here in Singapore, they probably view it as being overly vain.”

This article was first run in The Straits Times newspaper on April 14, 2013. For similar stories, go to sph.straitstimes.com/premium/singapore. You will not be able to access the Premium section of The Straits Times website unless you are already a subscriber.