Rob
04-19-2013, 04:44 AM
By Matt Krueger, The Daily News
First it was “Call Me Maybe.” Then it was the “Harlem Shake.”
Could the next internet craze really be “Fandango-ing”?
And before you mispronounce it, the man known throughout professional wrestling circles as Fandango will tell you — repeatedly — it’s “FAHN-DAHN-GO.”
Haven’t heard of him? Don’t worry, you will. The act of Fandango-ing has already picked up speed on YouTube, where WWE fans are posting video after video of themselves “singing” Fandango’s entrance theme — there are no words to the song, so it’s more like humming.
It started with the raucus crowd at the Izod Center in New Jersey for the live Monday Night Raw show on April 8. Throughout the night, the fans, many of whom had traveled from around the world to see Raw and the previous night’s Wrestlemania, stole the show by singing and dancing to Fandango’s music.
And it continued well after the show ended. Several YouTube clips show the fans filing out of the arena, still singing and dancing. Others show WWE fans singing on a subway.
Already, others are catching onto the craze. The Houston Texans cheerleaders — taking a page from the U.S. Olympic Swim Team and Harvard baseball team’s “Call Me Maybe” videos that went viral last summer — posted a clip of hopefuls Fandango-ing during a break in tryouts.
Does it seem a little ridiculous? Of course. After all, we’re talking about the world of professional wrestling where the ridiculous is embraced as fully as a headlock.
But there is something real here, too. Fandango, who uses the gimmick of a ballroom dancer turned wrestler, has catapulted from obscurity to superstardom because of his entrance theme and the reaction it causes in the live crowds at WWE shows. During his first appearances with the company in February and March, the audience simply didn’t pay attention or showered Fandango with “You can’t wrestle chants.” Now, just a few weeks later, he’s one of the biggest draws.
The entrance theme, titled “ChaChaLaLa” has been one of the most downloaded songs on iTunes during the past week and a half and placed 44th on the UK music charts this week.
The man behind the latest craze, WWE composer Jim Johnston, was just as surprised by the reaction his song got. He had to see it for himself on YouTube the morning after the Monday NIght Raw crowd kickstarted the phenomenon.
Johnston, who has composed wrestler entrance themes for close to 30 years, explained in an interview on WWE.com that the genesis of the song was simple.
“We wanted a piece of music that said dance as opposed to a piece of music that was good to dance to,” Johnston told WWE.com. “I thought the rhythm that was most associated with dance that most people would know would be the cha-cha. So I went with that.”
It stuck.
Fandango-ing might not have the broad appeal and staying power that “Call Me Maybe” and the “Harlem Shake” had, but it might also be the hottest thing going right now.
(Lifestyles Editor Matt Krueger writes a weekly entertainment column that runs in the Genescene.)
First it was “Call Me Maybe.” Then it was the “Harlem Shake.”
Could the next internet craze really be “Fandango-ing”?
And before you mispronounce it, the man known throughout professional wrestling circles as Fandango will tell you — repeatedly — it’s “FAHN-DAHN-GO.”
Haven’t heard of him? Don’t worry, you will. The act of Fandango-ing has already picked up speed on YouTube, where WWE fans are posting video after video of themselves “singing” Fandango’s entrance theme — there are no words to the song, so it’s more like humming.
It started with the raucus crowd at the Izod Center in New Jersey for the live Monday Night Raw show on April 8. Throughout the night, the fans, many of whom had traveled from around the world to see Raw and the previous night’s Wrestlemania, stole the show by singing and dancing to Fandango’s music.
And it continued well after the show ended. Several YouTube clips show the fans filing out of the arena, still singing and dancing. Others show WWE fans singing on a subway.
Already, others are catching onto the craze. The Houston Texans cheerleaders — taking a page from the U.S. Olympic Swim Team and Harvard baseball team’s “Call Me Maybe” videos that went viral last summer — posted a clip of hopefuls Fandango-ing during a break in tryouts.
Does it seem a little ridiculous? Of course. After all, we’re talking about the world of professional wrestling where the ridiculous is embraced as fully as a headlock.
But there is something real here, too. Fandango, who uses the gimmick of a ballroom dancer turned wrestler, has catapulted from obscurity to superstardom because of his entrance theme and the reaction it causes in the live crowds at WWE shows. During his first appearances with the company in February and March, the audience simply didn’t pay attention or showered Fandango with “You can’t wrestle chants.” Now, just a few weeks later, he’s one of the biggest draws.
The entrance theme, titled “ChaChaLaLa” has been one of the most downloaded songs on iTunes during the past week and a half and placed 44th on the UK music charts this week.
The man behind the latest craze, WWE composer Jim Johnston, was just as surprised by the reaction his song got. He had to see it for himself on YouTube the morning after the Monday NIght Raw crowd kickstarted the phenomenon.
Johnston, who has composed wrestler entrance themes for close to 30 years, explained in an interview on WWE.com that the genesis of the song was simple.
“We wanted a piece of music that said dance as opposed to a piece of music that was good to dance to,” Johnston told WWE.com. “I thought the rhythm that was most associated with dance that most people would know would be the cha-cha. So I went with that.”
It stuck.
Fandango-ing might not have the broad appeal and staying power that “Call Me Maybe” and the “Harlem Shake” had, but it might also be the hottest thing going right now.
(Lifestyles Editor Matt Krueger writes a weekly entertainment column that runs in the Genescene.)