MANILA, Philippines - First it was Gangnam Style. Then came The Harlem Shake. Now, after being lulled into a false sense of complacency, the world should gird its loins for one more viral sensation.
What Does The Fox Say? by Ylvis, a Norwegian parody-pop duo made up of brothers Bård and Vegard Urheim Ylvisåker, is hitting all the proper milestones. It already has more than 32 million YouTube views, helping the track — produced by Stargate, the Norwegian team behind hits by Rihanna, Ne-Yo, Beyoncé and Wiz Khalifa — debut at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The Ohio University marching band, which is earning a reputation for its covers of trendy songs, has its own version of the catchy dance track.
The video was originally filmed to promote the talk show I kveld med YLVIS (Tonight with Ylvis) on TVNorge. Perhaps the appeal lies in the song’s absurd, uncomplicated lyrics (“Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!â€) sung in oddly accented English. As Vulture.com says, “It’s weird, sure, but they appear to be the Lonely Island of Norway, so let them have their spirit animal!â€
Even the Fox network couldn’t resist jumping on the Ylvis bandwagon. A new promo features some TV stars singing and dancing along to The Fox, from Glee’s Jane Lynch and Enlisted’s Geoff Stults to Orlando Jones and Katia Winter of the new fantasy-mystery series Sleepy Hollow.
We all know the drill. Parodies — perhaps on SNL — are inevitable, so is a guest appearance on Ellen. Yes, What Does The Fox Say? is stupid, which I think is the point. I’ll let these Norwegians enjoy their ticking 15 minutes of fame.