An energetic twerking display on Croatian show ‘Super Talent’ goes viral on YouTube and attracts attention from the international media on October 6, 2017.
Becoming famous in the modern era has become surprisingly easy. Quantifying the quality of that fame is a separate discussion altogether, but the popularity of talent shows and the viral potential of mediums such as Facebook and YouTube means that a totally unknown person can reach global audiences that traditional TV networks can only dream about.
My first experience of this as a writer was a few years ago, when someone sent me a Facebook post of a young guy in northern Norway sitting next to a pretty blonde and holding a sign which stated that the girl, Catherine, would have sex with him if this post got a million Facebook likes. I heard about the story when he was up to 800,000 likes in just 17 hours. I decided to prepare the story to publish when he crossed the magic million mark, which was just over 30 minutes later. We never heard how the story ended…
The second direct contact I had with the viral nature of social media was through my meeting of popular British YouTubers Jos Sugg and Oli White, who I interviewed upon their arrival in Hvar Town. During the interview, which took place over a beer at Restaurant Gariful, I suggested that it might cool for them to go for a swim with the baby shark and other inhabitants of the Gariful underwater aquarium. 4.4 million views later…
Another unknown teen from Croatia hit the million mark this week, and in the course of doing so, has attracted plenty of column inches from the international media for a very raunchy display of twerking on Croatian talent show, ‘Supertalent Hrvatska’. Sara Seifert, 18, stunned the audiences and judges of the popular show, with a 2-minute display of astonishing buttock movement, for which they were seemingly ill-prepared. Arriving on stage in a blonde wig and a jacket, she quickly dispensed with the jacket, sat in front of a piano with her back (and buttocks) to the audience and began her daring routine. You can see ii in full in the video below, which has been viewed almost 1.2 million times at time of writing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZtm1yB6hAM
Much of the international media interest centred on the fact that her father was among the most enthusiastic supporters cheering the crowd, something the 18 year-old from Vukovar did not understand. According to the Daily Mail, which was one of the first international media to cover the story, Seifert was surprised at the negative reaction to his support, for her parents have always been supportive of everything she has done. As for twerking itself:
(Proud Dad – Screenshot from Supertalent YouTube channel)
‘Twerking is not easy,’ she said. ‘I never had any previous experience in dancing before. People should appreciate my efforts.’
She taught herself, with our old friend YouTube as her teacher, practising four hours a day, six days a week to perfect her art. Whatever you think of the content, there is no denying that the physical results are impressive. I tried it for five minutes, but am not sure I have the physical stamina or body to get to a million views and modern fame.
As for Ms. Seifert, her dream is to move to Ireland, where her brother already lives, where the Irish Independent has already announced her intended arrival.
It would appear that the great Croatian emigration to Ireland continues, with some people choosing less conventional routes than others.
