Career History
The Back Dorm Boys phenomenon has resulted in an Internet meme and spawned a variety of parodies and imitations, including attempts by non-speakers to lip-sync to the Chinese lyrics in their videos. The Back Dorm Boys received mainstream media attention in the United States through The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
The Back Dorm Boys made their first video just for fun, to show to their friends. They had seen a funny 10-second lip sync video, and wanted to try creating something similar for an entire song. They completed their first video in March 2005, after much trial and error. They uploaded the finished video to the local network at their college. The other students liked it very much so that they helped to spread the videos out. The Back Dorm Boys made use of their art school education to help them prepare the composition, visual effects, and lighting in their videos.
While still at school, the Back Dorm Boys were signed as spokespeople for Motorola cellphones in China and eventually become host of Motorola's online lip sync contests. They also signed a contract with Sina.com, one of the largest Chinese Internet portals. The Back Dorm Boys maintain a Chinese-language blog through Sina.com. In 2006, they received "The Best Podcaster Award" from Sina.com.
A few months before they graduated (February 2006), the Back Dorm Boys signed a 5-year contract with Taihe Rye, a talent management company in Beijing, to continue making lip sync videos. They went to Beijing to build their own Studio Video and Multimedia Arts. They also began studying singing, dancing, and stage arts with Taihe Rye.
The Back Dorm Boys filmed a lip sync video, "The Perfect Day", as a pilot project for their new studio. They also released their first original single, "O Yi O Yi A". This single was accompanied by both a professional music video and a lip sync version showing the Back Dorm Boys giving their own song their usual treatment. From the Studio, they are also known for making their own film, directed by Huang Dao, in late 2006.
Though they may have dropped off the radar stateside, these lip-syncing sensations have by no means mothballed their careers. Wei and Huang graduated from college in 2006 with two corporate deals already in their pockets: one as spokesfolk for Motorola in China and another as bloggers and podcasters with Chinese Internet portal Sina.com. They're now in the midst of a five-year deal with Beijing media company Taihe Rye that's made them full-fledged TV stars, with appearances in commercials for major vendors such as Pepsi.
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