On the drive in to work the other morning, I happened to hear an interview on a local news program featuring the two girls behind the “Chongalicious phenomenon.” What caught my attention was that they are High School teenagers who live just up the road from WPBT. I was probably just a few blocks from their school at the time I heard the story.
The following is courtesy of NBC6.net:
Teens 'Chonga' Their Way To Stardom
'Chongalicious' Becomes Hit On YouTube
AVENTURA, Fla. -- Two South Florida teenagers produced a video that's one of the hottest on YouTube right now. Laura Dilorenzo and Mimi Davila have become known as the "Chongas" thanks to their Internet music video "Chongalicious." It's a spoof of Fergie's "Fergalicious."…
… Dilorenzo and Davila, who are both 17-year-old drama students at Dr. Michael Kropp High School, said they didn't expect the notoriety they've received.
… Dilorenzo and Davila said they are not Chongas. Once the makeup and jewelry come off, they are typical teenagers from Aventura.
But they will continue to build on their Chonga success. They're already working on their second parody, "I'm In Love With A Chonga."
The girls said the video will be posted on YouTube over the weekend.
I’ll be honest, I had never heard of Chongalicious until that morning. As much as I try to stay engaged with internet video trends it is difficult to “be everywhere.” I also imagine that if “Chongalicious” has caught the attention of traditional news outlets, Di Lorenzo and Davila’s fifteen minutes of fame may regrettably be near the end. This blog entry isn’t an endorsement of the video, but rather a show of support for the inventiveness that new media allows for those who are willing to put themselves “out there.”
If you haven’t already seen the video, you can search for it on YouTube.com. I’m not including the link because the video may not be suitable for all viewers and if you are easily offended, I suggest you watch with discretion. However, it’s almost impossible not to hear the song as soon as you turn on your radio as it is being played constantly on commercial radio in South Florida.
It isn’t this “Chongalicious” video that has me writing this entry, but rather the spirit of creativity and individual expression that fueled it. Such creative freedom is the reason we have tried to become more interactive at WPBT. We want to plug into the amazing sense of imaginative energy and social engagement that the South Florida region has to offer. With projects like uVu, and even this blog, we are inviting all of our viewers (and readers and “streamies”) to become a part of the process.
How many times have you watched a television program or read an article and thought “Boy, did they miss the point or what?”
Well, that is exactly my point! Now you can add your voice to the public record, enhance the discussion, and create a fuller and richer world of ideas.
I encourage you to participate at any level which you feel comfortable. Leave a comment, upload a video, or add a blog entry.
As for Di Lorenzo and Davila, I hope you two will consider adding your future work to our uVu site. We welcome your energy and ideas!
-Neal in Programming
uVuTV episode 5 is in the can and it marks the first time that uVuTV was shot entirely on location. The uVu crew visited the beautiful city of Surfside yesterday in an effort to get out into the community and bring a more youthful look to the show. Since we have never shot a broadcast show on location, we were eager to play with the new equipment provided to us by production. Our new gadgets included a HDV camera, a lavalier microphone, a wireless lavalier microphone, and our favorite: the boom microphone. Because it was so windy by the beach (gusts of 20 mph) the production crew gave us a special wind proof boom mic, which coincidently looked a lot like a koala bear.
