"Numa Numa" (/ˈnuːmə/) is an Internet meme based on a video by American vloggerGary Brolsma made after the song "Dragostea Din Tei", released by Moldovan pop group O-Zone in 2003. Brolsma's video, entitled "Numa Numa Dance", was uploaded to the website Newgrounds on December 6, 2004 under the username Gman250, showing Brolsma's lip-syncing of the song with lively dance moves. The video's title is derived from the Romanian words "nu mă nu mă" occurring in the refrain of O-Zone's song, which was the first Numa Numa-themed video to gain widespread attention.
Numa Numa Dance has since spawned many parody videos, including those created for the New Numa Contest, sponsored by Brolsma, which promised US $45,000 in prize money for submissions.[1] His original video was named 41st in the 2006 broadcast of 100 Greatest Funny Moments by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom.[2] The video was featured on Channel 4's Virtually Famous,[3] and ranked No. 1 in VH1's "40 Greatest Internet Superstars" in March 2007.[4]The Viral Factory estimated that the video had been viewed over 700 million times by November 27, 2006.[5]
History
On Newgrounds, Numa Numa Dance has since earned over 8,000,000 views, from which it has been reposted to hundreds of websites. A 2006 BBC report claimed that Numa Numa Dance was the second most-watched viral video of all time, with 700 million views accumulated, losing out merely to the "Star Wars kid", based on page impression figures collated by viral marketing company The Viral Factory.[6] Brolsma received mainstream media's coverage from ABC's Good Morning America, NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, VH1's Best Week Ever, with Numa Numa having been listed as No. 1 on VH1sTop 40 Internet Superstars.
The New York Times said that Brolsma was an "unwilling and embarrassed Web celebrity" however.[7] He cancelled media appearances, but reappeared in September 2006 with a professionally produced video, New Numa or Numa Numa 2[note 1], featuring a song dedicated to him by the Variety Beats.[8][9] This video, hosted on YouTube, marked the start of the "New Numa Contest", which promised US $45,000 in prize money and a US $25,000 award to the winner.[10] On May 23, 2008, Brolsma was featured alongside other internet celebrities in the MV of Weezer's song "Pork and Beans",[11] from their self-titled 2008 album Weezer.
On December 5, 2014, Brolsma uploaded a video entitled Numa Numa 10-Year Reunion to the Newgrounds. The video featured his lip-syncing of several songs, including Shake It Off by Taylor Swift, Don't Think Twice, It's All Right by Bob Dylan and Firework by Katy Perry. Both the original video and 10-Year Reunion video have been deleted by the moderation team of the Newgrounds over music licensing issues.[12][13][14] Brolsma later stated in an interview, "...I found Dragostea Din Tei in another (I believe it was Japanese) flash animation with cartoon cats".[15]
On April 1, 2017, Brolsma uploaded the original video to his own YouTube channel.[16] On November 20, 2022, an emote based on the viral dance was released in Epic Games' Fortnite: Battle Royale as a collaboration with Brolsma and O-Zone. On May 11, 2023, the video was permanently deleted from the original channel, formerly Numa Networks – now named the Dork Daily, on livestream due to threats of a copyright strike from Brolsma.[17][18]
On 11 August 2023, Brolsma released a remake of his 2004 video on his YouTube channel.[19] As of 17 October 2024, the remake has accumulated 1,771,125 views.[20]
Gary William Brolsma (born January 14, 1986)[21] is an American vlogger and musician who gained worldwide attention after posting the Numa Numa Dance video in 2004. He made appearances on ABC's Good Morning America, NBC's The Tonight Show and VH1's Best Week Ever. A 2006 story in The Believer explored the song's spread and global homogenization, while arguing that Brolsma's video
singlehandedly justifies the existence of webcams... It’s a movie of someone who is having the time of his life, wants to share his joy with everyone, and doesn’t care what anyone else thinks.[22] In 2007, he was voted the Number 1 Internet Icon by VH1 in their 40 Greatest Internet Superstars list, beating the Star Wars kid who placed at Number 2.[4]
