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NEWS / WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
Students find online fame in drag
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
Joe Lauer, a sophomore from Strong City, and Scott Nelson, a graduate from Dodge City, show off one of the signature dance moves from the "Telephone" video. Their take on the Lady Gaga song has been viewed more than 11 million times.
Don's Auto Center
Lawrence's local repair shop | 11th & Haskell | 841-4833
--to develop and shoot the video in a matter of days.
BY RICHELLE BUSER rbuser@kansan.com
Some students dream of worldwide stardom, but thanks to the power of YouTube, a few University students have already achieved it.
Scott Nelson, a former University student from Dodge City, began making music videos with his friend Ryan James Yezak after the two met while attending college in Texas and before transferring to Kansas.
What began as a fun directing project for Yezak eventually led to fame for Nelson, who dressed as Lady Gaga, KeSha and Britney Spears in the videos. Their biggest hit to date, a version of Lady Gaga's "Telephone," has more than 11 million hits on YouTube. The video garnered attention from Perez Hilton, People.com and MTV, which referred to the spoof as "the 'Citizen Kane' of 'Telephone' tribute videos."
The group, which also includes Joe Lauer, a University student from Strong City, and Julian Rivera, a recent graduate in graphic design illustration from Lenexa. They both said Yezak usually initiated the plan, but that the others work together
"I'll get a call from Ryan with an idea, and then I start working on choreography. Then a few of us go out to try and see how we can throw together
WATCH ON YOUTUBE.
COM/RYANJAMESYEZAK
Shoots are primarily done in the Lawrence and Kansas City areas. Students may recognize the upstairs of Henry's, alleyways on Massachussettes Street and parts of campus in the videos. But not everyone encourages the group shooting unofficial music videos at odd hours in extravagant costumes.
costumes spending the least amount of money possible." Rivera said.
Lady Gaga's "Telephone"
Rivera, also known by stage name.
Britney Spears"3"
"We went to the nearest playground where we didn't think there'd be children to shoot Kesha," Nelson said. "Then the cops showed up. I was wearing a gorilla costume at the time trying to keep warm. They weren't too thrilled about us being in a park after midnight and made us leave"
Ke$ha's "Take It Off"
"California Gays" casting call
JOE LAUER
Strong City sophomore
"Anything by Lady Gaga or Britney and I'd be in it in a second."
Luna Flare and as Beyonce in the "Telephone" video, said various KU students were also involved with videos. Normally, he said, the regulars call around to friends to find extras for the shoots.
Yezak, who recently accepted a job with MTV as the executive assistant to the vice president of reality series, now lives in Hollywood, but still plans to direct. He announced an open casting call on his YouTube channel June 14 for his next project, "California Gays." The spoof of Katy Perry's summer hit "California Girls" will include the familiar face of Lauer, although past stars Rivera and Nelson will not be able to fly to
California for the shoot.
But all three agree they'd love to be a part of Yezak's future music videos, especially if they include tracks by a few particular artists.
"Anything by
Lady Gaga or Britney and I'd be in it in a second," Lauer said.
Nelson agrees.
"I'm seriously her biggest fan," he said, revealing a tattoo of the word "toxic" on the inside of his right forearm to prove it.
The boys enjoy their new fame, and make it a point to stay connected with fans through social media outlets. They all said they're surprised by the amount of international responses they've received, including multiple messages and Facebook friend requests from fans in Turkey, Russia and Colombia.
"It's fun to see fans email us in their broken English." Nelson said.
"California Gays" will begin shoot ing on June 26.
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