Gabriel Medina backflip goes Gangnam Style
On Monday this week Gabriel Medina posted a Twitter message saying he had, "Just landed the best air of my life...the clip is coming soon". That short announcement precluded a burst of online fervour that exposed the power of social media.
On Tuesday morning Medina released the video onto YouTube. Although the clip shows just a single move it rapidly spread around the surfing world. Yesterday morning the video, which contains no branding or company endorsement, had been viewed over 250,000 times. This morning (Thursday), just 48 hours after release, it has had just over 670,000 views. Although the numbers are slowing the clip should hit the one million mark within the next few days.
It needs to be noted that those numbers represent the total number of times the clip has been viewed, not the amount of people who have seen it. Some excitable people have viewed the clip multiple times - you can put me in that category.
Nevertheless it's an impressive number for the relatively small surfing world, especially considering it received no company exposure, ad campaign or marketing of any sort to raise awareness. A healthy profile and some social media nous was all it took to prime the audience. There are some lessons to be learnt here.
To put Gabriel's single move clip in some sort of context the most viewed legitimate surfing clip on YouTube is a six minute video of Teahupoo's historic Code Red day. It's been seen over 6 million times, while Chris Bryan's amazing Phantom footage from the same day is yet to crack a million. Both are heavily edited videos of a once-in-a-lifetime swell and stand in stark contrast to Medina's single 10-second wave.
I used the word legitimate because the most viewed surfing clip on YouTube is a pirated version of the first wave in the documentary Riding Giants - Mike Parsons towing into a Jaws behemoth as seen from a helicopter. The video is incorrectly titled 'surfer riding a tsunami' and it's been seen an amazing 36 million times. Having the word 'tsunami' in the title has no doubt broadened the scope and attracted people from outside the surfing world.
And to put all the above into context the most viewed video on YouTube of all time is Gangnam Style by South Korean singer Psy. At present it's been viewed 775 million times and I'm very happy to say I haven't made a single contribution to that total.
Comments
Where's Gabriels backflip?
Where did it happen or where is the clip?
North Shore and here:
It says 588,579??
YouTube has a lag between the count on the video page and the real count. Check here: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gabriel+medina&oq=gabriel+me...
It's gone up 5,000 views just in the last hour.
20 years ago bodyboarders were claiming the high ground in progressive surfing but I havent seen anything new on a lid in that long.
Be it slab surfing(check out the new vimeo clip of The Right in WA) or new school tricks, standups are ruling the roost!
Medina's is blowing my mind with this shit! I wasn't much of a fan of Brazillian surfing until now.
Maybe, but you really oughta watch gangnam style.
Maybe. The whole Gangnam Style thing really messed with me. I never watch television yet a few weeks ago I found myself up late at night while staying at my in-laws. I turned the box on and saw an advertisement for Channel 9 where a whole lot of people did a dance and some cheeseball at the head of the troupe said some words that for the life of me I couldn't understand. "What the fuck is he saying?" I quietly said to my partner. She shrugged her shoulders, couldn't understand it either.
Then over the following weeks I kept seeing references to Gangnam Style in newspapers and on websites. Being the curious fella I am I Googled it and the pieces of the jigsaw fell into place. The cheeseball on Channel 9 was saying "Gangnam Style" and they were doing the dance and it was such a big hit that a network TV station used it in their jingle expecting the populace to know and understand it.
And then, if I wasn't already feeling out of touch, I see on YouTube that Gangnam Style has been viewed nearly a billion times! Makes a man feel pretty irrelevant.
Also, I told a lie, I did watch Gangnam Style once. My faith in humanity dipped a few notches.
Watch it ratchet up if he renamed the clip 'freshly waxed petite Brazillian teen does it Gangnam Style'.
Just sayin'...
Hehe. I mean, don't get me wrong I'm with ya stu but I've started to get into this kinda thing. A mate of mine over here in the US totally embraces that kind of stuff. She and my woman talked me into going to the LMFAO concert when they toured. Absolutely awful gig it was. Terrible music and shitty sound in the "arena" but gees it was a fun night. Now I'm usually a Neil young kinda fella (who isn't? ) but things changed. I saw the fun in the total pisstake and the fun in pop music for pop music's sake.
I dunno really this is all getting a navel gazey so to bring it back on topic, I was always a fan of the power surfers, Taylor Knox, Egan and Kong. But looking at medina and his mates doing backflips and whatever else, I'm starting to dig it.
Hey Benski,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse are back touring and hit here March 2013. Massive reviews coming out of the US.
Redeem yourself and get some tickets quick.
Comes a time old man, after the gold rush, when only love can break your heart. A Cinnamon girl (aka Medina) comes rockin' in the free world like a hurricane, spouting 'Ohio' (which is Japanese for G'day) leaving the cowgirl in the sand helpless, and the southern man relegated to stroking his beard, muttering hey hey, my my down by the river on this harvest moon.
Floyd and Benski- you both have hearts of gold.
From surfer joe and moe the sleaze.
Check this out.... thru the magic of music videos without music, one can break it down and see, how lame the action really is.
And if you don't have a hunter after this you're either....
Gaybriel Medina.
&feature=relatedHoly shit, nice work zen! I'll make that my playlist for the day. Maybe that'll help ease the shame.
Floyd, I just missed em here. Spewin. I found out about the tour too late and couldn't get tickets. I'll have to be satisfied with the show in bris that I saw about 3 or so years back.
I've been getting into Father John Misty at the moment though. Worth a look if they've passed anyone by. Really good live. I'm gonna say they're Parko to gangnam style's Medina. Not flashy but well stylish and easy on the ears.
Love the nasal twang of Neil Young but he used up his last chance with me after the Greendale tour. What an indulgent snorefest that was. First song on the latest Crazy Horse album is reportedly 30 mins long. It doesn't bode well for a zappy live gig.
Like Yorkesurfer and others have said I'm also starting to like Gabs Medina and some of the other young BRazilians. They dont seem to have the pretension or entitlement of other Aus and US pros, and Medina in particular is both a great comp surfer and free surfer. He's certainly shaken the 'flicky style' Brazo stereotype.
Can't get into Gangnam style though.
Nice work Zen, at last count there is over 500 songs to choose from and you picked some quality. The guy is a legend. Too bad Benski it will good; but I guess you already know that.
Hey Bells, too bad you didn't like the Greendale concert, not even the 2nd 1/2 when he just about blasted us all into space. Fuck you must hard to please ......
http://www.sugarmtn.org/searchresults.php (was that 9 years ago?)
Track 1 of the new album is Driftin' Back @ 27.36 minutes and I love that about NY; no pop music there.
What about the 18.11 version of Cowgirl in the Sand on Road Rocks Vol 1?
I went and saw the Greendale concert and didn't really enjoy it either. Feels kinda blasphemous saying that, I've always dug his extended songs, Down by the River, Cowgirl in the Sand etc, and his endless one-chord solos sound just fine on album or CD, but try as I might I just couldn't get into it. Was a bit of a bum note for me.
Anyhoo, Gab's video is just about to crack 750,000 hits.
Gangnam Style!
Great manoeuvre, insufferable music. In keeping with this thread I say he reworks it with 'Piece of Crap' as backing track. Irony intended of course.
Thanks yorkssurfer, we've got a few new recent ones in bodyboarding like invert-to-air reverse, and some great new tweaked/underflips happening. And we're now working on doubling up our moves in bodyboarding. Double air-rolls and double spins are being done now, and we're working on double air reverses and double backflips, with a number of guys getting oh-so-close to landing them.
But aside from that we're always just trying to go bigger and crazier with our airs in big consequential waves, with riders contemplating what it would take to hit and land something at The Right.
Here's a glimpse of 'going bigger' especially the few waves starting at 0:22
Why is this going so gangbusters, or 'gangnam'... vomit.
What about poor old Flynn Novak's backflip he named the 'flintstone'. Why is Medina's going so ballistic, when Flynn's been doing them for a fair while now. I even think the footage here is better than Medina's anyway.
&feature=relatedDefinitely questions worth asking, Arbus. Profile has got a lot to do with it, but I think Gabriel has also very subtly engineered it in his favour. He did a flip a few days earlier that was pretty amazing so the audience was already primed. Then he immediately followed it up while everyone was in an excitable state. Boom! Viral video....
@Arbus,
1) He's got a large profile
2) He's young so his followers are also young and social media savvy
3) The video is short so there's no time investment from the viewer
4) He's not selling anything. People wont share overtly commercial videos, it's the modern equivalent of selling Amway to friends.
5) He had very fortunate timing (See Stunet's point above)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, get technical trick but I am starting to get over the airs (maybe old and grumpy). That turn Dane did on the close out at Haliewa was waaayyyy better. Critical timing with a stack of rail and fins. Wasn't particularly pretty but it was radical on a heavy wave. That guy is a freak, pity he isn't on the tour so we could see a bit more of this. Once Medina can start hacking into it like Dane and Jordy then he will win me over (and doesn't cry when he comes second).
and doesn't cry when he comes second
That says it all for me. And someone tell him to stop claiming every fucking air reverse he pulls off.
Used to be a time when airs were the move and the rest of the wave was blown, but now these guys are using them to link sections. What Heitor Alvez did on tour was unreal, and didn't interrupt the flow at all. (can't remember which comp)
First thing that Medina does when pulling off a trick is look to shore "Look at me!" - shits me to tears, but he's a talented little freak for sure.
Pretty hard to go wow when watching clips of new school surfing these days.
Pump pump air-reverse.
Pump pump air-reverse.
Wake me when something actually happens.
Not being critical ZA but reckon it could be an age thing? Like, all the young folk love the air-revs so there must be something in it. Perhaps air-revs are to groms as re-entries were to us? And perhaps even older blokes whinged about reos and pined for solid cutbacks?
Although, having said all that and made an earnest attempt at appreciation air-revs also bore the shit out of me.
It is an age thing and makes it even worse because I've never done one.
Bastards!!
Thanks Stu & Abc-OD.
I am aware of the logic of why it is popular & receiving so many views. My comment wasn't really a question as to why, but a poorly worded criticism of how social media / viral videos & the pack mentality of the general population.
For those of you who enjoy TED talks like I do.. the link here is by YouTube's trend manager. His entire job is to analyse trends and viral videos on YouTube.. http://www.ted.com/speakers/kevin_allocca.html
As an aside.. I personally think the Gangnam clip is hilarious. 500million views hilarious I'm not so sure..
Stu or Thermal - totally separate. When was today's pic of West taken?
Arbus,
I'm fascinated by how these trends appear and what drives them. As you may be able to tell from the story above the subject matter is secondary to the broader dynamics at play. Call it hive mind, collective unconscious or pack mentality, the shit is intriguing.
Che's shot was taken a while ago, a few months at least. It's been that long since he was out west. Makes me feel I've gotta get back there soon - love that wave.
Think I'm with Zen (prob part age thing as well stu), certainly think differently to Derra about Medina. His bad sportsmanship (Portugal was not the first) fits my definition of entitlement more than any other surfer on tour.
I'm also quickly tiring of guys being rewarded in comps for poor wave selection. If it's a poor quality wave then reward one manoeuvre with a big score. But, if the comp is at a wave that allows for a variety of turns on the one wave then don't give the max score for one turn. It's gone too far in the effort to take away the predictability. Actually, Medina is already the most predictable surfer on tour - if he needs a score he is going to go for a huge air knowing the judges will prob give him the score. He also has the talent and ability to pull them off a lot. I think airs are great when they from part of a full wave ridden (e.g. Medina's 10 in Portugal - deep tube to air was amazing!).
It's not Medina's fault they are scoring this way. This whole trend started with Kelly. The Bells final several years ago against Bede saw the lamest air ever in a comp- he should have been penalised for trying to sway the judges with a crap air on a crap wave. Of course he got the score and so the platform was established.
And so Pipe 2012. If it's small, what are the chances of a Medina backflip to win it? Pretty high I would think.
Judging by the rate this article is accumulating comments I'd say it in itself is going Gangham style.
My two cents is that I find air reverses kind of boring in the same way that anything over-done gets boring. But when you see a good one where they hit it hard and get really inverted.... they're sick. Just like carving or reos, or whatever, the move is made by how aggressivlely you come at it. That's what makes Dane stand out from the rest of the pack who do air revs as a watered down 'finishing move'.
And Gabs backflip looks wild. He's a freak, and he may or may not be a knob, but he's a competitive animal. Wants to be the best. Always. Look at how he rides and hassles people in his heats until they snap. I'd hate to be in the lineup with him and he's probably not going to be a mate of mine but it makes for good watching in the comps.
"And so Pipe 2012. If it's small, what are the chances of a Medina backflip to win it? Pretty high I would think."
Good point Chrisb. Wonder if he will try and pull one at Pipe? Kelly first unleashed his Rodeo Clown in a Pipe Masters heat (2001 I think, he didn't land it). Small Pipe, riding into a light trade wind, he'd have to be feeling confident.
Hmmmmmm..... All the surfers names on a pipe masters trophy, most that I remember in solid or decent pipe.
2012 pipe master, Medina, 2 foot slop and won with an air reverse/rodeo clown/inverted whatever the fuck they name it. Doesn't quite sit right to me. But hey, I'm just a grumpy old man off topic..
Fitzy, what happened to your post justifying grumpy old men like ourselves?
Just watched the Reef day 3 highlights clip.
Gabriel Medina, same 3 punts on 3 identical waves. Ho hum....
North Shore, Santa Cruz, Peniche, La Gravierre, everyones talkin' bout-
Pop Music!!
I'm actually inclined to agree with you.
Well, I'm an idiot...
Same wave, 3 different angles.
Still stand by my 'ho hum' call.
God Fitzy, I hope it won't be so.
PS, I meant Floyds post. Saturday night, a few beers, not much on tv.
I'll never learn.
Don't know what happened to Flyod's post after mine. I quite enjoy his angle on things.
I don't watch too many vids/clips these days for that very reason you speak of Zen. Although I watched the entire Chopes code red day live just frothing with what I was witnessing.
I probably hang a bit of shit on Medina because of that style of surfing (constant airs)but he did impress me a bit in some solid conditions.
If he was to win Pipe (or anyone for that matter), I would hope it would be in solid pipe conditions, as then to me, it would be a deserved win.
Hope all is well with you and yours.
Having wrote what I really think about the robotic sameness of aerials and pro-surfing here the other day I got all grumpy and deleted them. Still reckon its all a three finned circus coated in multiple layers of bullshit.
Anyway ...........
Cortez the Killer ...........
http://neilyoungnews.thrasherswheat.org
in my meaningless opinion, Percival Young is an absolute bore.
And blokes like Gaybriel? ... They are a perfect fit.
As "free" surfing,
and the impeding stadium surfing,
is the future.
Why are people putting shit on Medina here? he clearly is leading the charge in progressive surfing with the likes of John John John John.
Both dudes are freaks. sure everyones getting sick of air revs but i'm sure if you were all able to do them you'd be happy to bust 1 at your local.
Putting shit on him cause he deserves it for being a sore loser. Did you see his performance in Portugal? Absolutely disgraceful. Spoilt little brat. His old man needs a good kick up the bum as well - not a great role model.
portugal performance was disgusting----i hope the spoilt rude little fucker gets drilled at pipe, and his sponsers word him up on sportsman ship...
I've gotta agree with a lot of the comments here in that there is nothing I hate worse than the spoilt brat, claim every wave, air reverse, air reverse, air reverse, air reverse sameness that we are seeing from Medina and his like that the judges keep scoring up, compared to pure power surfing with functional moves that fit in to the wave which seem to continually get beaten by those one turn waves.
A good air is great to watch every now and then but it is so damn predictable now with the younger crew that you know it going to happen before they take of on most of the waves. And fuck me, why is it that one or two floaters are scored so highly compared to full on rail gouges in critical parts of the wave has got me stuffed!
As far as the bad sportsmanship of Medina and others, they are only the tip of the iceberg of some of the even younger crew yet to make it onto the tour that I've had the displeasure of seeing at junior comps.
I don't know what, or even if they are being taught about being humble and a good sport anymore by their parents or coaches because Medina's actions are commonplace amongst the younger kids at any junior event theses days.
Unfortunatley my spelling is shit but no where as bad as the attitudes of tomorrows surf stars of the future! Like victor says, maybe their sponsors need to pull them into line if the parents and coaches can't or won't.
Thats my two bobs worth anyway.
Like him or not Gabs' backflip video has now had 975,000 views on YouTube and will soon crack a million.
Gangnam Style!
Stu, not starting to suffer from priapism are you?
Got nought to do with the content, Floyd, it's the capricious nature of modern media that gets me hard
omfg lolz stunet. much lolz'ing and rofl'ing indeed... indeed.
Unfortunately for Gabriel, he's still being left for dead by another Gabriel...
&feature=endscreen&NR=1Mind melting stuff to be sure, Medina shouldn't feel too bad, he just needs to work on a double backflip, and maybe get some titty and butt implants to fill out, and then fall out of a nice little brazilian bikini while he soars through the air. Wouldn't be the first pro surfer... progressive is the word of the moment aye?
Anyway, if you have picked your face up from floor after viewing Senhor Valim and his coterie of string wrapped awkward dancing bubble butt brasileira babes, maybe you could all spare a thought for Medina's age and upbringing and lay the shit on those who really deserve it... his parents and whichever countless other sicophants who have guided him to where he is now.
You can say that John John is the same age but is humble and gracious etc etc I know not every hawaiian is humble but John John has grown up amongst heavy water and heavy locals. Good parents too, it would appear. These things teach humilty. Then again, maybe it's largely just his nature.
Gabriels Dad is obviously... enthusiastic, to say the least. I'm pretty sure he would have been 'enthusiastic' throughout his sons life. His whole family seemed to have been fine with it and Medina would had people hailing him the messiah for years. Of course he loves himself, it would take a rare character at his age not too. But hell, 95% of the pro's love themselves. Most of them have just learnt with age and wisdom to trim it to a healthier level and keep it under wraps in the spotlight. Loving yourself and expecting to win is an attribute as a competitive athlete. Kelly is the king of it, he has just mastered the art of turning his glowing self adoration into a pseudo-intellectual zen glow instead. It's fairly fragile and cracks easily and often during competition.
Gabriel will grow up of his own accord, it's not pretty when he spits it but it is entertaining. I actually think he's turned into a fairly honest, direct and polite kid considering his dad has obviously pushed pressure onto him for years... brazilian alpha males aren't known for being humble and self-effacing. It's not a bad thing, just different to what the status quo has appointed to be 'cool' and 'proper' in the world of surfing. Bad sportsmanship is bad sportsmanship, but hell, it took Andy long enough to stop throwing his baby out... and Sunny STILL hasn't learnt. They are Legends of the sport and most people love[ed] them for it. But hey, they're Hawaiian so it's cool.
call him a sore loser all you want. he deserved to win Portugal IMO.
He was a sore loser and I don't believe he deserved to win in Portugal IMO.
That's 2 consecutive years Medina has done well in Hawaii.
Looked pretty cheerful on the podium, too. Not.
Another interesting point: for all the buzz about how Sunset favours locals and their wave know-how, not to mention all the help they get in the draw, there were 3 Brazzos, 4 Aussies but only one Hawaiian in the semis today.
That wasn't left unnoticed by me too whaaaat. And his surfing wasn't particularly inspiring either. He only got home on the back of that tuberide.
Even his claim didn't have the usual verve.
Dog! Do NOT get me started on that f@@####kin claim!!!
Don't worry my friend, looked like JDubs claim rubbed off on Ace too.
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.
Onwards and upwards to Pipeline.
Tally-ho.
Isn't the only reason ACE got in there was because JOB failed to keep the proper time?
Hey yo, William Jonathan Drayton Junior Jamie,
Team Timex called.
They have a set of fresh batteries for 'yer Flavor Flav clock.
http://rollingout.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/flavor-flav-clock.jpg
@zenagain "Onwards and upwards to Pipeline."
Just packing to go to Hawaii with the missus. We'll be there to see Joel take it out - GO JOEL!
Check the replay video. Note his uncomfortable, ever changing reactions.
Note how the Triple Crown commentators, especially that roving revolter, Toad Klein, who states he "doesn't want to rub it in", and then proceeds to fully RUB IT IN on old JOB/Team Timex.
Tick the Heat Analyzer, click the drop down feature at the link below. And click on Quarter Final Heat 3.
Con someone please get JOB a Flavor Flav neck watch?
http://www.vanstriplecrownofsurfing.com/vansworldcupofsurfing2012/heat-a...
Aloha Rushy.
Have fun mate.
Go Parko!
Cheers Zen.
Would you believe the wife won this trip? Gotta love Moccona Coffee.
Ja mata ne and aloha.
Shit yeah Rushy. Watching any Pipe Masters is a bucket list activity but this one, which'll end with a sentimental title or the final cherry on a stellar career, could be the best yet.
Enjoy.