'Flash mobs' go viral around the world

Cross-posted at the Washington Examiner....

Have you seen them? Flash mobs, those random eruptions into song and dance in public places worldwide, sometimes by thousands of participants who appear to be going about their business as usual and suddenly begin a choreographed performance before dispensing back into the crowd, are popping up everywhere. Videos of these fun events are going viral, receiving tens of millions of hits from viewers as word spreads through emails, blogs, and Facebook about this growing phenomenon.

One very popular example of a flash mob is the March 2009 video that featured over 200 participants in Antwerp, Belgium, Central train station who spontaneously broke into choreographed dance steps to the  Sound of Music song "Do Re Mi" while passers-by watch in amazement. The video has received more than 21 million hits.

Not viewed by quite that many people but still popular, a "Glee" flash mob with over 1,000 dancers took place in Seattle earlier this year, dancing to a medley of songs from the hit television series. The video has already been viewed by over 1.1 million people so far.

Almost two million have watched the very entertaining Ohio State University students dance to "Don't Stop Belivin' " in the Ohio Union student activity center. Even Elvis got into the flash  mob act at the Mall of America, and Oprah was surprised with a flash mob of 21,000 who danced to the Black Eyed Peas song "Tonight's Going To Be A Good Night." That video has had more than 2.6 million viewers.

The Hallelujah Chorus, a popular Christmas selection, was the song of choice for over 650 Philadelphia Opera Company singers on October 30th of this year who labeled it a "random act of culture." Posing as shoppers in downtown Philly's Macy's Department Store, formerly known as Wanamaker's, the choristers responded as the Wanamaker organ, the largest pipe organ in the world, began the familiar opening chords from Handel's "Messiah" at precisely 12:00 Noon. The event was funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation who hope to have 1,000 "random acts of culture" over the next three years with the intention of taking "the classical arts out of the concert halls and opera houses" and into the communities, as posted on the YouTube page.

Among its links of news stories on Sunday, the Drudge Report featured a link to the video of a flash mob that entertained unsuspecting shoppers in a food court, also with the Hallelujah Chorus. Filmed less than three weeks ago, it has already picked up almost 11 million views.

ImprovEverywhere has spent the past decade executing a flash mob-type of event including one at New York's Grand Central Terminal filmed two years ago featuring over 200 people who froze in place, a video that has had over 24 million hits. A dance tribute to Michael Jackson filmed in Stockholm, Sweden, has captured 8 million viewers watching 300 dance in sync to "Beat It."

One of the newest flash mobs that was filmed a week ago took place in a mall in Michigan when "shoppers" began singing "Silent Night." Another, filmed just two days ago at a pedestrian mall on Nantucket, features participants wearing Santa hats and dancing to a montage of Christmas music beginning with "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town."

Want to find more flash mob performances? Go to YouTube.com and search for "flash mobs" or "random acts of culture" and take your pick from the dozens and dozens of videos available with more hitting the airways every day. With interest growing, don't be surprised if you're eating lunch in the food court one day and suddenly your fellow diners begin to sing and dance. You could be witnessing a flash mob.

Angry backlash from Oprah fans over Obama support

Oprah is experiencing an angry backlash from her fans because of her public support and campaigning for democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama.

According to the LA Times:

Winfrey's website has been buzzing for weeks with angry postings about her involvement in the Illinois senator's campaign, something Hollywood, which always keeps its eye on the public mood, is bound to notice -- this is a town, after all, that measures success by weekly grosses and daily TV ratings.

One posting on her site, Oprah.com, accused the talk diva of being a traitor. (By Thursday, that message string had attracted more than 12,000 views.) Another poster told Winfrey to "stop pushing Obama down our throats." (There were 3,000 hits logged on that one.)

Another said: "Do you really know Barack Hussein Obama? Scary & something we have to take into consideration!" (There were more than 4,000 views for that.)

"First of all I want to say that I am a HUGE Oprah fan," one poster wrote. "I love what she stands for. She is a strong woman changing the world. However, I have been extremely disappointed with her recent touring with Barack Obama. It is a manipulation and an abuse of her power and influence on the American culture.

"Let the American people form their own opinion, Oprah."

Since Winfrey announced over the summer that she was supporting Obama, more than 25,000 views of more than 345 separate discussions -- almost all of them centering on the campaign -- have been roiling along in the local and world news section of her website. By comparison, there were eight discussions going in recent weeks on the issue of global warming, which had generated about 1,100 views.

Oprah is discovering politics is a polarizing activity.