Young Justin Bieber (Photo : YouTube)
In the internet era, stars are not just creations of the movies or television but also video sharing sites such as YouTube. The best examples are Justin Bieber and Charice Pempengco who were noticed by music industry companies because of their YouTube videos.
It explains why young people who want to follow the two would do anything to become internet sensations. That includes performing dangerous stunts or crazy things just to be noticed, shared, talked about and attract followers who are their stepping stones to fame and fortune.
In China, one example of an internet star is a construction worker who uses the alias Xiao Wei. Before performing gym exercises on the construction site or his room, Xiao Wei sets up three mobile phones from different angles to record his moves on the scaffolding. Not all his stunts are successful because he once fell and had serious head injuries, reported South China Morning Post.
In the case of Xiao Xia, he does not do dangerous stunts but show wounds like he did. The gory display of scars and bloodied flesh got him 500,000 followers.
On the other hand, Ma Shuai dons a Batman mask while doing weird acts such as breaking porcelain plates on his head and asking a friend to push him into a deep pond even if he goes not know how to swim, just to get a surprise reaction crazy enough to attract viewers.
Some of them are not even Chinese, like Thomas, a German expat married to a Chinese woman, who portrays various zany characters while speaking Mandarin with a Shanghai accent, reported Asia One. At times, it gets pleasant such as when a Chinese boy uses his dancing talent using Salsa music.
