Gaddafi remix takes web by storm

2011-02-27 18:30

Jerusalem - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi may be reviled by many of his own people and the international community, but he's enjoying an unexpected surge of popularity - as a music video star.

A remix of a rambling 75-minute speech Gaddafi delivered on Tuesday, set to dance music and featuring the strongman alongside footage of two gyrating girls, has gone viral on the internet.

It has racked up almost half-a-million views on the video-sharing website YouTube since it was posted three days ago.

Called Zenga Zenga, the music video mixes Gaddafi's quotes with club beats, using lines in which he vows to fight "inch by inch, home by home, alley by alley" as the chorus for the song.

The clip was created by Israeli musician and DJ Noy Alooshe and appears to be wildly popular in the Arab world despite its origins in the Jewish state.

"Can I get it on DVD so I can play it at the wedding for the bride and groom to dance to?" one commentator wrote in Arabic.

Dancing in the streets

Alooshe, 31, said he was inspired after seeing the speech, in which Gaddafi made various wild gestures and banged on his podium.

"It seemed to be very comic visually. Before I even touched it, it was funny, like a parody," Alooshe told AFP.

"The Zenga Zenga bit had a great beat and I knew it had real potential to be a dance clip."

Alooshe said he was amazed by the reactions, which have been mostly positive, even after his mostly Arab audience discovered the video clip was created by an Israeli.

He has also posted online a version of the spoof hit without the scantily clad dancing girls to take into account sensibilities in the Muslim world. That version has some catching up to do in terms of popularity, with about 50 000 hits so far.

"There were some curses, but still most said it was a great remix," Alooshe said.

"One guy even said that when Gaddafi falls we will dance to this remix in the streets of Tripoli - that would really be something."

- AFP