YouTube makes prisoners famous
2008-04-27 21:15
Cebu - The central
Philippine island of Cebu is renowned as a holiday destination
but these days it's the provincial jail not the balmy beaches
drawing in the visitors.
Inmates at the prison shot to fame last year when a video
clip of them gyrating in synch to Michael Jackson's Thriller
as part of their exercise regime became a You Tube hit.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha7VwGJDsrk).
The dance sensation, complete with zombie movies and
involving over 1 000 prisoners in orange jumpsuits, has
attracted nearly 15 million online views. And now spectators
are flocking to the live show.
"It was great. I had fun. Two thumbs up," said Kathleen, a
local university student and one of hundreds of people who
visit the jail every month to catch the inmates' grooving in
harmony.
From viewing platforms surrounding the exercise ground the
audience cheer and dance as if it was a rock concert.
The dance numbers include Queen's Radio Ga Ga and a new
routine of the Bonnie Tyler song I Need a Hero which involves
inmates holding portraits of iconic figures such as the Dalai
Lama, Pope John Paul II and Mahatma Ghandi.
"They are so good at dancing all the time," said Anne
Yzerman, a research student from The Netherlands. "I was really
impressed."
At the end of the two hour programme, which is held the
last Saturday of every month, visitors can have their pictures
taken with the prisoners. They can also buy souvenir prison
shirts.
Byron Garcia, who oversees the jail and introduced the
dance routines last year as a way of improving morale, said the
prisoners were enjoying the switch from notoriety to celebrity.
"They are very proud of themselves being watched by the
public".