Sydney creative Derrick Kim has adopted an alter ego – and won almost 60,000 fans already.
After a lot of social media jibing that he looks like Korean pop star Psy, Kim decided to play along and turn himself into Syp.
Almost 20,000 Youtube video views and 57,000 Facebook fans later, and it’s turned into more than just a joke. Kim is now gearing up to perform at a US stadium after being booked for a corporate concert.
Kim, creative director at 18 Feet & Rising, told B&T: “When it was early days for Psy, my friends on Facebook were saying I had a part-time job. It then kept growing for Psy.”
Syp went public for the first time at a function for 18 Feet & Rising client Korean Tourism.
“Me and Ben (Colman) went to a client function for Korean Tourism, and the client wanted me to dress up as Psy for fun,” said Kim. “So many people asked ‘are you him?’ and people wanted to take a photo with me. Everyone in the room thought I was the real Psy and Ben pretended he was my security guard. They didn’t know if I was really Psy or not.”
After an appearance on Network Seven’s Sunrise, when Kim turned up at Psy’s concert for the morning show in October, Syp started winning more fans. The video of his appearance on Sunrise has collected almost 14,000 views on YouTube.
Kim said: “Everyone got really confused – even the reporters wanted to interview me so I chatted to Larry Emdur. I did a bit of a dance in front of the cameras too. So, I got on TV!”
He has also recorded Gangnam Style in English and posted it on YouTube, attracting nearly 2,000 views.
This week, Kim jetted off to the States for two corporate concerts – one for for GoDaddy.com at the Chase Field Stadium in Phoenix, and a second at a holiday resort. Kim’s trip was all expenses paid, complete with business class flights and an appearance fee.
He added: “I have had a lot of fun with Syp. I can sing, I’ve always sung, so perhaps there is room for a quirky Australian guy doing this.”
Photos by Chris Mollison and Liam Mendes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMn_6Mw7cPU
