By Daphne Seah
The Korean-American winner of a contest by Korean rapper PSY to spoof his "Gangnam Style" smash hit says he was complete awestruck when he was picked as the winner.
In the near 4-minute video entitled "American Style" shot at his home, Jun Sung Ahn, 19, plays the violin while a clone dances along to "Gangnam Style".
The hit song, which parodies the lifestyle of the rich in the affluent Gangnam district of Seoul, is the brainchild of chubby Korean rapper Park Jae-Sang, also known as PSY.
Within a month, PSY's hit song and dance went viral, garnering over 27 million views on YouTube to date.
His competition calling for people to create their own spoof videos has spawned hundreds of copycat videos.
Jun, who goes by the screen name of Jun CurryAhn, told Yahoo! Singapore, "I was completely awestruck. I was already happy he commented on my video and people really enjoyed it, but this really made my day. I always looked up to PSY's work and enjoyed his songs, and now that he recognised me like this, I felt like my life was complete."
The Illinois resident, who moved to the United States at the age of nine, also has his own Youtube channel of violin covers with a loyal following.
Jun said he actually created his dance/violin entry before PSY's contest.
Hearing about the contest through friends in Korea, he submitted the video without expecting anything, and is now "even more surprised and happy" winning.
After his submission, Jun said he received an unsolicited Facebook comment from PSY himself, giving the video kudos. Then, topping it off, PSY announced Jun as the winner last week.
Explaining his decision in Korean, PSY or Park Jae-Sang, 34, said, "I chose the video which I thought had the coolest idea. Lots of other videos got lots of recognition and popularity, and very well-made. While those were good parodies of my video, Jun's video was sort of a remake to the song. It was creative, especially when he added a melody to my 'Oppan Gangnam Style' verse."
"Also, he cloned himself. One danced while the other played violin. It was very creative, unique and artistic. Thus, American Style video and Jun CurryAhn wins the grand prize."
Beating all his opponents with over 580,000 combined video views, Jun wins a trip to Saipan, PSY's Korea concert tickets and a meet-and-greet.
However, rules dictate that the contest was originally based in Korea, so Jun unfortunately missed PSY's concert.
Currently figuring out the details for Saipan, Jun is really excited about the trip, but says PSY's recognition "is already a huge surprise and honour."
Not quite harbouring collaboration hopes, Jun still wishes to meet the star sometime.
He says, "I truly admire PSY's work, and it would be a life changing experience for me if I got to meet him in person!"
Watch the original Gangnam Style video by PSY here.
