By now, most of you are familiar with the name Greyson Michael Chance. About a week ago, no one (other than the few thousand people living in Edmond, Oklahoma) knew anything about the 6th grader who has now skyrocketed to fame and scored his own record deal. Millions of YouTube views later, many are wondering whether this young boy became popular by chance or by a group of professionals with a brilliantly planned marketing scheme.
In the last week Greyson has graced the homepage of popular websites like PEOPLE.com, PerezHilton.com and Jezebel.com, has appeared on hit shows like Ellen Degeneres and has signed an exclusive record deal with Interscope. All in a week’s work? We don’t think so. In fact, this marketing ploy may have been in the works for months.
Many skeptics are taking a closer look into the phenomenon that has become Greyson Michael Chance. A man who lives just outside of Edmond, Oklahoma has both a brother and sister-in-law who work at the same school the original YouTube clip was taped. The man claims the school is co-ed and finds it extremely ironic that there are no boys in the audience. He also points out that the camera work so strategically focuses on the young girls oogling the young boy and questions how a boy so young could have planned the video so perfectly. It’s also concerning that at the end of his performance Greyson does not address the people watching him perform, but instead turns to the camera to take a bow. In other words, the whole thing seems rehearsed – and strategically composed by someone with experience in this area of marketing.
Besides the fact that Greyson’s video managed to hit almost every major media outlet in the country (we’re not sure how an unknown video can go viral so fast without anyone seeding the clip), many agree that his answers during his interview with Ellen seem rehearsed. Not only did Greyson seem very comfortable in front of the camera, he made jokes and spoke in a manner that many would concur seemed coached.
We’re not sure what to believe but, we have to say, it all feels a little weird to us. Could we have been blindsided by the cuteness of this 6th grader to the point that we didn’t even notice we were being duped?
Now we’re wondering if Greyson Michael “Chance” is even his real name after all.
All good points Angela. And reasonable. But I have have to wonder if it really matters given the obvious talent of the boy. If he was coached/rehearsed, he learned it very well. All of our good entertainers (and not so good) are coached and have gorilla marketing on their sides. I don’t particularly like being duped and may find myself offended (I liked the whole idea of it after all), but at the end of the day the boy is clearly good enough to be potentially great and has succeeded very well in capturing our interest.
hi your really good at your singing and piano! and your only 13 years old love u lots xx
Um, are there no parents in the video, so this is an orphanage?
Give me a break. The kids on the video (and yes there are at least 3 boys, if you visit the other vid of this that’s from a wider angle – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c_7wj4F11k ) are students as well, but the parents are sitting in a different area, behind the camera. He bows to them. Why would the other kids be The, capital T, Audience?
“A man who lives just outside of Edmond, Oklahoma has both a brother and sister-in-law who work at the same school ”
Love how it’s just, oh, some man. No name or anything, eh? Actually, it was filmed in a church not a school and the show involved multiple schools. Also, I know someone who is a friend of Greyson’s enrichment teacher, from Edmond, so guess what, quoting some anonymous, perhaps fictional man, in order to try to drum up fears of massive conspiracy won’t work.
It’s almost funny, in a tragic way, that people who seem to fear that they were fooled by a conspiracy can so easily be fooled by their own fears into believing in conspiracies that don’t exist.
Have you “detectives” noticed that the girls in the video are not in the audience, but on the stage? He turns and bows to the audience. Get a freaking life.
I can always spot fake videos and spoofs. Here, the singing is real, the playing is real, the girls’ reaction is real. What the boy, the parents, and talent agents decided to do with the video was up to them, but this wouldn’t have become popular without the singing and the reactions.
This might be the dumbest article I have ever read. The kid said it was a chorus night…how many guys you know that were in sixth grade chorus. You are such an idiot trying to downgrade this kid’s talent and success. Where did you study journalism, Devry? I can tell you this thing went viral so fast because the kid is good, the song is good, and the story is great. I can also tell you what’s not going viral and that is your pathetic, no fact having, fictional story telling.
If you would read comments from people that were at the concert and not just write a story, you would know it wasn’t staged and that the actual sound was done by another kid! I doubt a record label is going to trust another 12 year old with his sound if they want to manufacture this! LOL! You people are goofy!
Finally, the day it went viral, if you would have went to Ellen’s facebook, before it made Yahoo news you would have seen that were hundreds of people writing her to get the kid on the show! It wasn’t until Ellen announced she was going to have the kid on the show that the news picked it up!
well im in 8th and i just graduated but i know when i was in 6th girls tended to sit with girls and guys tended to sit with guys so poeple truely need to back off Greyson.. So obviously he had a Guy videotape it for him and MABY, just maby, he was videotaping it towards the girls, he bowed towards his camera, and maby the stairs off the stage were on the side he left on so he just bowed as he was walking off stage… AND AT THE END IF U RETARDS LOOK THERE IS A GUY.. bushy head man… look its there dont deny it..
Actually this was filmed at a local church and if you look at other versions of the video floating around, there are boys in the audience, off to the right side of the screen. I think all these conspiracy theories about the public being “duped” are plain stupid and paranoid. There’s nothing glitzy or staged about this kid. Meanwhile, his life goes on. He’s posting pictures of himself with his dog and his soccer buddies on his Facebook page. Doesn’t get more normal than that. He got on Ellen because she’s spending all month showcasing everyday people from YouTube. All it takes is a few emails and Facebook posts for something to go viral on social media.
your an idiot. If this was fake it would’ve come out by now, people can’t keep secrets. It is very possible he was signed before he went on Ellen’s show though, his video was viral for a few days before Ellen and the companies are all looking for the “next” justin bieber. he is on interscope now, the guy who signed him is friends with dr. dre, seriously lol.
The sound is way too good to be an iphone
what recorded the video & audio
i think the boy has talent AND YOU SHOULD GET OFF HIS BACK!!!
he is goo so please shut up
Who cares if it was staged?!?! The kid is incredible!!!
Jealousy can make people say stupid things.
I hate how the blogging “industry” has created the oxymoron that is “subjective journalism.” In an article that should be written well-enough to be taken seriously, you site NO sources, use your own opinion, and say nothing of real substance. I’m beginning to think that bloggers are only useful for stirring the pot, so to speak, and you don’t even do that well.
wow! I don’t think I’ve ever heard a blogger sound more jealous! Seriously? Who cares what you think or if Chance is a stage name? He’s a talented 12 year old. Cheers to success for everyone with real talent – no matter what the talent it. And I’d say perhaps blogging and investigative reporting are NOT your talent??? Maybe try something different..
Whoever wrote this is a complete idoit!!! It absolutely makes not sense.
I can put your concerns to rest. Greyson is the little brother of my close friend Ashley Chance. Grey son is the real deal. it took them literally by storm over night. He is a very bright young kid and has always dabbled in music. hate to burst your bubble…but he is the real deal. Laurie
oh and by the way…his name..is really…Greyson Michael Chance. some things do seem hard to believe…but in this case…Greyson deserves his moment. the fact is…his parents are quite overwhelmed..but they are trying their best to take each day by day. Laurie
“turns to the camera to take a bow?”
Really? Are you stupid?
My sister teaches at his school and told me about him the day after this talent show. Being in the world of Social Media myself, and a huge fan of raw, original and new talent, I posted this youtube video everywhere I could.
Instead of taking a negative stance and OPINION against this amazing 12 year old, why not realize and promote the fact that it is an amazing thing that social media is so huge that one youtube video of REAL talent can be spread virally and catch everyone’s attention.
I for one am in awe of technology and the internet, that less than a month ago I was showing my friends and family a youtube video from a talent show at my sister’s school, and now this kid is getting the opportunities he deserves.
Everyone give the kid a break. It was a chorus concert and the girls and boys sit in different sections at chorus concerts anyways because they have different vocal ranges. GEEZ. I honestly doubt this was rehearsed or coached. I am a friend of one of his family members and they were SHOCKED that ellen called hiim to be on the show. give the 12 year old a break and be happy that his talent is being noticed. The youtube video was not even good condition.. the person taking the video did not have a good hold of the camera so it was no professional.
What a bunch of haters…the kid has talent. let him be discovered however! If they did do this? Great job on their part.
Actually you are being duped by anyone that uses Auto-Tune! Which is 90% of the the 100. Call them out!This kid can perform with just a piano and a mic, leave him be.
“Now we’re wondering if Greyson Michael “Chance” is even his real name after all.” WOW. It doesn’t get anymore stupider than that.
this couldn’t be any more idiotic…
I really don’t care if this was rehearsed or not.
This kids voice gives me an eargasm.
jealousy! ..cant u dudes shut up and deal other stuff..the kid is talented..sorry that it came out a boy more talented than justin bieber…i know ur sad but talent is talent..i dont care if its planed..the boy sings perfect ..thats what i care
ohh wao!! i was totally in love with greyson well!!! i still am!! but you have a good point!!!!! thanks for opening eyes!!!
This article, is so dumb. There are boys in the crowd. His parents were filming there son and I am sure he knew where to look to find his parents at the end of his performance. Prior to the ellen show they do have a rehearsal interview so the convo flows when they are actually using film. I think you are the one who duped us, with this idiotic rant.
For One you are wrong dead wrong! This is not at his school this is at a church in Edmond oklahoma. As for the camera if you notice it is zoomed in on him what is behind him happen to be a group of girls. and there were plently of boys in the stands just not in that area. This all was not planned you know people in edmond are not like this all about fame and fortune. You ask if that was his real name well check for yourself ” Cheyenne Middle School” go to the website and see who stundent of the month was in October. I can not believe your article your hatefull to say the least
Regards,
Micheal Chance
With all due respect, this is a ridiculous article. I’m sure everyone else has already covered each of these points, but to reiterate:
*There’s another version of the video that is not zoomed in so much on Greyson, and boys can be seen on that side of the stage.
*”questions how a boy so young could have planned the video so perfectly” – you mean, besides the obvious notion that someone that cares about Greyson was in the audience filming it from that vantage point?
*Regarding the direction he bows — he’s bowing toward the bulk of the audience! You’ll note that in the version of the video with the teacher/director at the end, she is also facing the way that Greyson faced. I’m sure he masterminded that too!
Well this theory is full of holes big enough to rive Oprah Winfrey through. There is a different video taken of the exact same event by someone else with a wider shot and higher quality video although the audio is not as good IMO. You can see a couple of boys sitting on stage on the upper right.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGe2cwsR-IQ
I would feel duped had the kid not been the actual singer. That he MIGHT have had good marketing on his side is nothing to feel duped about, or hang the kid. If he’d had the possiblity of good marketing and DIDN’T take advantage of it, then I’d feel the poor kid and his family are a bunch of idiots.
Kid’s got a great voice – nothing to feel duped about in that regard.
the man who says that they are co-ed and that there were no boys in the audience was misinformed
in this video it shows the same scene but from far back and you can see that there are several boys on the sides and a boy right in the middle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=VGe2cwsR-IQ
If you look at the same video you can tell that the boy in the middle is being covered by greyson due to the angle. Since it was a choir they could have very well possibly been split up into different sections (alto, saprano, etc) besides that i think you make a valid point that his fame is a bit fishy.
with regards
To me, it looks real and Greyson is great! I do think that last years phenom, Susan Bolyle has a few questions about being “real”. For instance that song has another verse-how did she know to not sing it? Was she lipsyncing? Where it didn’t match is where you’d see cuts to the judges and audience for slightly out of sync reaction shots. Greyson, we want more!
you are so stupid it’s not even funny!! this was video taped at a choral performance!! in choirs, there are girls: sopranos and altos; then there are boys: tenors and basses. therefore, the girls in the “audience” are sitting with their vocal sections. and the real audience is actually where the camera is! that’s who he was performing for, not the girls!! so stop blogging conspiracy theories!
As others have described it: this was a choral performance. There are lots of other boys there. The fact that the supposed “expert” gets flabbergasted at seeing no other boys in the CLOSE UP version of the video is so freaking stupid.
This is the vid that shows most of the whole choir there, with lots of boys present too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEY1XKvy44A
Lady, what are you trying to do? First off, there WERE males in the audience…in fact, one if them is a dark-haired young man sitting adjacent to him. Second, it wasn’t in the school…it was in a local church. Stop being such a gossip and gather your facts properly.
Actually–if you watch this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGe2cwsR-IQ) which is the same performance, but zoomed out, you can tell that the “audience” behind him is a choir sitting on the risers and there are in fact boys sitting towards the right. This explains why he bows towards the camera, because the camera is in the real audience.
Not to pile on or anything, but have you learned your lesson now, Angela? Research and fact checking are the most important aspects of writing anything. About the only correct item in your post is the kid’s name. And where did you dream up that he’d signed with Interscope Records? He just signed with Ellen’s brand new label, eleveneleven, today. So please, next time you decide to write something, do yourself and us a favor and stop, then go use Google, then write. Good luck with your future articles!
Shame on you! Get a life and let the kid do his thing!
I’ll go out on a limb and say this kid is more popular than this stupid website. I’m 36 hate gaga but love Greyson. How can you write a slander article against a 12 year old
HE IS NOT A FAKE!!!!!!!!
Um, wow. The girls are on the stage with him. Try going to the wider video where you can see Him, the girls, SOME BOYS, and the audience. Get a life and stop trying to start stuff. Because anyone that has a brain and some common sense can figure out that this is bullshit. I live in edmond, and I have heard him sing. It’s not fake at all. So some advice, if you’re going to accuse someone of being fake, get your facts straight. Kbye.
A point on seeing only girls. A lot of schools that are co-ed are going to same sex class rooms. Especially in the 6th grade age group. Even if it was staged, he is still talented!!!
Alright who the fuck wrote this frggn article. The person who did is such a fucking moron. Why the hell is everybody being so suspicious about everything. Stupid people who always think something is a conspiracy. WAKE THE FUCK UP.
For god sake just shut the hell up. Quit trying to screw up other peoples lives. Live and let live mothafucker.