psy busts a move in the union

Internet sensation PSY spoke to a rapt Oxford Union chamber about his experiences as Korea’s biggest international star and ended the session with a mass dance lesson for those lucky enough to get through the ballot.

PSY, understandably busy as the holder of the second most viewed Youtube video in history and the owner of the year’s hottest dance move, arrived twenty minutes late to the Union.

However, he was still greeted with rapturous applause by the packed chamber.

It was the dance move that everybody has been imitating and students were lucky enough to get the benefit of PSY’s unique wisdom.

The chamber played host to moves more commonly seen in the Purple Turtle (photo: Francis MacPherson)

In his introduction, Union President John Lee described “Gangnam Style as a force for world peace”.

PSY addresses a packed chamber (photo: Francis MacPherson)

PSY went on to talk about his experiences as an entertainer, in particular the overwhelming adulation he has received in the UK.

“I was in London four months ago and it was a very peaceful time. Now you’re taking a picture of me.”

Not exactly the “peaceful time” he had four months ago (photo: Ed Wingfield)

“When I was young I was really good at dancing. Not like good dancing, like bad dancing. When I was young my only interest was the girls. Laughing and smiling can be handsome, that’s what I thought.”

He also revealed struggles with his music after dropping out of two universities in America.

“I was 23 and I had to make a decision at that time; should I be a composer or should I change or what?”

“In Korea there is a national TV building… there was a long hallway and I started to dance in the office. I shouted ‘look at me’ and I don’t know why but they got scared”.

This led to his big break on Korean TV where he made a name for himself with an outrageous wardrobe decision.

“I have kind of fat arms. The shirt inside was made with no arms so I could feel comfortable dancing.

“I felt really a lot of heat in the studio so I took off my jacket on my first appearance on national TV. I didn’t do it on purpose, I was just hot.

“They saw my smart shirt with no arms. That was the first time, Korea is a strict country, they saw arms.

“And they saw arms with no muscle.”

Union President John Lee awaiting PSY’s arrival (photo: Harry Hodges)

PSY, with a warm sense of self-deprecating humour, also told of how he sometimes falls outside the strict requirements of Korea’s conservative culture.

“They have really strong moral requirements of the artist, but I’m not moral.

“That kind of philosophy is not suitable for Korean artists. I made a lot of mistakes and accidents in Korea.”

And, contrary to the impression you might gain from his over-night international success, he works hard for his art.

“We spent more than 30 nights to make the horse dance, it’s kind of funny but we were really serious about this dance. We tried literally ever creature; snake, horse, monkey, kangaroo, falling leaves, the sun, the moon…”

Smartphones were out in force for the internet sensation (photo: Francis MacPherson)

And the shock of his international following was overwhelming even for a man who had been famous in Korea for a number of years.

“When I came into the comments [as the Gangnam Style video was going viral] and I saw literally six, seven languages I can’t even read.”

“What I said, honestly, at that time was ‘WTF’?”

And his response to being contacted by Justin Bieber’s manager was a simple “Prove yourself.”

Some e-mailed photos of Justin himself were enough and PSY found himself ready to launch into the global market, preserving his unique appeal by deciding early on to stick to his native Korean.

“[When I see people enjoying Gangnam Style] I feel happy because [the people] look so happy and I feel sorry because they have no idea of the lyrics.”

But in a tantalising hint he promised his next single would be “half in Korean and half in English”.

He ended his speech with the line, “Shit happens, right?” It certainly did at the Oxford Union as the Q&A session lead to PSY delivering a dance lesson to the assembled students as his hit single blared through the Chamber.

PSY gets ready to let loose his trademark moves (photo: Francis MacPherson)

Aaron Rai, the third year from Hertford who asked PSY for the lesson, said to the Tab, “He dances pretty damn well. I’d love to go to a club with him, VIP on a table that’s the next step.”

Sadly PSY was whisked off in a waiting car meaning that trip to Camera might just have to wait.