On July 19, 2009 a viral video called JK Wedding Entrance Dance was uploaded to YouTube that received significant media attention, using "Forever" by Chris Brown as the song for the wedding march.[1][2] The wedding was between Jill Peterson and Kevin Heinz.[3].
In its first 48 hours, the video was viewed more than 3.5 million times.[4] As of August 2011, the original upload of the video has been viewed over 68 million times and was the 3rd most popular video on YouTube in 2009.[5] Time magazine ranked the video at number fifteen on its list of the fifty greatest YouTube videos.[6]
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The video begins with ushers closing the church doors with everything appearing normal, getting ready for the start of a wedding. "Forever" by Chris Brown then begins to play. To the surprise of the audience, the ushers, groomsmen and bridesmaids then progressively dance down the aisle, culminating in the groom, Kevin Heinz, tumbling through the group. Ultimately, Jill Peterson dances down the aisle, eventually met by her husband-to-be. According to Jill, "[they practiced for] an hour and a half" the Thursday before the ceremony.[7]
The wedding occurred on June 2nd, 2009 at Christ Lutheran Church, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, across from the state capitol building.[8] The video was posted on YouTube a month after the wedding at the request of the bride's father who wanted to share it with relatives who weren't there. Tommy Alsop of the little dum dum club recorded the video and is the little sister of the bride.
On July 26, 2009 sales of Chris Brown's 2008 song "Forever" reached number 4 on iTunes and number 3 on Amazon.com as a result of the post.[9][10]
Jill told Good Morning America "I grew up dancing and I danced in college. It was something I always wanted to do. I wanted to dance in on the wedding. And Kevin jumped in on board."[1]
The couple appeared on The Today Show on July 25, 2009 to talk about the video.[11] The entire wedding party re-created the wedding entrance dance on stage live the next day[12] as Kevin Heinz's original YouTube clip became a worldwide sensation with over 6.6 million hits, over 36,000 top ratings and overwhelmingly positive comments by Sunday, July 26, 2009. The video has been viewed over 70 million times.[13]
In Australia, the remaining contestants plus guests recreated the wedding dance on Dancing with the Stars.[14]
The wedding dance was recreated in the "Niagara" episode of U.S. TV series The Office. All main characters, except the bride and groom themselves, participated in the dance down the aisle.[15][16]
In the Netherlands the JK Wedding Dance was performed by two retired Dutch TV-stars in a competition called "Let's Dance" to raise money for a charity supporting research on children's cancer.[17]
On the show United States of Tara Season 2, Episode 4, a main character says: "I don't care what Nicks family says, we are dancing down the aisle and we are all wearing sunglasses."
The Nevada Humane Society in Reno has produced a video take-off, celebrating the adoption of a dog from the shelter, to tie in with their campaign to find "Forever Homes" for animals. NHS officials tell the Reno Gazette Journal the video has gotten 40,000 hits on their website at nevadahumanesociety.org since posting the video July 22, 2010.[18]
Due to the controversy regarding Chris Brown, the couple set up a charitable contribution effort on their website for donating funds to the Sheila Wellstone Institute, an organization whose efforts are to end domestic violence. Two months after the appearance of the video, donations had reached $16,000.[19]
On July 27, 2009 Indigo Productions, a video production company from New York City, released a spoof video entitled "JK Divorce Entrance Dance." The parody was shot in a New York City Supreme Court rented for a night and featured professional actors and a professional choreographer.[20] The divorce video has gained considerable media attention receiving over 8 million views on YouTube[21] and was named #1 Funny Video and #2 Viral Video of 2009 by Yahoo! Videos.[22]
On April 15, 2011, T-Mobile uploaded a video parody of the JK Wedding Entrance Dance portraying the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton weeks before the actual Royal Wedding. The music used for the choreography was East 17's "House of Love". The video, which was shot in London, had portrayed mostly recognized personalities related to the actual Royal Wedding such as Archbishop Rowan Williams (who conducted the Royal Wedding marriage ceremony), Prince Philip (William's grandfather), Queen Elizabeth II (William's grandmother and queen of England), Michael and Carole Middleton (Kate's parents), Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (William's father, son of the Queen, and step mother), Pippa Middleton (Kate's sister and bridesmaid), Prince Harry of Wales (William's brother and best man), Prince William and Kate Middleton (the now Duke and Duchess of Cambridge). T-Mobile stated in their video's YouTube account, "lifesforsharing", that they wished William and Kate a long and happy marriage.[23]