Vinzon Booc aka Lady Gagita

MANILA, Philippines - His alter ego Lady Gagita might be getting all the attention, but it was Vinzon Jeojay Rubia Booc’s concept, performing talents, and surprisingly impressive editing skills that elevated ‘Telephone’ from just another YouTube lipsyncing video. ‘Supreme’ talked to the tutor by day, superstar by night about his inspiration and creative process. 

When did you start making YouTube videos? Were they always music video parodies? 

I started making them way back in 2008, but I uploaded them in 2009. Yup, it’s all music video parodies. 

Is vinzonleojay2009 Benzonce? You identify yourself as a really big Beyonce fan on your YouTube page. What about Beyonce made you such a big fan? 

Yes, vinzonleojay2009 is Benzonce, I’m really her big fan because I was inspired by her to make such funny remakes and parodies with a little twist — which is the use of improvised props and costumes. 

You do a lot of videos by artists like Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Britney Spears, and Shakira. Is there a common thread that ties these artists together? What about these artists that inspire you enough to make videos? 

I only made Beyonce and Lady Gaga parodies. The one who made Britney Spears and Shakira is Haronce. They have a common thread and it is their genre of performing, which is pop. 

What are the challenges you encounter in creating the videos? They’re very on-point and accurate. Obviously, a lot of work and dedication went into them. The editing, choreography, lip-synching in the videos are also really precise. How do you plan your shoots? 

Making improvised props, the editing process, and the shoot are the main challenges I encountered on making parody videos because of time management and financial scarcity. I plan the videos with my group and we choose videos that are easy for us to replicate. The location for shooting is our poor little house and the compound of my family residence. We don’t go outdoors for shooting. 

Do you have a background in production or film editing? What is it about a video that makes you want to make your own version. For example, why “Telephone”? 

I don’t have any background in editing; I learned it all by myself. No one taught me how to do it. I learned it through exploring the program. I chose “Telephone” because we all know that it is one of the most controversial videos that Lady Gaga has made so far. A spark just came to my mind saying, “Why not make your own version of it? I bet it would be a big hit.” 

How many times did you watch “Telephone” to get it all down? Be honest. 

We watched it many times, but during shooting, we shot it frame by frame. That’s why it’s really precise when it comes to the finished product. 

Your “Telephone” video is massive now. Everyone’s forwarding it to their friends and posting it on their Facebook walls. Do you know how it got so big? Did you promote it in anyway? 

I did not promote it because we did not expect that it would be a big hit. For us, it was just a pastime, a hobby and we did not intend to make it popular. 

According to the YouTube profile, Vinzon is “an extremely crazy Beyonce no. 1 fan” as well as a private tutor. What do your students think of your new celebrity status? 

I don’t have a lot of students. I only have one student and he is my cousin.