The Horizontal Hula is an extended music video by performer JohnPaul Ouvrier of his song, “The Horizontal Hula.” As a woman (Nikita Surf) flips through the late-night programming on her TV, she comes across what appears to be an informercial of sorts, which turns out to be Ouvrier’s swing-flavored music video. As he sings a catchy tune that is reminiscent of “Just a Gigolo,” other participants in the video line dance and pose with a hula hoop, which I’m assuming is the literal aspect, born of the infomercial idea, utilized to sell the more sexual innuendo-friendly meaning of the horizontal hula.
Production-wise, it’s pretty well done. While the green screen work is obvious around the edges when utilized, it isn’t awful. The idea that, late at night, you’d come across a silly music video is also not that odd (some station somewhere still shows them, right). Ultimately, though, your enjoyment of this will hinge on whether you dig the music that JohnPaul Ouvrier is throwing down.
For me, his delivery is less sing-song and more raspy shout, so I wasn’t all that into it. The music also sounds like someone had a swing preset on their new keyboard, and just let that do all the work. The lyrics are catchy, but the entire experience wasn’t terribly interesting to me, especially pushing six minutes (seven and change if you count the credits). Then again, I’m not a professed swing-aficionado, so it is what it is.
Still, while this wasn’t my cup of tea, JohnPaul Ouvrier is certainly enthusiastic about his craft, so there’s something to be said about that.
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