3-year-old Swede sings to YouTube stardom

Sweden’s latest YouTube sensation comes in the form of three-year-old Theo, whose version of Gotye’s “Somebody that I used to know” has more than 200,000 views after just a few weeks online.

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“I honestly can’t believe it,” said Theo’s mother Inga-Maj Edström to The Local.

“We’re from a little village and we’re not used to this kind of thing."

The people in the village, Gräsmyr in northern Sweden, have surely never seen anything like it either.

“Everyone in town is coming up to Theo and telling him how they’ve seen his video and he just doesn’t get it,” Edström says.

The video features the three-year-old clutching a tablet computer and belting out the chorus to the popular song by Belgian artist Gotye, a song released in July last year which has over 280 million views itself.

Edström explains that she uploaded the video because she wanted her friends and family to see the performance too.

However, when emails and fan mail from around the world started to flood in, she knew she was onto something big.

Meanwhile, the normally shy boy is also taking the chance to enjoy his fame.

“He’s proud about it, that’s for sure, and he sometimes jokes that he even sings the song better than Gotye - though I'm not so sure about that,” she told The Local.

So was this a one-hit wonder or does young Theo actually have a natural talent for singing?

“Well, he certainly sings a lot – and he sings in tune and with a good melody.
Sometimes he even corrects me if I am out of tune, but it’s hard to predict where he’ll go from here,” Edström said.

And will Theo be the next Justin Bieber, perhaps?

“I hope not,” Edström laughs.

“Besides, he’s so shy I could never imagine him on stage. If anything, we’ll stick to home movies for now.”



Oliver Gee
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