Largest LipDub video: The Grand Rapids LipDub sets world record (HD Video)
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., USA -- The Grand Rapids LipDub Video was filmed with over 5,000 people, and involved a major shutdown of downtown Grand Rapids, which was filled with marching bands, parades, weddings, motorcades, bridges on fire, and helicopter take offs , setting the world record for the Largest LipDub video.
Photo: Thanks to the efforts of community organizer Rob Bliss, the expertise of a production company and a film academy, the blessing of the mayor, and the help of a cast of thousands, a video titled "Grand Rapids LipDub" has become a YouTube sensation and sets the world record for the Largest LipDub video. (enlarge photo)
The Guinness world record for the largest Highland dance involved 1,453 participants from 5 schools in the Nairn region, Scotland, UK.
Guinness World Records also recognized the largest singing lesson: it involved 6,651 participants and was achieved by Sweet Adelines International in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
After Newsweek named Grand Rapids one of America's "Dying Cities," the community decided to band together to prove that they are very much alive.
Thousands of men, women, and children lined the streets to create a video, showing the sights and sounds of Grand Rapids, all to the tune of Don Mclean's "American Pie."
Movie critic Roger Ebert called it, simply, "the greatest music video ever made."
The lip dub is a project from Grand Rapids event promoter Rob Bliss, known for his larger-than-life productions that often involve shutting down portions of the West Michigan downtown.
The production cost $40,000, Bliss says, and was paid for by sponsors.
The Grand Rapids Press said of the video: 'If you have lived in Grand Rapids your whole life, or even just arrived, it would be hard to not say that the tiny hairs on your arms don't stand straight up when you see the shots of the city's most well known landmarks and the people who make this city so wonderful'.
"Newsweek, we are not a dying city - Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a vibrant town you should take the time to experience before writing off," said a note from a Facebook user named Shannon.
Newsweek distanced itself overnight from a report on its Web site earlier this year that listed Grand Rapids as one of America's dying cities.
Thanks to the efforts of community organizer Rob Bliss, the expertise of a production company and a film academy, the blessing of the mayor, and the help of a cast of thousands, a video titled "Grand Rapids LipDub" has become a YouTube sensation and sets the world record for the Largest LipDub video. (
