Jonathan Barnes of Winston-Salem had no idea that his short Michael Jackson-style dance, projected on the Jumbotron during a Charlotte Bobcats game last month, would be his big break.
But a YouTube video of "the dance" has gotten more than 455,000 hits, and he has appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."
And now he's being bombarded with offers for TV appearances, public appearances and jobs.
"Things have been great, to say the least," he said. "My phone has been ringing off the hook. I've taken down, like, a bazillion numbers."
Barnes, 21, wants people to know that he's not just a dancer, either.
"I'm also a singer/songwriter/actor," he said. "I've always been, like, the artist triple-threat."
When he popped up and started dancing at the Jan. 3 game between the Bobcats and the Miami Heat, he said, "the energy, the music took over my body. I was getting a chance to entertain the crowd. And the audience loved it."
He popped, locked, kicked and moonwalked, capping it all off with a split that caused the arena announcer to yell, "Whoa."
After seeing the video on YouTube, DeGeneres had him flown to Los Angeles to be on Thursday's episode of her show.
"I love Ellen, and we're friends now, and I've got her contact number," he said. "She wants me back on."
He is back in Winston-Salem now. And he's trying to keep a low profile while taking offers — which he said he couldn't talk about just yet.
He said he's also getting recognized in public.
"It's really, really exciting," he said. "There's no telling where I'll pop up next."
tclodfelter@wsjournal.com
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