When images from a recent Rosalía concert began to go viral across social media, nothing seemed too out of the bizarre concerning the occurrence. All the standard trappings of the megastar’s performances were there: the stark white background, the Dion Lee-designed matches, the jet black hair wound into waist-length plaits. But on closer inspection, all was not because it seemed. The clips doing the rounds weren’t from a bonafide Motomami World Tour date, but a note-perfect homage created by Peruvian YouTuber iOA, otherwise referred to as Ioanis Patsias.

Before this, when Rosalía first announced the dates for her tour last spring, Patsias noticed that his native Peru was conspicuously absent from the schedule. But somewhat than allow the news to discourage him, he did what any ardent fan would do: faithfully recreate your entire concert from scratch and lip-sync the set to a crowd of hundreds.

@ioanispatsias Saoko papi saoko 🏍️❤️‍🔥🇵🇪 Recreando uno de los momentos mas emocionantes del Motomami World Tour!!!! Espero que Rosalia lo vea y entienda lo mucho que la valoramos en el Perú!!! #rosalia #motomami #motomamiworldtour #saoko #peru #ioa #mijirritos #concierto #tribute #show #festival ♬ VAMPIROS – ROSALÍA & Rauw Alejandro

To tug off this near-impossible feat, Patsias first needed to dodge a lawsuit – “I didn’t want any form of legal problems around selling the concert,” he says over a video call – so decided not to say the words “Rosalía” or “Motomami”. Despite this, the YouTubers’ 786,000 subscribers were keen to snap up the tickets, a lot in order that he needed to upgrade their original club venue to a 4,000 capability amphitheatre in Peru’s capital, Lima.

The show that followed was a painstaking recreation of original choreography by Majnoon Giasar – the Motomani World Tour movement designer – executed by a forged of eight dancers specifically chosen due to their resemblance to Rosalía’s crew. In a triumphant blaze of mimicry, Patsias and his dancers (or Motopapis) stormed through Rosalia’s set, arriving on the scene in luminous bunny helmets and whizzing concerning the stage on matching chrome scooters. And if all that wasn’t enough, a second night was added to the bill weeks later attributable to overwhelming fan demand.

In a conversation below, Patsias takes us behind the scenes of the 2 headline shows, from the gruelling regime he undertook in preparation, to the six-figure bill he racked up along the way in which.

“Five months within the making, greater than $100,000 invested, my whole body, soul, mental health – every thing went into this show” – Ioanis Patsias

Hi Ioanis – congrats on the show! What made you choose to go ahead with it?

Ioanis Patsias: For my birthday last September I went to see Rosalía at Radio City Music Hall in Recent York. After having that have I used to be so inspired. It was crazy to see a show that appeared to be so easy in staging – the white backdrop, no costume changes – but was essentially the most impressive and shocking show I’ve ever been to. It blew my mind. I believed, ‘this show must be in Peru not directly.’ For my YouTube channel, I even have a series where I recreate music videos by artists. People were expecting me to do one other one but I wasn’t inspired by any I saw, so I made a decision to recreate the concert as an alternative.

Was it expensive to place together?

Ioanis Patsias: So expensive! In our ignorance we thought it was going to cost around $50,000, but it surely ended up costing greater than $100,000. I’m now in debt due to it. Even selling out the venue, I still made a loss. But I hope in the longer term, I’ll recoup it back through my content and brand sponsors. That’s the way it often goes.

However the show was really expensive. Five months within the making, greater than $100,000 invested, my whole body, soul, mental health – every thing went into this show. I went to flamenco classes, I went to swimming lessons to expand my lungs and gain more breath capability. Months of dance classes to learn every Rosalía move – not only the choreography but how she turns, how she grabs the mic, every detail.

What number of dancers did you’re employed with?

Ioanis Patsias: I had my choreographer Miguel Suarez working with me from day one, but I also did an open casting of over 100 skilled dancers from Peru. I picked eight – Francisco, Oleck, Bryan, José, Gerson, Jasson, Luis and Dominick – due to their dancing abilities, but additionally how close they looked to the unique Rosalía forged. One had dreads he’d grown for 3 years and he cut them off only for the concert. He did an entire body of tattoos to impersonate considered one of Rosalía’s dancers. One other bleached his eyebrows, dyed his hair pink, got piercings – they went through every thing.

What was the rehearsal process like? Was there some extent where you thought it wasn’t going to occur?

Ioanis Patsias: Yes, in so many moments. The thing is that the choreography could be very precise, and it’s very demanding, and we had less time than Rosalía and her team needed to placed on the show. The last month we were rehearsing seven hours a day from Monday to Saturday – it was really intense. There was numerous pushing through frustration and fear. But we did it. The eight dancers I picked were perfect.

Did you all bond behind the scenes?

Ioanis Patsias: It’s crazy because that is my first time going through all this and we’re like a family now. We spent numerous time together and there have been so many emotions involved. They’re really completely happy because in Peru it’s difficult for dancers to get a chance like that, to be on a world level show. And in addition in any case this press, for them to see their faces world wide – it’s crazy for me, and I realize it’s crazy for them too.

Some people on social media thought the show was saying ‘in case you’re not coming here then we’re going to take your show and do it ourselves’.

Ioanis Patsias: No, it wasn’t like that. A variety of Peruvians that love her went to Colombia, Chile or Argentina. I desired to pay tribute to the art and energy that Rosalía and her crew put into the show, like a drag show. When I’m going to see a Britney Spears impersonator, I do know that it’s not Britney Spears but I feel the identical energy, and my show was like that.

Is it weird knowing that she’s seen the performance?

Ioanis Patsias: I don’t know the way much she’s seen. I don’t know if she’s seen, like, a few TikToks or the entire show. She’s a producer and in control of every thing, so I do know that she knows how much work goes into putting on a show like that. She is likely to be like, ‘how did they do it?’ since it’s numerous work. And since the people on YouTube often spend at some point or perhaps even every week filming a video.

“I used to be scared she would think I used to be a stalker or something. It’s just too precise. The identical water bottle, the identical towel, the identical glasses. I used to be apprehensive she could be like ‘he’s crazy!’” – Ioanis Patsias

Was there any worry at any point of how Rosalía was going to react to your show?

Ioanis Patsias: Firstly, I used to be scared she would think I used to be a stalker or something. It’s just too precise. The identical water bottle, the identical towel, the identical glasses. I used to be apprehensive she could be like ‘he’s crazy!’ The second thing that I used to be apprehensive about was that she would think that it was a brand – or perhaps even the Illuminati – behind it. That it couldn’t be from a content creator or a fan from Peru. But there’s nothing behind it – it’s just me and my bank loans. I feel they’re still determining if there’s someone funding me. Because [the show] is an element of this latest generation of content creation, I feel they don’t know the right way to react.

So those were my two concerns, but thankfully she commented on a video of the concert after which she followed me back on TikTok – she wouldn’t follow a psychopath or a stalker?

Do you could have a background in performing?

Ioanis Patsias: No, I even have a bachelor’s in economics. I worked in consulting firms and company finance, and my last years in that world were in social media and marketing which helped me study content creation, filming videos and creating productions. Seven years ago, I made a decision to quit my corporate job for full-time content creation.

If Rosalía was sitting in front of you straight away, what would you say?

Ioanis Patsias: I might thank her for creating the Motomami album and world tour – I feel it modified numerous things within the music industry and the content creation world. When she realises that there’s nothing behind me and that I’m not a stalker, I hope she will be able to send a video talking to the Peruvian fans, because there’s numerous people here that basically appreciate her work. She’s been an inspiration to me on this process, and in addition the dancers who now have a platform to share their talent. I shall be perpetually thankful to her for uplifting me to undergo this challenge.

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