# Trololo Guy Trololo Guy is the nickname for Russian baritone Eduard Khil, whose grinning 1976 performance of a wordless Soviet pop tune resurfaced on YouTube in November 2009 and became a global bait-and-switch gag. The clip's cheerful nonsense syllables turned a serious state-honored vocalist into one of the earliest Rickroll-adjacent viral videos of the YouTube era. ## Origin On November 26, 2009, YouTuber RealPapaPit uploaded the 1976 Soviet TV clip under the title "I am very glad, because I'm finally back home," later renaming it "Mr. Trololo original upload"[1]. The upload was eventually watched more than 26 million times[1]. The performer was Eduard Khil, a Leningrad Conservatory graduate born in Smolensk in 1934, named Honored Artist of the USSR in 1968 and People's Artist of the USSR in 1974[3]. The song had been co-written with composer Arkady Ostrovsky and performed wordlessly in the vokaliz tradition, which is closer to pantomime than to American scat singing[3]. - **Platform:** YouTube - **Creator:** Eduard Khil (performer); YouTuber RealPapaPit (uploader) - **Date:** 2009 ## Overview The clip is a 1976 Soviet television performance of the Arkady Ostrovsky composition titled "I Am Very Glad, Because I'm Finally Back Home," sung by Eduard Anatolyevich Khil in the vokaliz style, meaning the melody is performed without lyrics[1]. Khil, grinning in a brown suit jacket against a mustard set, bobs his head and chuckles through a long string of "lo-lo-lo" and "na-na-na" syllables, which is where the English-speaking internet got the nickname Trololo[2]. The waxed-hair, pantomimed delivery is what Western viewers read as surreal, though Russian audiences recognized the number as a straight example of a well-established genre[3]. Once the video went viral, it functioned mostly as a bait-and-switch gag in the same style as Rickrolling, where a misleading link dumped the clicker into Khil's cheerful humming[1]. The isolated "laughing" section and a slowed, 800% stretched edit became secondary formats that circulated on their own[1]. The nickname Trololo Guy stuck to Khil himself, following him through TV interviews, parody uploads and, eventually, his obituaries[4]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Trololo Guy? Trololo Guy is the English-internet nickname for Soviet-era baritone Eduard Khil, whose grinning 1976 wordless performance of an Arkady Ostrovsky song went viral on YouTube in 2009 and 2010[1][2]. ### Where did Trololo Guy come from? The source clip is a 1976 Soviet TV performance; it hit the global internet when YouTuber RealPapaPit uploaded it on November 26, 2009[1]. ### What does Trololo Guy mean? The name comes from the "lo-lo-lo" syllables Khil sings, since the Ostrovsky song is performed in the Russian vokaliz style, which uses melody without lyrics[3]. ### How do you use Trololo Guy? The video is typically used as a bait-and-switch prank link, closer in function to a Rickroll than to a reaction image[1]. ### Is Trololo Guy still popular? The clip is a classic viral video of the early YouTube era; Khil died in 2012 and Google honored him with a Doodle on his 83rd birthday in 2017[1][4]. ## References 1. [https://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2010/02/edward-anatolevich-hill.html]() 2. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oavMtUWDBTM]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/trololo-guy]() 4. [https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2012/06/07/154497895/internet-sensation-the-trololo-man-dies]() 5. [http://www.rferl.org/content/Mr_Trololo_Forgotten_Soviet_Crooner_Internet_Sensation_Eduard_Khil_Hill/1994535.html]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/trololo-guy Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library