Content creator rocks social media with dance craze

CNN Philippines

Eric 'Eruption' Tai is not only just having a blast online thanks to the ting ting tang dance craze.   The content creator and actor also proves that the social media game means serious business.   Eric joins us now on The Final Word.   Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/  Follow our social media pages:  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNNPhilippines • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnnphilippines/ • Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines

Transcript

00:00 Eric Eruption Tai is not only just having a blast online thanks to the Ting Ting Tang

00:06 dance craze, the content creator and actor also proves that the social media game

00:10 means serious business. Eric joins us now on the final word. Eruption! Pleasure to meet you. Thank

00:18 you. The one and only Sir Rico. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Wow, I mean you have erupted

00:26 on social media. That's perfect. You have erupted on social media. Of course you have had a long

00:32 career here as a dancer, as an actor, as a content creator, but Ting Ting Dance has really caught the

00:39 world by storm. How did this all come about? Actually, long story short because it's long

00:46 how we got here. It's actually been one year since I've done it. And it happened while I was at a

00:52 Dota 2 tournament in Singapore. And I did it on the train there. And I think people watched it

00:59 because they're not used to seeing a big man in a public space, in a train. And then the people

01:08 were not Filipino. It was in Singapore so it was different. It was such a very flexible body.

01:16 Wavy, motion in the ocean type. So it's not something that you see normally, especially at a

01:24 size of, you know, a man of my caliber stance. And then within the day it took off to 2-3 million

01:32 views. And my videos really, they usually go a couple hundred thousand but never a million million

01:37 in hours. And so then it happened that the first time it actually went viral was in BGC.

01:46 In the Philippines. And that's where it really picked up. 30 million in the first day. And then

01:52 now it's more than a billion views. Billions, billions, billions now. But of course,

01:55 when all is said and done, this is just one dance. One dance. But it has lasted for more than 365

02:04 days. It made it ever popular among our Kababayans and people around the world. I've seen other

02:09 nationalities do the dance. Other celebrities, even basketball, even NBA players did it. Rich

02:14 Hardin did it. Sai, my actual idol when it comes to performing. Gangnam Style. Gangnam Style.

02:20 Because that was the first YouTube video that I've ever done that went viral back 10 years ago. And

02:26 he set, he paved the way. Sai in Gangnam Style. And I've always admired how he performs. He's

02:34 always got this thing about him, this, I wouldn't even know. The aura. Yeah, the aura of being a

02:41 performer. Yeah, I've interviewed him. And of course, we did this. The Gangnam Style. Yeah.

02:46 So even he did it. Yeah. He did the dancing dance. But now it's maintaining that popularity on

02:54 social media. How are you doing it? How many times do you have to upload videos or even,

03:00 you know, photographs to be able to sustain the numbers? Well, as a content creator,

03:09 everyone knows in the scene or the industry that you got to be consistent. You have to stay

03:15 relevant. So what I do is we try and, you know, upload a couple times a week, at least, at least.

03:22 But it's hard when you have working schedules, shooting schedules, and then you're abroad,

03:27 then that was my business. That was family man. But then I train a lot. So there's a lot of things

03:33 that I'm juggling. So you really need the right balance. And how do you strategize, plan, and

03:38 execute your videos? You film it yourself, edit, and upload? Or do you have a team?

03:45 Before, I did that. But then nowadays, I have a team now. Team Eruption, which consists of five

03:52 people. Two of them with me now. And then the other three are, one is coming from Singapore,

03:57 Shanna, and the other two are away. But yes, I cannot do it without them. We shoot it. Sometimes

04:05 I shoot my content. And then sometimes our videographer comes in, our editor comes in,

04:10 anyone who's available. And then what happens is we kind of plan it. Yeah, but I'm blueprint

04:17 on how it should be edited. But you know, Eric, you also used to be a host for a television

04:23 noontime show. Comparing the daily grind on television versus social media, where do you

04:31 think you're better off? TV or social media? You know, I've always been a fan of TV. You know,

04:37 I loved doing live, just like what we're doing. I'm used to doing live shows. I'm not used to

04:43 television series where you're on call and that sort of stuff. But being a content creator,

04:50 you're your own boss. You're your own boss. You know your own time schedule. You do things the

04:56 way you want. You're the director, you're the producer. So I kind of love being a content

05:04 creator or a digital creator right now. It's the day and age that we live in now, digital world.

05:09 Host, model, content creator, ding-ding-dang, dance craze, master. And you're also a businessman.

05:19 Yeah. Well, I mean, you're a celebrity in business. I mean, you have a salon, you have an

05:26 ice cream shop and a gym. Yes. Things that I love. I love ice cream. So we went with that. I love

05:32 training. So we went with that one too. But the salon was what started it all. And that was props

05:38 to my wife, Rona. She's the one who spearheaded that. And I was, believe it or not, we started

05:46 in 2020. Before the pandemic? No. In the midst of the pandemic. Exactly. That's why I was thinking,

05:53 I don't think this is a good choice. But she kept on pushing it. And I said, OK, I believe in you.

05:58 And we'll invest this much money on it. And then we'll see how it goes.

06:02 We expanded to a second franchise within a year.

06:06 Wow. That was a good sign. So we expanded into a second franchise.

06:12 And where are they located?

06:13 First one is in Capitol Commons next to Estancia, which is, it is, that's called Ayumi. So that

06:22 salon is located there. The second salon is located in UP Town Center in Katipunan. So next to all the

06:28 colleges out there. And your ice cream shop is all the way in Union. Union next to St. Louis College,

06:35 SLC. And that's awesome. It's great for the kids out there after school or during school. They go

06:42 there and they have their ice cream. Obviously, you know, I want to say, but you know, you've got

06:49 to when you bring in the calories, you've got to burn the calories. Right. And burn the calories in

06:54 the gym. And you're the perfect endorser for that. Thank you. Thank you. I mean, it's been a dream,

06:59 especially what's been happening lately. The gym is located in Daly, it's called Daly Burn,

07:06 located in Ayala Heights, Capitol Hills in Quezon City. And it's open 24 hours a day.

07:13 What kind of an entrepreneur are you, Eric? Are you hands on? Do you take a look at all the numbers,

07:20 the daily P&L? That's why we have managers. And that's why we have an asawa na mahilig dun.

07:28 That's right. Shout out to Mrs. Tai. Yeah, Rona. Rona. Exactly. You know, much love to her. She

07:35 works day in, day out. And also being a full time mom as well. And it's also important that,

07:42 of course, when you're in show business, social media, content creation, I mean, it won't also

07:47 last. Exactly. That's why you have to make those investments for your child, for a growing child.

07:53 Yes. And he's only four years old and he's growing very, very quick. And we know that the tuition of

08:00 these kids are not cheap. Yeah. So we really got to save up and invest in whatever we can in the

08:07 businesses we have. We still have to be wise. We're not just going to just go in. Because you're also

08:12 putting in a lot of your talent fee and your hard earned cash into the business. That's right. But

08:17 you know, Eric, all these blessings just didn't fall on your lap. You came to the Philippines

08:23 as a missionary. And when you were back in Australia, you worked all sorts of jobs.

08:28 Name it. You can name any, almost any job from salesman to marketing, to even being a simple

08:36 packer at a mall for like pure goat or anything like that. I used to stack shelves. I even used

08:44 to work in the produce in the fridges. Fridges that we have to combine like lettuce and tomatoes

08:51 and all that produce. Promodizer. Even promodizer. I've done that here in the Philippines. Before I

08:57 even stepped foot in Showtime, as a model, I did all the promodizing. Like, you know, I'm not sure

09:04 if we can name brands, but I did that samples to people on the streets. In Alabang. Because you

09:10 know, I'm just a model. No one knows me. And I appreciate that type of work. So when I see people

09:15 do that type of work, I know it's hard and it's tough. Well, you have the personality and character

09:19 for it. You can sell any kind of item and people will buy it. But you know what? You're a multifaceted

09:26 person. You're also into e-sports and you also are a rugby player. A former rugby player. That's right.

09:34 Retired in 2014, 15 was the last time I played for the national team. And that was a huge blessing.

09:44 It also changed my life because we were called the Philippine Volcanoes. And when I went into that

09:48 other show, the director gave me the name Eruption because Filipino Volcanoes, Volcanoes Erupt.

09:54 Yes. And that's where Eruption really came from. So it was a blessing in disguise on how that happened.

10:01 From that modern career going into being an athlete for the national team. All these

10:07 were lessons as I was young and e-sports. I really loved games ever since I was a kid. But

10:14 before I do homework, my parents will always say, before you play your games, go outside and play

10:20 rugby or sports in general, study. So you really need to balance that. And who would have known

10:27 that as I was a kid, all these talents and skills I was harnessing, I didn't know that

10:36 20 years later, I'll be making money off it or that's my career or job. And you have been truly

10:43 blessed. And of course, a lot of people have seen your Ting Ting dance. Is it a complicated sequence?

10:50 No, no, no. It's actually pretty easy. I have steps on our soc med everywhere you go on from

10:57 TikTok to YouTube. Would you like to do it with me? I will try. Yeah, there we go. Let's try it.

11:04 Let's give it a try. Rico, so. Let's give it a try. So the start of it,

11:13 I told I told everyone it's like a hip movement. So you just you can do this. Anyone can do that.

11:17 Yeah, there we go. It's like the washing machine. So after this, this little hip movement, you just

11:22 kind of step into it with the right and the left. Yeah. Then the right. Then the left. That's it.

11:28 Then after that is the Ting Ting part. So the Ting Ting is just two hands going in like this and then

11:33 out. So so Ting Ting out and then one plus one equals sexy move. You know, it's like that's it.

11:44 Yeah. And of course, well, we have to end the show right now, Eric, but they'll be able to

11:48 watch his dance sequence on the CNN Philippines social media pages. We're going to do it. We're

11:54 going to do it after the show. After the show. Well, thank you so much. Pleasure. All the best.

11:59 Thank you. Thank you. I have been a very successful and a great role model for a lot

12:03 of Filipino youth. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. And of course, that was Eric

12:08 eruption by. And before we go, we have a little

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