Fact Check: Viral Video Misidentifies Ballot Dancers as Grandmother and Grandson Duo
Viral content related to extraordinary artistic performances often gets inaccurately misattributed, both knowingly and unintentionally. Examining instances of such misrepresented instances, we aim to foster awareness and encourage a more discerning community focused on accuracy. Social Media Posts A viral video circulating on social media claims to feature a 75-year-old grandmother and her grandson participating […]
Viral content related to extraordinary artistic performances often gets inaccurately misattributed, both knowingly and unintentionally. Examining instances of such misrepresented instances, we aim to foster awareness and encourage a more discerning community focused on accuracy.
Social Media Posts
A viral video circulating on social media claims to feature a 75-year-old grandmother and her grandson participating in a ballot dance. Here is an instance of this video clip gaining more than one million views on X platform.
This claim was shared among Facebook users as well.
We decided to look at the facts behind this unbelievable claim.
Fact Check:
Video Origin:
We used the Invid-We-Verify tool to trace the origin of the video and found a similar video uploaded in 2021, titled “Breathtaking BALLET performance GETS THE GOLDEN BUZZER! | World's Got Talent 2019 巅峰之夜” as seen below.
Dancer Identification:
Further investigation led us to identify the ballot dancers in the video as Wu Zhengdan and Wei Baohua. They participated in the World Got Talent event in 2019. Their details are listed here
Furthermore, at the beginning of the original video, the names “Wu Zhengdan” and “Wei Baohua” appear in a simplified Chinese chyron.
Age Verification:
Contrary to the claim of a grandmother and grandson duo, Wu Zhengdan(husband) and Wei Baohua were 49 and 39 years old, respectively, in 2019 when they won the competition. They are, in fact, husband and wife. More details about it can be taken from here and here.
AFP had also previously debunked this claim, and a verified Weibo account for Wu Zhengdan, the female Chinese acrobat, had stated her birth year to be 1981 as well. Furthermore, on Hunan TV’s Weibo account on April 19, 2019, a judge introduced Wu Zhengdan and Wei Baohua as husband and wife in Mandarin.
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Conclusion:
The viral video claim suggesting that the dancers are a 75-year-old grandmother and her grandson is false. The video actually features Wu Zhengdan and Wei Baohua, a married couple who participated in the 'World Got Talent' event in 2019. The husband and wife were 49 and 39 years old, respectively, at the time of their performance.
Title:Fact Check: Viral Video Misidentifies Ballot Dancers as Grandmother and Grandson Duo
Written By: Kalana KrishanthaResult: False
