Welland mall gained international attention after 14 million viewers watched flash mob
Published February 22, 2023 at 12:33 pm
A mall well-known in Welland but not much beyond the city’s borders became the focal point of international attention over 12 years ago when the Chorus Niagara held a seemingly random but actually very well-organized flash mob in the food court.
The chorus, standing and joining in one after another, sang Hallelujah in front of several hundred startled but appreciative shoppers at Seaway Mall on November 13, 2010 and when the video got posted to YouTube, it gained a staggering 14.4 million views in less than a month.
After the video became public, the media flocked to the story. Back in 2010, flash mobs were still a relatively new internet sensation and before long, videos of them from malls, weddings, receptions and public events became almost commonplace.
Given the coordination and seasonal sound of the Chorus Niagara, their conductor Robert Cooper was besieged with media requests asking how the group managed to pull it off.
Cooper said the flash mob was made up of about 100 “dedicated singers” who do four to five concerts a year.
He said the trick was getting the singers organized and strategically placed among the shoppers “sitting here, eating their hamburgers.”
Videos
That group came into the Seaway Mall at 6 am to chart out where they’d be standing and mingling.
Here is the performance viewed over 14 million times, captured on video from YouTube.
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