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Let's go dance crazy for Ai Se Eu Te Pego

A catchy Brazilian tune sweeping the world is set to be the new ridiculous ditty that gets our weddings rocking

Chris Stevenson
Sunday 02 September 2012 10:18 BST
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Just when you thought it was safe to go back out on the dance floor, a new dance craze – craze being the apposite word – is coming, and it's set to be the new staple at every wedding for the next decade. A slice of Brazilian pop is following in the dodgy footsteps of "The Birdie Song" in the exotic guise of "Ai Se Eu Te Pego", or "Oh If I Catch You", by Michel Teló.

The UK is late to the party, with the track already racking up global sales of 15 million and hitting the top spot in 35 countries. The original video has been viewed more than 420 million times on YouTube, with the dance being replicated by Cristiano Ronaldo and other goal-scoring footballers. Latin America and most of Europe has fallen under the spell of this so-catchy-you-will-be-humming-it-for-weeks ditty.

Notice of its potential chart dominance was served when the song hit the top of the commercial chart – which reflects orders from nightclubs and discos - last month, meaning that DJs across Britain already see it as a way to pack the dance floor.

In an attempt to guarantee a debut high in the pop charts and seed the song in clubbers' minds before unleashing it on the public, Sony has pushed back the release a month to 14 October. So would-be fans have plenty of time to perfect the full dance routine illustrated here (see right), while our own Matthew Bell nobly demonstrates it and some other dreadful dance routines that have cast a shadow over our lives.

Additional reporting by Megan Archer

'Macarena' by Los Del Rio

One of the first songs that most think of when it comes to dance crazes. Selling over 400,000 copies in the UK in 1996, the jumping, hip-twirling, hand-flipping routine was voted the greatest one-hit wonder of all time by music channel VH1 in 2002. Reached number two in the charts

'Oops Upside Your Head' by the Gap Band

Reaching number six in the UK chart in 1980, it has one of the strangest dances on the list, involving sitting on the floor one after the other, swaying forward and back, left and right and doing a lot of clapping. It's a song that DJs love at parties to get people "involved" on the dance floor

'The Birdie Song' by the Tweets

Peaking at number two in the UK, the entirely instrumental track, released by the Tweets, has been irritating people since 1981. The dance of beak-snapping and bum-shaking is one the whole family can do, not that you would want them to, and is now restricted to such gatherings

'YMCA' by the Village People

The quintessential dance hit known by virtually everyone, which is unsurprising considering it sold 12 million copies worldwide. Released in November 1978, the dance is ubiquitous at parties, despite – or because of – its double-entendres

'Saturday Night' by Whigfield

Spending four weeks at the top of the charts in autumn 1994, "Saturday Night", by the Danish Sannie Charlotte Carlson, sold more than one million copies in the UK. The arm twirl with finger pointed upwards, and the hand-over-hand roll associated with the song have become wedding staples

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