China's Back Dorm Boys start a global trend

Video-sharing website YouTube has spawned a generation of online lip-synchers.

Of all the pop star wannabes, a goofy duo from the mainland found fame due to their exaggerated antics.

Back Dorm Boys (Wei Wei and Huang YiXin, both sculpture graduates of the Guangzhou Arts Institute) send up romantic hits by US boy band Backstreet Boys by contorting their faces and torsos while lip-synching their songs in front of the camera.

In the video, the duo grimace and sway to the hit song I Want It That Way.

Hamming it up in front of the camera, the duo scratch their heads and pucker their brows to interpret the sappy lyrics of the song.

The funky video proved an instant hit, generating copy-cat videos of western boys lip-synching Chinese songs.

Due to an overwhelming response, the pair made dozens of lip-synching spoofs of hit pop bands such as the Black Eyed Peas.