Norwegian dance team Quick Style took Norway by storm winning Norske Talenter in 2009. Since then the group has been relatively quiet until this summer they were once again on stage in front of thousands in Oslo Spektrum with Karp.

On the heels of their collaboration with the pop duo, they continued their success on social media where they shared dance videos that took off. Now they have become a viral phenomenon with over 100 million views on both instagram and ICT Tac.

For the past month, the boy band has been traveling the world performing at local venues, where hundreds of fans gather to catch a glimpse of them.

Among other things, the Oslo boy gang has made a name for itself in places like Times Square in New York, and in London, Dubai and Pakistan to name a few. In September, they revealed to the website 730that they have established collaborations with major partners in these countries.

Last week, however, several people reacted to one of the countries the group seems to be collaborating with, namely Qatar.

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Recently, the group was in Doha where they shared several clips of dance performances and other social gatherings on social media.

In the text shared with the post, however, there is a detail that causes a lot of reaction. There, the group tagged the Instagram account @visitqatar, the country’s official tourist account.

The use of tags is considered by many to indicate that the dance group has entered into a collaboration with Qatar, a hotly contested city these days.

One of those who reacted is YouTuber Kong Halvor, real name Halvor Harsem (34). He decided to confront the group on Instagram for what he believes to be a collaboration with Visit Qatar. According to Harsem, however, his comment was quickly deleted.

On Twitter, Harsem questioned the comment which he said had been deleted and again confronted the dance group about the apparent collaboration.

– The same for me who is in charge of catching up with the social dumping of the emirates. Whether it’s bloggers, footballers or the ever so adorable dance crew. It’s not good either way, Harsem initially writes.

Additionally, the 34-year-old writes that he loves the dance group himself, but found it disappointing that his original comment was deleted by the group when he confronted them in their post.

Quick Style members Suleman Malin, Bilal Malin and Nasir Sirkhan had not responded to repeated requests from Nettavisen when the matter was published at 1 p.m. Monday. The case was updated on Monday afternoon, just after manager and spokesman Ibrar Malik sent written responses to Nettavisen. See what he answers further down in the article.

Requires greater awareness of responsibility

In Nettavisen, Harsem says he thinks the dance group has a responsibility in the signals they send when they have such great influence.

– When you have as much influence and as many followers as them, I thought it was a bad decision. They should instead shed some light on how it’s actually there and not support whitewashing and “sports whitewashing” of such a place, he tells Nettavisen.

He himself did not contact the dance group, after apparently withdrawing his comment. Harsem, on the other hand, can state that several people contacted him to confirm that they saw the comment posted.

– I have not received any response to this, but I have received responses from many who can confirm that they have seen the comment, he says and adds.

– In a way, I understand that they took it down if it’s a paid collaboration, but that’s a criticism that should have been seen coming.

He adds that one should never delete reviews, but rather take the opportunity to have a good discussion.

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– Clears the role of the Qatari authorities

Harsem’s Twitter statement got several people reacting to the collaboration.

A follower writes the following:

– Very disappointing, especially now so close to the FIFA World Cup, writes one while another underlines:

– Then yes! I noticed your comment so it surprised me a bit, but maybe not too much. That’s how criticism is greeted these days, I note.

Secretary General John Peder Egenæs of Amnesty International Norway writes to Nettavisen that the dance group engages in a cultural version of “sportswashing” and is involved in rolewashing Qatari authorities.

– I guess this is a paid collaboration with Visit Qatar, and the danger with this is that it is used to promote a shiny image that serves the authoritarian regime that rules Qatar. It is the same as sports washing, but rather culture and dance are used as means of action. This overshadows the reality of migrant workers that Amnesty and many others are trying to shed light on, he writes.

Furthermore, he states that it has been revealed that migrant workers preparing the country for this year’s FIFA World Cup are exposed to systematic human rights violations.

– You almost had to live under a rock if you didn’t hear about it in Norway, he writes.

Egenæs assumes that this is a paid collaboration with Visit Qatar.

– The danger with this is that one is used to promote a shiny image that serves the authoritarian regime that rules Qatar. It is the same as sports washing, but rather culture and dance are used as means of action. This overshadows the reality of migrant workers that Amnesty and many others are trying to shed light on, he writes.

He further encourages Quick Style to use its platforms and influence to shine a spotlight on those whose human rights are being violated in Qatar.

Get author support

In a discussion article on Twitter However, Quick Style is backed by the author and president of Wasila, Mohammad Usman Rana.

– You social justice jihadists on social media are funny. Soon you won’t be able to do anything until a benevolent activist says something about something. They probably shouldn’t have gone to NY because Neither the USA nor Iraq. After all, Qatar is a Western ally. Start there, maybe, he writes.

In the same thread, artist Malin Pettersen shows dissatisfaction with the alleged collaboration. She did so by commenting the following on one of Quick Style’s Instagram posts.

– Personally, it’s not a regime that I would support or for which I would agree to do sponsored work, she wrote in a comment on one of their posts.

– I wouldn’t feel comfortable knowing how many deaths they are responsible for. And definitely not a message I would want to send to my LGBTQ+ and female fans and followers.

– Do not cooperate

Manager Ibrar Malik tells Nettavisen the group understands some have questioned the performance in Doha, but says it started when they were invited by TikTok chief Burak to be part of the opening of one of its new restaurants in Doha.

– A few days before departure, the opening of the restaurant has been postponed. The trip being already planned, we were offered to play and meet the fans in this shopping center where the restaurant was to open. We accepted that. It’s important to us both to produce content and to meet fans in the places we visit. The event agency that booked us had to apply for filming permits through Visit Qatar, who both arranged the permits and organized the filming at the locations we selected. We were therefore not sponsored, and did not receive any money from Visit Qatar during this trip. We were paid by the mall through an event city. To our surprise, over four thousand people showed up to meet us and watch us dance, which is pretty clear in the video we shared, Malik wrote in a text message.

– We understand the debate this may create in Norway and also the comment to Amnesty, and would be happy to meet them for a conversation.

– Now it is also true that 70% of all our subscribers come from the Middle East and South Asia, and after Dubai and Doha, the journey continues to Pakistan and India, then again to Canada, the United States United States and probably in several other countries. in the Middle-East. We are inspired by culture, and our goal is to promote diversity and break down barriers through dance, and it’s very important for us to be where the fans are.

Human rights violations

In 2010, Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup by FIFA. Since then, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers have faced human rights abuses as they work to build stadiums, hotels, transport and other infrastructure needed to host the World Cup.

In particular, the conditions of the country’s many guest workers and the laws against homosexuality were highlighted as particularly questionable.

The much-discussed World Cup finals in Qatar start in a month.

Qatar World Cup boss Nasser Al Khater recently appeared in an interview in which he makes some startling claims. Among other things, he warns against criticism of the championship and believes that it should not be “used” as an arena for political ploys.

– This is a sports tournament that people want to come and have fun with. Making it a platform for political statements, I think is not good for the sport,” Al Khater added. sky sports.

Read also : World Cup manager thinks Qatar criticism may be racist

The World Cup official also believes that the “persistent” criticism of the championship, which takes place between November 19 and December 18, can be described as racist.

Received worldwide

Quick Style has been dancing since 2006, but made their big breakthrough by winning “Norske Talenter” in 2009.

Recently, as mentioned, they got a lot of attention with their viral video, where the friends surprise one of the members with a dance at their wedding.

Afterwards, they were guests of Lindmo, and big stars such as Jason Derulo, Demi Lovato and Jimmy Fallon took over the dance and made their own version of it on TikTok.

The gang has also won a number of dance competitions, competing in both NBC’s World of Dance and “America’s Got Talent”.