A Viral Boy Band Needs One More Fan: the U.S. Government

BY MICHELLE HACKMAN

Group is on a quest to show they meet ‘extraordinary’ threshold for landing a visa

In the parlance of U.S. immigration law, “extraordinary ability” typically refers to Olympic athletes, top scientists or renowned artists. A fledgling boy band is hoping that going viral counts, too.

If you’ve been on the internet in the past few months, chances are you’ve scrolled past them: four 20-somethings, clad in Pepto-pink velour track suits and yellow sneakers, dancing and harmonizing.

Evan Papier, Anthony Key, Zachary Sobania and Darshan Magdum debuted Boy Throb on TikTok in November. Their profile was unassuming but their

promises were lofty. “We’re the world’s next biggest boy band,” they proclaimed in their introductory video.

One big obstacle stood in their way: Darshan lives in India. For the band to be complete, he needs a visa. And to get that visa, known as the O-1, Boy Throb needs to convince the U.S. government that their act is, in fact, extraordinary.

The group’s aesthetic blends ’90s nostalgia and modern editing tricks, all delivered with a curious blend of camp and earnestness. They have crooned to covers of Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter, danced in the style of K-pop stars and pretended to have beef with other boy bands. But their real appeal is the quest to bring Darshan to the U.S. He is edited into each video, popping up at the bottom of the screen, dancing along from his home in Mumbai.

Exactly a month after posting their first video, Boy Throb hit a million followers.

Their introduction has proved a bizarre experiment in internet fandom. Boy Throb lacks the obvious sing-ing talent or physical coordination of the Backstreet Boys, One Direction or BTS, to put it mildly. “They will go double aluminum,” one commenter wrote on a Reddit forum called “r/TikTokCringe.”

Still, their goofy videos have captured the hearts of TikTok users, who have been subscribing in droves through a mix of real fandom and curiosity about whether the whole thing is an elaborate ruse to bring their friend to America.

The million-followers marker was no random or vain pursuit. It stemmed from advice the band received from their immigration attorney—a recurring character in their videos—who told them the threshold would help establish their legitimacy with the government.

In a group interview on Zoom, the three U.S.-based members insisted they are sincerely trying to make it big. They know their videos come off as playful, and for now, that’s the point.

“People love a story. And they love something that lets them escape all the darkness going on right now,” Evan said. “We’ve been that outlet.”

Video of their first gig, at a nursing home, leaked on TikTok with the caption “What is happening at my grandma’s nursing home rn.” It featured Evan, Anthony and Zachary performing before a crowd of nonplussed seniors, while Darshan danced along next to them on a laptop screen.

Since then, the group’s debut single, “Finger,” has been streamed over a million times. They’ve been invited to the Grammys and will sing the national anthem at a Los Angeles Kings game in February. But their first order of business is the visa. The group’s attorney submitted the application in late December and they could receive an answer as soon as this month.

It’s feasible that Darshan and Boy Throb have done enough to meet the standard, said James Hollis, a Memphis immigration attorney who specializes in O-1 visas for artists and athletes.

“I mean, they don’t necessarily pass the listen test for me personally,” Hollis said. “But they certainly know how to make viral social media.”

If the immigration process is their biggest obstacle, it has also produced their best material. In one video with more than seven million views on Instagram, Boy Throb offers a surprisingly accurate explanation of the visa process to the tune of “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town”: Here’s the timeline moving forward now that that is through, / A petition has been submitted and is waiting its review, / USCIS will adjudicate in 15 business days, / Adjudicate means “formal judgment.” We hope it goes our way!