L to R: Callek Calle, Bårdek, Bård, Vegek ,Vegard
For Season Five of I Kveld Med Ylvis, Ylvis went to Warsaw to find some Polish lookalikes to fill in for them on a night they were double-booked. The reasoning was that everyone else in Norway hires Polish temporary staff, so why shouldn't they do the same. (source)
In the fall of 2015, Ylvis went to Warsaw to audition their replacements and chose Łukasz Szoblik (Callek), Radoslaw Zalewski (Bårdek) and Jacek Czaja (Vegek), The new troupe was named Ylvek.
Radoslaw and Łukasz are both professional entertainers in Poland - Radoslaw is an actor/director and Łukasz a television VJ who works under the name Dandris . Jacek was a police officer who went to the audition with a friend.
The auditions and training sessions were recorded and played as segments on I Kveld Med Ylvis leading up to Ylvek's debut on episode 7 (16 February 2016.)
Episodes[]
- Going to Warsaw
- Auditions
- Training Bårdek, Vegek and Callek
- Tenk fort!
- 2 men, 1 suit
- Ring på Spring
- Dance lessons and standup comedy
- Debut on I Kveld Med Ylvis - opening dance and intro
Extra: Tonight with Ylvis and Ylvek:[]
Tonight with Ylvis and Ylvek- Special edition -NSFW-
Articles[]
- Ylvis fikk polakker til å jobbe for seg, dagbladet.no (2015/11/12)
- Kan fire norske ord - i kveld åpner de et av Norges største talkshow, kjendis.no (2016/02/16)
- I kveld med Vegek, Ylvis Suomi (2016/04/06)
Interview excerpts: I kveld med Vegek[]
Fan blog Ylvis Suomi interviewed Jacek Czaja (Vegek) about his experiences working with Ylvis. Selected excerpts from the interview below:
[YS}Have you performed on stage before?
[JC] Only when I was a child I performed school plays etc. Never anything professional.
Have you ever dreamed about a career in entertainment?
I am this type of person who always wanted to achieve more then "normal", "regular" people, I always wanted to amaze my parents, people around me, prove to myself and to others that I can do anything, and anything is possible, so yes.
Were you an Ylvis fan before going to the audition?
Yes, I became an Ylvis fan instantly after my colleague Adrian (the other cop from casting) showed me at work "What does the fox say" on YouTube. After I saw that video I started checking out the rest of Ylvis songs and "I kveld med Ylvis" show, and I became real 100% fan.
What are Bård, Vegard, Calle and Magnus like behind the scenes?
I have to say that I have never met nicer people, seriously. All the time we spent together, everyone was so nice, supportive, helpful, and we were joking all the time, all day everyday. If we needed anything, we just had to ask and they got it for us. I love them all and miss them.
Did you spend time with them outside work?
We really didn't have that much free time to spend together. After a whole day of shooting, everyone was so tired that we wanted to just go to the hotel, eat, relax and prepare for the next day. People don't realize that what you see in TV, let's say 3 minutes of prank, it really takes at least 4 hours to make it. You record 4 hours of stuff and then you choose 3 minutes of best material.
What was it like working and living with Radosław and Dandris? What are they like?
Of course in the beginning we were strengers to each other so we had to learn how to live together under one roof, but after a very short time I can now say that we are really good friends, and I miss them also very much, great people.
Were you embarrassed by doing those pranks?
In the beginning I was asking myself what the hell was I thinking, in this age (35) with my physique, I am not typical tv-star material! I wasn't embarrassed to do pranks, not at all. But to tell you the truth, I was embarrassed of myself being an overweight cop. I always had a weight problem, all my life struggle with that.
Did you film any pranks or segments that were not shown on I kveld med Ylvis?
I did an intelevator prank and also a prank with small cars and a huge horn. Callek did something with a stick and pedestrians, but I wasn't there so I don't know the details.
What was it like learning the dance and working with choreographer Thea?
She is so nice, smart, very talented, beautiful, great sense of humor, very patient. Dancing is her life. I also think she is the kind of person who would never harm even a fly. Really she is a perfect package, miss her too.
Are there any funny anecdotes you’d like to tell us about working with Ylvis and Ylvek or about your time in Norway?
Viewers probably don't realise but Ylvek got information about what we will do for the next prank exactly 5 minutes before filming. We never knew what we should be wearing or what to prepare for. So every day was very exiting and a little stressful for us, but it was good and positive stress. And we always had fresh clean underwear, just in case hahaha...
Would you like to work with Ylvis again? Are there any plans?
Absolutely not!!! .... Just kidding, of course I would like to see those ugly faces again. Plans? You know Ylvis, they never say anything too early, so I guess we have to wait and see.
Read the whole interview HERE.
Bonus clips[]
Ylvis and Ylvek - Ellie Goulding - Burn (Acappella)
Ylvek - Fun on the ice slides