People watch YouTube videos for a number of reasons: to catch up on the news, to watch music videos and film trailers, to watch people making fools of themselves. Sometimes anything will do, if all you’re looking for is a way to waste time at work.
This year’s top YouTube videos indicate that this is still true, five years after the site was launched. Included in the list is footage from major news stories, such a the Haiti earthquake, sports events, cute (and annoying) kids singing along to Lady Gaga, viral ad campaigns, Twilight trailers and, er, Justin Bieber. The usual, in other words.
We have rounded up some of the more interesting videos that pulled the most viewers.
Jack Parow featuring Francois van Coke : Dans Dans Dans
The most-watched South African music video this year was Die Antwoord’s Enter the Ninja, which also topped lists on other blogs and video sites. Jack Parow was also in the top five, with this collaboration with Fokofpolisikar’s Francois van Coke. Parow’s most popular video, Cooler as Ekke, (which was loaded onto YouTube last year) is currently sitting at over a million views. Not bad for a man with a silly moustache and a sillier hat.
Don’t touch me on my studio
The Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) was placed in the spotlight again following the murder of AWB leader Eugene Terre’Blanche earlier this year. When AWB spokesperson Andre Visagie stormed out during a panel discussion with eNews’s Chris Maroga, no one could have predicted that that the immortal (and mystifying) phrase “Don’t touch me on my studio” would spawn a dozen dance remixes and parodies.
Julius’s white tendency
Ah, Julius. He never disappoints. This year he gave us more than we could hope for when BBC journalist Jonah Fisher was unceremoniously ejected from an ANC Youth League press conference when he dared to point out that Malema, who was criticising press conferences that are held in Sandton, lived in Sandton. Ever the diplomat, Malema criticised the journo’s “white tendency”, called him a “bloody agent”, and made fun of the “rubbish in his trouser”. This ensured that the footage of the incident would be watched again and again, and the phrases would be cemented into the language of the country.
If you needed more Malema, United States talk show host David Letterman was willing to provide. Although it didn’t make it into the list of most-viewed videos, South African audiences might be interested to see the US take on Malema. In this clip, Homer “Julias” Simpson gives Letterman some of the best answers to difficult, uncomfortable questions about wealth,
OK Go: This Too Shall Pass
OK Go are known for their innovative and hilarious videos, which ensure huge audiences despite what anyone may think of the music. This year, the music video for This Too Shall Pass was no exception. A tribute to iconic American inventor and cartoonist Rube Goldberg and his ridiculous contraptions, the video was shot in a single take.
Old Spice: The man your man could smell like
Old Spice may have been the fragrance you found on the bottom shelf at a dusty pharmacy, but that didn’t stop it from employing the powers of ridiculous, over-the-top advertising to remind you that it still existed. This advert (and the ones that followed) went viral soon after it was released, and for obvious reasons. In a new twist, the campaign started to feature replies to people who had commented on the advertisement’s gorgeous star, Isaiah Mustafa. The campaign has recently made it to South African TV. You could probably put money on your friends shrieking, “Oh my God have you seen this ad!?” next time it comes on. Just wait.