End of the Year 2010: Part 2- The Year's 20 Best Videos

Welcome back to The mj15 Blog four part 2010 installment of End of the Year. In case you missed part one and would really like to check it out, click here. The following is part two: my picks for the best viral videos of the year. As with every post, I hope that you enjoy.

According to the YouTube blog, nearly 24 hours of videos per minute were uploaded to the popular website back in April, and that number jumped nearly 45% to 35 hours of videos per minute as of November. Not every day, not every hour, but every minute! So, if my calculations are correct, we are looking at about 15 million hours of footage, clips, etc. produced on YouTube in the year 2010. Add in videos produced in millions of other sites (Tumblr, Megavideo, ESPN.com, Yahoo, etc.) and we are looking at a number that should increase to 50 million or more.

Most of these videos that were uploaded to the Internet are what many would consider to be "crap," something that they would find to be not enjoyable. However, for all that "crap" that were uploaded to the Web, there were still many videos that one would consider to be entertaining or just of good quality in general. Yet, for all of these video contents produced this year, there are still always going to be a few that rank on top of them all. Everyone has an opinion of which videos these are. The following twenty videos are my picks. These videos range from the year's funniest to the most original to the one with the best memes to even the most absurd. But overall, all of these twenty were some of the best videos that I thought were both original, wildly entertaining, and one that I gladly wasted precious time on. Hopefully, you (at one point) enjoyed them, too.

"Bed Intruder Song"
This video was a combination of two of the Internet's biggest stars of the past two years. On one side, there's Antoine Dodson who on July 29th was introduced to the world through a WFF-48 local news report about his sister, Kelly, waking up one night to find herself next to another man who tried to rape her. Antoine then appeared on the camera around the one minute mark and took the spotlight from her with his eccentric personality, quotable sentences and zany rant to his sister's attempted rapist that quickly took the web by storm and immediately made him a web sensation. On the other side, there's the Gregory Brothers (under the YouTube account schmoyoho), auto tune extraordinaires who grew to YouTube fame last year with their terrific "Auto-tune the News" series (with the original picked as one of my 20 for the 2009 list), where they would take random news reports and turn it into a song. A few hours after the Dodson video was released to the Web, the brothers decided on turning it into one of their top projects. What followed would become not only one of the most watched viral videos of the year, but also the best viral video of the year (if not that, then its at least in the top five).



"Amazing MLB Opening Day Play by Mark Buehrle"
2010 was a fantastic year of amazing baseball plays. In mid-April, you had Fordham baseball player Brian Kownacki scoring the team's go-ahead run against Iona by leaping over Iona's catcher to reach home plate. Then, in July, you had Hiroshima (Japan) Carps teammates Masato Akamatsu and Amaya Soichoro both making amazing spiderman-like catches in the outfield within a span of about three weeks or so. However, none was more amazing or set the bar higher for future baseball plays to come then the play Mark Buehrle made against the Cleveland Indians on opening day of the 2010 MLB season. With 2-2 the count in the top of the fifth and the White Sox leading by four runs, Buehrle chases after a ball hit off his leg into foul territory and makes an amazing behind the back glove throw to first baseman Paul Konerko for the out. Not only was it one of the best defensive plays that a pitcher has ever achieved, but it was a play that no one else in MLB for the rest of the season could possibly match-up (unlike the Akamatsu play, which was done again a few weeks later by his teamates). No wonder this man won a Gold Glove this year!

(Ed. note: Unfortunately, MLB hates the idea of having any second of their own footage on YouTube or any other video site other than their own and possibly ESPN.com for some reason. This makes the video unembeddable. Instead, here's the link to the video on MLB.com.)

"Chat Roulette Funny Piano Improv"
Remember Chat Roulette, the online site where you were able to chat with any random person for free? It was the Web's newest sensation for about...3-4 months. Then, the craze started to fade, the amount of users of the site declined dramatically and the website is slowly becoming extinct as we speak. However, the site did provide some memorable moments, none more enjoyable thne series of videos created by a talented piano player by the name of Merton. In these videos, Merton would spend time on Chat Roulette, but with a twist. Instead of just simply chatting with people, he would interact with them by improvising and playing songs through the piano to them. Here is the first of the three videos. It certainly makes up for the amount of cock shots on that site, that's for sure.



"Best Cry Ever"
That title pretty much says it all.



"Jimmy Kimmel on Jay Leno's 10 at 10"
The two week period known as the Late Night War of 2010 provided a lot of memorable moments, from O'Brien's unveiling a $4.8 million mascot for "The Tonight Show," David Letterman's bashing of Leno, the final send-off of "The Tonight Show of Conan O'Brien" that was watched by nearly 8 million people, and more. Yet the best moment of the entire period, in my opinion, did not involve Conan O'Brien, but rather the quirky ABC late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. A couple of days after Kimmel spent an entire show impersonating Jay Leno, the producers behind the now thankfully cancelled "The Jay Leno Show" decided that it would be a good idea to invite him over for the show's "10 at 10" second and answered a few questions. What resulted next would be six minutes of Kimmel making fun of Leno and voicing his opinion of Leno to his face that millions of Conan O'Brien supporters never had the chance to do. So while O'Brien may have come out of this as the big winner, nobody had more cajones during this time than Kimmel.



"Blizzcon 2010- The Red Shirt Guy"
I know that this may sound sarcastic, but I really admire Red Shirt Guy. Think of it: a man correctly and eloquently pointed out a major flaw in a World of Warcraft game and made thousands of random people that never saw him or knew him before that very moment look at him at awe and give him a round of applause while making the game creators look like idiots. Now that, my friends, is an example of a nerd at its finest.



"Basil Marceaux for TN Governor OFFICIAL CAMPAIGN"
With 2010 in America largely dominated by the many midterm elections taking place across the country, the year featured many notable videos and campaign ads from politicians running for office. The list was so packed, in fact, that I actually found three to include in this year's top twenty list. The first comes from the campaign ad of none other than Tennessee gubernatorial candidate, Basil Marceaux (or Basil Marceaux.com for that matter). Marceaux did not actually get the republican nominee for Tennessee governor (those Volunteer bastards!), nor did he have a chance of getting nominated in the first place. However, that didn't stop him from creating this hilarious campaign ad of him staring in front of the camera in front of random locations, stammering while telling you his campaign promises. Say what you will about the man, but at least he told me to have a nice day. Politeness, after all, is a wonderful quality to have.



"Old Spice's 'The Man Your Man Could Smell Like'"
In this now classic Emmy-award winning commercial (no, really) from the hygiene company with the catchy jingle, former NFL player Isaiah Mustafa plays "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like," the ideal gentlemen who is attractive, gives women glamorous gifts and, most importantly, on a horse. And although most men are not "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like," they could be if they started using Old Spice Body Wash. The commercial is both hilarious and so good you could sware Don Draper pitched it, as well as one that has been watched now over 26 million times on YouTube and counting. The ad has also jumped Mustafa's career into new heights (if host of TBS's "TV's Funniest Commercials" and a spot as AT&T pitchman counts as a height), increased body wash-sales and has spawned a series of great sequels including this, this, this, and much more . Not a bad job for a company mostly associated with older men.



"The Rent is Too Damn High Party's Jimmy McMillan at the NY Governor Debate"
If only McMillan had created alliance with Basil Marceaux during his campaign. Together, as Governor and Lt. Governor candidates, they might have won some gubernatorial race out there for sure.



"Yosemite Mountain Giant Double Rainbow 1-8-10"
To exclude Paul Vasquez a.k.a. The Double Rainbow Guy off the list of this year's top videos would be like excluding Ted Williams from the list of the greatest baseball hitters of all-time, or "Gone with the Wind" from the list of the greatest movies of all-time. His video, showing a double rainbow in Yosemite along with his awe-inspired reaction of it, has risen him to Internet stardom and in the pantheon of 2010 viral videos. And to think, it might have never happened without the help of Jimmy Kimmel, who actually introduced this video to most of the world back in July (six months after the video was uploaded to YouTube) through his Twitter feed. Makes you wonder...what does this all mean?



"Greyson Michael Chance-'Paparazzi' "
In a world that seems to now be dominated by Justin Bieber, one eleven year old boy brings hope to everyone who wishes to see that sixteen year-old fall from the stardom. That young man is Greyson Michael Chance, who introduced himself to the world back in late April with video of him playing Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" during him school's Sixth Grade Fest exceptionally for a young man his age. His performance was so good, that he actually earned himself a record deal! So, the only question now remaining is: what will happen next? Will he become a future star soon? Will he just end of in one of those "Where Are They Now?" TV specials? Whatever the fate is of this young boy, he should still be credited for this wonderful performance, one that brought smiles to many people's faces and was one of the year's most memorable videos.



"General Larry Flatt's Pants on the Ground"
This video both set the bar early for what is considered to be a great video in 2010, and instantly became both a national sensation (with the song getting downloaded on iTunes and all that jazz) and one of the best moments in "American Idol" auditions history. What more could you ask for?



"Greg Jennings (Broken Leg) Scores on the Saints"
Much like the Double Rainbow Guy, this video also took some time to gain its popularity (nearly six months since its April upload to YouTube). But when it did, it instantly became a web sensation. Why you ask? Well, for one thing, its hilarious. Second, while many Madden players (including myself) do like to occasionally recap or announce a replay of some great replay that just occured during that particular game they're playing, I can't recall one that featured a play as good with a play-by-play call as awesome as this one was. Overall, this video just proves one thing, that even though you don't gain praise for an Internet video as soon as its released, it doesn't mean that the quality is that bad.



"Trololo"
In arguably the most bizarre Internet video of the year, we see a 1976 clip of Russian singer Eduard Khil lip syncing to the song "I Am So Happy to Finally Be Back Home" to nothing laughs, trololos and yahs (since the song has no lyrics). You get creeped out of it at first, but once you finish you become mesmerized by it, unable to look away and even watch it multiple times, kind of like how Rosario Dawson described a donkey show in "Clerks 2."



"Taiwanese Lin Yu Chun Sings Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You'"
Much like when Susan Boyle entered the "Britain's Got Talent" stage last year, many people would not have believed that Chun would have the voice of an angel. But when he opened his mouth, the world was in awe of his powerful feminine voice, one that sounds as good as Miss Houston herself. Chun's singing was so good that Sony Music actually signed him to a record deal, with the debut album premiering this past September. Should be interesting to see which person walks in Chun's and Boyle's footsteps next.



"Trailer for Every Oscar Winning Movie Ever"
Critical praise of ever little moment that I enjoyed while watching this video followed by a statement of appreciation that I have for this video and a repeat of the best quote of the movie.



"Metrodome Roof Collapse Video"
I've already given my praise of the footage during one of my End of the Week columns from this month, where I even give the man responsible for FOX sports showing the footage my vote for Person of the Week. Just know that its captivating footage was one of the main reasons why this video, the most recent of the twenty, was selected over so many others.



"Phil Davidson, GOP Candidate, Delivers Stark County Treasurer Speech 9/8/10"
Unlike Marceaux and McMillan, which I kind of understand why they were selected. However, hearing the news that Davidson lost the GOP nomination for Stark County treasurer was puzzling. Not only does he seem like a normal, intelligent man but the way he was so passionate and so serious during his speech...I just, I don't understand it. Maybe Davidson could now use that fame to become a great motivational speaker or something.



"Jon Stewart's Speech at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear"
2010 was an exceptional twelve months for the late night talk show host. Ironically, two of his best on-air moments of the year would not have come without the indirect help of conservative libertarian Glenn Beck. The first moment came back in March, when on "The Daily Show" Stewart had one of his best single sketches ever (one that even received an Emmy nomination), spending nearly fifteen minutes uninterrupted slamming Beck for the things that he preaches including his stance on progessives. The second, and probably the most defining moment of Stewart in 2010 came in October when, for a crowd over two hundred thousand, delivered a fifteen minute preach during his co-created "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" voicing his opinion on the state of the 24/7 news channel like CNN, FOX News and MSNBC as well as some of these opinion messengers like Beck, like Olbermann, like Hannity and much more. Not only was it THE best moment during that three hour rally, but it also showed the best of Stewart: the level headed man who isn't afraid to voice his opinions.



"OK-Go- This Too Shall Pass"
In 2006, the indie rock band OK-Go rose to Internet prominence with their original music video of "Here it Goes Again," where the entire band would perform the song on a set of treadmills. It was both creative, entertaining, quirky and one of the best videos to ever hit YouTube at the time that it did. Then, for three years, there was nothing. However, in early March the band would release the music video for their song "This Too Shall Pass" (from their album "Of the Blue Colour of the Sky") that would win them the Internet once again. In it, the band play the song while simultaneously running a Rude Goldberg-esque machine that would end in them getting sprayed by paint as people (that I assume worked on the machine) would applaud. Overall, while I'm not sure that this is what scientists in the '40s and '50s had in mind when they were working on early models of the Internet, I assume that even they would be impressed by it (then again, who wouldn't?).



BONUS VIDEO! "Homeless Man Under Pressure"



The Honorable Mentions:
Fordham Baseball Player Goes Airborn
Watermelon Launch on The Amazing Race
Worst Wedding DJ Ever
The Annoying Orange #1
Crazy Old DJ Rocks the Party
Jackie Evancho
Creepy Guy Sings Carrie Underwood Karaoke
Insane Clown Possee: "Miracles"

The Really Honorable Mentions:
Weatherman's Big Moment (my favorite weatheman video of the year)
Dude, You Have No Quran
Amazing Japanese Baseball Spiderman Catch
Gingers Do Have Souls
Cee-Lo Green's "F*** You" (the original)
Eccentric Witness Describes Robbery Attempt
Ending of "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien


So, that's going to do it for now. Overall, 2010 may go down as one of the best years in viral video history (which is at, what, year eight?). Now, let's see how you respond, 2011. After all, with the amount of YouTube videos per minute continuing to rise by the month, this has to result in the rise of quality videos, right? RIGHT? Anyways, see you tomorrow with part three!

Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15




If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or
tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.