Welcome back to "End of the Year: 2011," The mj15 Blog's look back into the past twelve months that was. The following post is part two, which features my picks for the year's twenty best viral videos. If you missed part one on Monday, which was a twelve month timeline of the year 2011, just click here. Otherwise, enjoy the YouTube embeddings.
I think I should begin by telling everyone that the following videos may contain either foul language, graphic imagery, or both. But then again, this is the Internet, so what did you expect?
Anyways, while 2011 was not nearly as good of a year in viral videos as in years past, it still had its moments. It was the year that viral stardom brought a homeless man to stardom only to have that stardom send him into rehab, the year that a teenage girl was the ridicule of an entire world, and the year that "Testa" temporarily replaced "Norris" at the top of the biggest bad-asses with the first name Chuck. It was a year that featured the Internet's usual slate of adorable babies and cat videos, of interesting raps and unusual campaign ads, and one that made a whole new crop of people household names. So, with that in mind, here it is: my third annual list of the year's twenty best viral videos (and some honorable mentions). Which of the millions of videos that were uploaded online did I choose as my cream of the crop (in no particular order, by the way)? Read on and find out!
"Rebecca Black- Friday"While this certainly wasn't the best viral video of the year (hell, it probably wouldn't even belong in the top 1,000,000 in terms of quality), it will most definitely go down as the most famous. Introduced for all the Internet to see back in mid-March, this terrible song (featuring such thought provoking lyrics as "Tomorrow is Saturday/And Sunday comes after...wards/I don't want this weekend to end" and highlighted by an annoying-yet-catchy chorus and the then 13 year old Rebecca Black's monotonous vocal talents) took the world by storm--for all the wrong reasons. Not only did its awfulness attract nearly 200 millions curious viewers before it was first removed back in June during a legal dispute over its rights, it surpassed the YouTube record for most dislikes on a video ever (in less than a month, no less), and, at the height of its popularity, the song's lyrics seemed to be unavoidable. You really couldn't go anywhere in the spring and summer without hearing someone loudly and proudly singing the lyrics to it in an ironic (and occasionally sincere) manner. It also helped spark a great list of parodies, and gave Black her fifteen minutes of fame by becoming one of this year's biggest laughingstocks. Although, considering the millions she has made as a result of the song and the fact that she ended up accomplishing her dream of becoming a famous singer, I would say that it was Black who came out of this with the last laugh.
"The Force: Volkswagen Commercial"It's the Super Bowl commercial that warmed the hearts of a cynical nation over with its cuteness. And it's hard not to see why. Make an adorable child pretend to be Darth Vader with the full costume, and you've got a definite recipe for success!
"Anderson Cooper Gets the Giggles"Back in August, award winning French actor Gerard Depardieu made headlines when it was reported that he urinated to a bottle on an airplane passenger aisle in the middle of a flight. Anderson Cooper tried to make note of the situation during his "Ridiculist" segment of his CNN show "Anderson Cooper 360" by poking fun at it, even trying to make a few puns along the way (...or as the French say: "oui oui"). Suddenly, the man known for reporting natural disasters around the world like the BP oil spill and going on serious rants on everything from Muammar Gaddafi to Snooki just could not put himself together, losing himself in laughter and later placing himself on the "Ridiculist" at the end of the program when all was said and done. It's this year's network news version of Bill Hader cracking up during his Stefan sketches on 'SNL', and it's just one of the many reasons why this man will remain one of our favorite newsmen.
"The Grand Rapids LipDub"Sometimes, you can't go wrong on using the Internet as the place to tell someone to just simply screw themselves. In January, Newsweek magazine partner The Daily Beast published an article online titled "America's Dying Cities." At #10 on the list was the Michigan city of Grand Rapids, highlighting the fact that 193,710 people left the city in 2009 and that change in total population was -2.1%. Well, the city of Grand Rapids didn't take too kindly on the fact that some outsider called the city "dying" to say the least, and decided to respond by raising $40,000 to make a citywide "lip dub" as its called, featuring thousands of the city's residents (from a local DJ to the city's mayor George Heartwell) singing along to a live version of Don McLean's famous song "American Pie." It was a brilliant achievement (one that Roger Ebert called "The Greatest Music Video Ever Made"), and I applaud the city for doing it successfully. Maybe other news site will now forever think twice about bad mouthing this Michigan city like that for a while.
"Jack Sparrow (feat. Michael Bolton)"More often than not these days, Andy Samberg's digital shorts on "Saturday Night Live" are more often failures than successes. But occasionally, there's always that one digital short (especially when it involves Samberg's Lonely Island buddies Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone) that's simply pure gold. This music video, featuring Michael Bolton in a video parodying himself in which he interrupts the band's effort to make a modern day club hit with interludes about some of his favorite movies from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series to "Scarface," is one of those example It's a delightful and hilarious song to listen to, and it's good to know that in the 6+ plus that Samberg has done his digital shorts that he can occasionally put up a jam like this one.
"Twin Babies Arguing" and "Emerson- Mommy's Nose Is Scary!"Videos with small children, much like videos involving cute cats, dominate the Internet's attention more than others, and this year there was once again no shortage of little children doing the most adorable and darndest things, whether it was being tricked into walking using reverse psychology, crying at the knowledge of her family going to Disneyland, laughing hysterically at something as unusual as ripping paper, or being calmed down by music from Notorious B.I.G. But for me, this year's title for best video involving small children belonged to a couple that were uploaded to YouTube within a month of each other. The first involved two twins arguing with each other in their special twin language, while the other involved a baby boy's horror of his mother sneezing and subsequent laughter after it was all finished. (Warning: these videos may features image of an adorable nature.)
"Webcam 101 for Seniors"
Weird to segue from small children to mature senior citizens, but whatever. Anyways, the following is a video of a happily married old couple of 7.5 years named Bruce and Esther Huffman. When they tried to use their newest webcam, they accidentally recorded themselves and when their granddaughter watched this video, rightfully believing it was funny, she uploaded it to YouTube. All of a sudden, the two's adventure into learning about one of the day's brand new technology became an instant Web sensation. While this video is indeed funny, it's also important to note how well these two behaved to each other, complementing each other and laughing at their jokes. It adds a nice sense of companionship and joy in addition to their confusion.
"29 year old and hearing myself for the 1st time!"The title for the video pretty much explains itself. Just a great, moving, and heartwarming, video, and I for one am glad that this woman was able to broadcast what was arguably the biggest moment of her life to the Web for others to join along in her happiness of finally being able to hear.
"The Man with the Golden Voice"On January 3rd, a Columbus Dispatch videographer by the man of Doral Chenoweth drove his car to an Ohio interstate section to speak to a homeless man who was rumored by others to have a golden voice. The homeless man, wearing a plain brown jacket and hair that appears to not have been cut for months, proved his God given gift in an effort to receive charity and then proceeded to take part in an interview with Chenoweth about how he got to this dark portion of his lief. The encounter left an indelible impression on Chenoweth, and he decided to post video of it on the newspaper's website, which was then reposted onto YouTube. And just like that, the reign of one of 2011's first big viral stars, Ted Williams (no relation to the cryogenically frozen baseball player), began.
The months since this video was posted online has been nothing short of up-and-down for Williams. Once the video hit viral and became the year's first big Internet sensation, he began to take part in several interviews including ones on the NBC's "Today," CBS's "The Early Show", "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," and more. He also began to receive several job offers and opportunities to put his discovered voice-over talent to work, whether it was to be the Cleveland Cavalier's full time announcer, the voice of MSNBC's "Lean Forward" campaign, or the announcer to Kraft commercials. Plus, he even reunited with his 90 year old mother after not speaking to her for years.
But unfortunately, the fame wasn't all that great for Williams. As a result of his new found success, Williams quickly took back to drinking after being sober for three years and was sent to a rehab facility on January 12th courtesy of Dr. Phil McGraw. Then, in May, he went to a rehab clinic again, this time citing emotional problems as the reason, and not for alcohol, all while losing the promised voice-over job from the Cavaliers that had been promised to him. Currently, he's living in his full-time home doing voiceover work for a cable news channel in New England, allegedly doing well and in sober conditions. His fifteen minutes of fame may have gone up months ago, but at least we will always have this wonderful video and his comeback story as a nice little keepsake.
"Ricky Gervais at the 2011 Golden Globe Awards"
In his second time hosting the Golden Globes, Gervais took no time in upping the ante from his first time hosting back in 2010. Whether it was using his monologue to take shots at "The Tourist" and Charlie Sheen to poking fun at the careers of Robert Downey Jr. and Bruce Willis as he was introducing him, Gervais was fearless just as much as he was funny. His performance as host raised quite a bit of ruckus from Hollywood and its "takes-itself-way-too-seriously" stars, with the President of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association even going so far as to calling his performance "unacceptable." However, it seems that things have calmed down in the months after, and as a result, we get the announcement that Gervais will be hosting the Golden Globes once again on January 15th. However, rewatching his performance from January's show, I'd say that Gervais is going to have quite a tough time preparing if he wants to be able to top himself.
"Radiohead- Lotus Flower"This past winter, one of the most unusual music videos was that made its debut involved Radiohead singer and frontman Thom Yorke singing and dancing along frantically to the band's song "Lotus Flower." Suddenly, the Internet found itself a new favorite hobby, and began to tease Yorke's dancing by using the footage in this music video and substituting the songs with everything from "Surfin' Bird" to "All the Single Ladies," turning it into one of the year's best memes (also, I'm pretty sure that it was the inspiration of the music video to the Black Key's "Lonely Boy," but that's just a guess). We're not sure what was in Yorke's mind (and the mind of the video's director) when they decided to have him dance, but whatever that reason is, I will just speak for everyone that enjoyed it when I say "thank you" for making it happen.
Footage of Muammar Gaddafi's Death and the Japanese EarthquakeSometime a viral video doesn't have to be funny or cute to be one of the year's best. Often times, it can also be historic, surreal, and even harrowing. These next two videos, one of Muammar Gaddafi following his assassination back in October and the other of the floods that plagued Japan following March's 8.9 magnitude 'quake, are two major examples of that.
Boy, this article sure took a serious turn, didn't it? Let's cure that up with a funny rap video...
"Einstein vs. Stephen Hawking- Epic Rap Battles of History #7"In September 2010, two guys that go by the name of Nice Peter and Epic Lloyd began a new series of videos on the former's YouTube account that features two historical figures (as decided by video commenters) battling each other out in a very entertaining rap contest. Titled simply "Epic Rap Battles of History," it has become one of the most popular series of videos on YouTube, racking up millions of hits easily, and a favorite of many on the website (including yours truly). Since their first video, a total of 15 historical rap battles have taken place with some exciting matchups as Justin Bieber vs. Ludwig van Beethoven, and Dr. Seuss vs. William Shakespeare, and I'm sure that many who have watched it have their favorites. But for me, that honor goes to their 7th installment (premiering back in late March) that featured the matchup between two mega-superstars in the world of science: Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. It's hilarious, it's intelligent, it's got a lot of science jokes, it's got a cameo from someone pretending to be Carl Sagan...what more could one possibly want?
"Now is the time for action! (a Herman Cain campaign ad)"Former Godfathers Pizza CEO Herman Cain officially suspended his campaign to become the Republican nominee for President back in early December, but he didn't leave without some memorable moments. One of those memorable moments occurred not in the form of a speech or a proposed plan, but by an ad (this one) that made its debut in mid-October at the height of Cain's popularity in the polls. Almost all of Herman Cain's campaign ads have been odd (like this one), but watching this one, with Cain's chief-of-staff Mark Block as the star, you wouldn't believe that there were people that would actually come up with it and seriously think that this would be a good idea to go through with. Everything about it is just bizarre, from the gloomy background to Block smoking a cigarette at the end to the "piece de resistance," with Cain's face appearing at the end, smiling and giving the audience a look as if they were about to become his next Ginger White. It's an ad that almost makes Rick Perry's "Strong" ad seem much better by comparison (at least in production quality), and the fact that it inspired Funny or Die to make this hilarious parody with Mike Tyson as Cain makes this bizzare ad even more memorable in my mind.
"The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger"Move over, Liev Schriber. You've got some new competition, and his name is Randall. "Honey badger don't care, honey badger don't give a shit. It just takes what it wants." Damn straight!
"Telling My Dad That I Am Gay- LIVE"Here in the United States, the military code of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," in which gay soldiers were allowed to serve in the military on a "hush hush" basis, was repealed, finally giving them the opportunity to fight for their country openly. One of those people who were most relieved of the repeal was a Marine by the name of Ryan Phillips, who in the days after the the end of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" called his parents to finally say to them that he was gay. The following recorded conversation was with Phillips' father, who ended up accepting him for who he was and said that he will continue to love Phillips' no matter what. It's a touching video to say the least, and in the three months that it's been on the Web, it has become one of the defining images to this major act in the U.S.'s military policy.
"Nerdy white kid KILLS 'Look at Me Now' (Mac Lethal)"Coming in as the latest video on this "Best of 2011" list to have been uploaded on the Internet is rapper Mac Lethal singing to a song of his under the melody of Chris Brown's "Look at Me Now," while simultaneously making some pancakes. The rap, which also features some shots at Brown himself (specifically for the whole Rihanna incident back in 2009), was released just before December and has since skyrocketed in popularity, with over 15.5 million viewers and counting. Can't wait until Brown responds by singing to a cover to one of Mac Lethal's songs while knitting a sweater.
"Official Ojai Valley Taxidermy TV Commercial"The man, the myth, the legend: it's Chuck Testa, the master in taxidermy who's not afraid to show it, and he rounds out this year's top twenty list with his awesomeness.
BONUS VIDEO! It's the famous cover of Edward Sharpe and the Magnificent Zero's "Home" by Jorge and Alex Norez. Does it still count if the video was made on December 31st, 2010? Ehh...it's still close enough.
Honorable Mentions:Greatest Marriage Proposal EVER!
Nyan Cat
Reality Hits You Hard, Bro
Neil Patrick Harris' Opening Monologue at the 2011 Tony Awards
An Awkward MomentTrim
Rick Perry: A BLR Soundbite
Really Honorable Mentions:Zach Wahls Speaks About Family
Barack Obama Announces the Death of Osama Bin LadenUltimate Dog Tease
OK Go and The Muppets: "The Muppets Theme Song"
Thumbs Up for Rock and Roll
Jersey Shore Gone Wilde
Madeon- Pop Culture (live mashup)
And that's the list! If you felt that there were some videos that I forgot (and I'm sure I left out a ton of good ones), feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. On Friday, I will be releasing part three of this year's "End of the Year," so be sure to stop by for that. Until then, keep on viraling (and yes, I just made that one up)!
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.
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