Another impressive week for Psy on YouTube, as his video for "Gentleman" reached 800 million views. That furthers its role as the no. 10 most watched video in the history of the service, which the Korean pop star probably shrugs off disdainfully as he also has the no. 1 video in YouTube history: The epically viral "Gangnam Style," which has been watched nearly 2.25 billion times.
Most of the most popular content on the video service is music related. In fact, of the ten clips compiling its Top 10, nine of them are music videos. So what fills the gaps between Psy and Psy?
09) "Roar" by Katy Perry (807.5 million views)
The first music video from Perry's Prism album also made quite a stir on YouTube. The video follows the travails of Perry after her plane crashes into a jungle of geographically confused descent (both tigers and leopards make appearances, so it could be Africa or Asia. Don't come to Katy Perry music videos for scientific accuracy). Most of her videos feature somewhat salacious getups but guys were digging the Amazonian look from the stranded starlet. The feature that got more attention than her leopard bikini however was her spray tan, which may have intentionally played into the entire campy feel of the flick.
08) "Waka Waka" by Shakira (nearly 809 million views)
Before you get the mistaken idea that all of the most watched music videos in this list are tied to lust, understand that Shakira's most viewed video ever had little to do with the honesty of her hips or saucy scenes with Rihanna. No, "Waka Waka" had the benefit of being the official song on the World Cup during 2010, which drew the interest from viewers all over the world, rather than just the typical audiences centered in the United States. The variety of cultures (and soccer footage) featured in the video won the hearts of soccer fans...something that last year's "Ole Ola" had little luck with.
07) "On The Floor" by Jennifer Lopez ft. Pitbull (810 million views)
Lopez and Pitbull may not have struck Shakira-style gold with their World Cup anthem but they surpassed it with the single "On The Floor." Again, note how viewers prefer this version of the pop star compared to the over-the-top sexuality of "Booty," the edgy video Lopez produced with Iggy Azalea last year. That said, there's still plenty of skin to be seen in this clip and Lopez gives frequent expositions on how to shake it. There were two parties in particular who have to feel good about this video (and we don't mean J. Lo and Pitbull): BMW and Crown Royal obviously paid for some product placement in the video, and boy did that investment pay off in the long run...to the tune of 800 million hits.
06) "Charlie Bit My Finger! - Again!" (nearly 812 million views)
Aw, adorable British children. This marks the only non-musical moment in the YouTube Top 10. If only those kids could get royalties...consider college paid for!
05) "Love The Way You Lie" by Eminem ft. Rihanna (nearly 814 million views)
Eminem and Rihanna were two of the biggest musical forces in the world circa 2010, so that alone should have been enough to drive viewers in droves to check out the music video for "Love The Way You Lie." Neither was the star of the show however...and perhaps this is one example where a little bit of morbid curiosity paid off. The acting was provided by Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan as a couple involved in an unhealthy relationship, including abuse, that they refuse to pull away from. This was a lot nearer to Rihanna's breakup from Chris Brown, so that only stoked the fires of curiosity. The same reason why thousands flocked to see Fifty Shades of Grey last weekend worked here as well...we can't help but stare at unhealthy coupling.
04) "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO (821.5 million views)
We don't appreciate LMFAO all that much but we do, as does the group apparently, appreciate zombie narratives. The duo provides a satire of sorts for the film 28 Days Later, where members Red Foo and Sky Blu infect the world with an epidemic of zombie-dancing. It sounds a bit like "Thriller," and it is, which is good for a views but the video managed to start a trend, which got YouTubers to keep coming back for more. One prominent part of the video featured an Australian dance known as the Melbourne Shuffle, which became popular in the United States as a result of the clip.
03) "Dark Horse" by Katy Perry (more than 828 million views)
So not only was "Roar" not Perry's most viewed video of all time, it wasn't even her most viewed video off of Prism. That title goes to "Dark Horse," one of the singles released later down the line. What this video had that the other lacked was a dose of good ol' fashioned controversy...even if the details aren't that salacious. The first complain came from those who accused Perry of appropriating Egyptian culture for the video-as in, ancient Egyptian culture. The one that worshipped Osiris and that no one really worships anymore. The second, more serious complaint revolved around one of the many suitors who Perry vaporizes: He was wearing a medallion featuring the Arabic word for "Allah," which also gets disintegrated. That medallion was edited out digitally and everyone was happy.
02) "Baby" by Justin Bieber ft. Ludacris (1.13 billion views)
"Baby," the first mega-hit from Justin Bieber, is also one of only two songs in YouTube history that has broken one billion views (you may have noticed how numbers 3-10 are relatively near to each other by comparison). It even held the title of most-watched for a while before Psy came along. So what did this video have that the rest didn't? Mainly Bieber. This was during the peak of Bieber Fever in the United States and Beliebers flocked to the video in droves that even he has yet to replicate. We're sure some people checked it out just because of its comparisons to Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel" but seriously...most of this was driven by just one boy's face. Think about the numbers here: More than one billion people have watched this video. Now compare that to "Gangnam Style," which has nearly double the views of the no. 2 video of all time. If anyone can truly claim to have broken the internet, it's Psy.
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