21-Dec-2011 08:20
By Duncan Wilson
The list of New Zealand's ten most-popular clips on YouTube this year have been released.
YouTube, the World's most popular video streaming site, sees 48 hours of video uploaded every minute, leaving a constant plethora of footage lying ready for the picking.
Levi Hawken's 'nek minnit' gag came in at number two. The nine-second wonder-clip has spawned a number of spin-offs online, not to mention a number of appearances on TV3's The Jono Project under the guise 'Food In A Nek Minnit'.
Keeping the Kiwi-owned 'Nek Minnit' from the top was the terrible, awful, but somehow much-watched, 'Friday' by Rebecca Black
The spread of 'Friday' led social networking down one of its darker paths, with the popularity of the video directly proportional to the number of 'hate-tweets' received by Ms. Black on her Twitter account. It wasn't that bad, was it?
Wellingtonian comedian Matt Mulholland obviously thought-not, since he put together this excellent and well-presented cover of Rebecca Black's 'Friday'. Better than the original, we think.
The Rugby World Cup was obviously high on the Kiwi viewing-list and come early September, 'Stand in Black' hit the site. The All Blacks support/solidarity video was New Zealand's third most-watched clip of the year.
2011 also saw the return of Paul Henry to broadcasting, with him taking on Drive here at RadioLIVE.
March saw a brief return of Paul Henry to screens, as he featured in Air New Zealand's 'Mile-high Madness with Richard Simmons' safety video. This came in at number four.
Animals doing amusing things on camera have been a hit as long as cameras have existed. Anthropomorphism on film is always a particular hit, so it's no wonder that 'Ultimate Dog Tease' was at number five.
The complete Kiwi YouTube top ten of 2011 is:
Rebecca Black - Friday (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
Nek Minute
Stand in Black
Mile-high madness with Richard Simmons!
Ultimate Dog Tease
Major Earthquake has hit Christchurch, New Zealand
Samsung Smart TV TVC New Zealand
Legend
Cadbury Share the Joy Song
Flash Haka @ Sylvia Park, 4.Sept.11