Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga dominate YouTube in 2010
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Whether to kill time during a lagging workday or to watch a spoof of a favorite music video, many of us have logged a great deal of time on YouTube this year.
As the video site substitutes for channels like MTV and BET that largely have traded in music videos for original programming and reality shows à la ‘Jersey Shore’ (“Don’t applaud -- they are the reason they don’t play your videos,” comedian Chelsea Handler teased the audience at this year’s Video Music Awards), the site also has become the go-to destination for A&R suits looking to launch the next big pop star du jour.
With the year coming to a close, YouTube is rolling out a special channel, Rewind, which will give folks the chance to relive the videos, people and events that defined the site this year. And at this point, it’s little surprise that some of the biggest stars of YouTube were discovered right there.
Greyson Chance, the 13-year-old who snagged a record deal through Ellen DeGeneres after his take on Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi,” had amassed more than 33 million views as of Friday and had one of the most-watched videos on YouTube this year. Sadly, the teen with the light voice and the bowl cut proved no match for the top two videos: comedy troupe Key of Awesome’s glitter-tastic parody of Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok,” and, oddly, the news interview turned Auto-Tune-ready hit ‘Bed Intruder Song,’ which as of Friday had amassed, respectively, more than 50 million and 46 million views. But it wasn’t all spoofs and covers that dominated YouTube.
Pop phenom Justin Bieber -– who was discovered back in 2008 after clips his mom would post got the attention of a manager who paired the teen with Usher –- naturally logged more than his share of viewers. Four out of the top 10 most-watched music videos of 2010 belonged to young Biebs, including “Baby,” which at more than 400 million views has became the most-viewed video of all time.
Also making the top 10 are two videos from Eminem. Combined, his “Love the Way You Lie” and “Not Afraid” totaled nearly 400 million hits as of Friday, while Shakira’s “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa”) and Rihanna’s “Rude Boy” topped the divas subcategory.
Lady Gaga, however, cemented herself as the queen of YouTube. Thanks to her devoted ‘little monsters,” her oft-long-form videos have collected more than 1 billion views, and “Alejandro” and “Telephone” remain some of the year’s most watched.
Hide your kids, hide your wives and indulge in some of the year’s most-clicked-on videos.
Here is YouTube’s complete list (total numbers are omitted since they are subject to change):
1. Justin Bieber, ‘Baby,’ featuring Ludacris
2. Shakira, featuring Freshlyground, ‘Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) (the Official 2010 FIFA World Cup Song)’
3. Eminem, ‘Love the Way You Lie,’ featuring Rihanna
4. Eminem, ‘Not Afraid’
5. Rihanna, ‘Rude Boy’
6. Justin Bieber, ‘Never Say Never,’ featuring Jaden Smith
7. Justin Bieber, ‘Never Let You Go’
8. Lady Gaga, ‘Alejandro’
9. Justin Bieber, ‘Somebody to Love Remix,’ featuring Usher
10. Lady Gaga, ‘Telephone,’ featuring Beyoncé
-- Gerrick D. Kennedy
