YouTube is a worldwide hit. Starting off as a multimedia site where people could upload their own videos, commercial businesses eventually got wind of the usefulness of the site to advertise their companies and products. TV channels use it to raise global awareness of their programmes, something that gives far a broader base than adverts on the television. It is also a popular site to watch and re-watch movie trailers. Here is a list of the top trending YouTube videos of the year

1. Yivis’s The Fox (What Does The Fox Say?)

This spoof music video is the top trending video of 2013. It is a simple dance song featuring people dressed in animal suits while the lead singer goes through a number of sounds that animals make: Dog goes woof, cat goes meow, bird goes tweet. Each verse finishes with the question ‘what does the fox say?’ It appears nobody knows what sound a fox makes, and this is the premise of the mock song. Some were amused that this was the top trending video, but most understood its humour in mocking meaningless lyrics

2. Harlem Shake ‘ Army Edition

Though just 35 seconds long, the second biggest hit of the year for YouTube was this amusing clip of a group of Norwegian soldiers standing in formation on a cold and snowy day. After a few seconds, one of the soldiers towards the back of the squad starts to dance. There is a quick fade out and in the next shot the soldiers are all in amusing positions ‘ one is banging his head against the wall, one is jumping up and down in skis, another is hopping around waving the Norwegian flag.

3. How Animals Eat Their Food by MisterEpicMann

Humour makes up a big part of the YouTube experience and this has gone down as the funniest clip of the year. MisterEpicMann has a channel with many videos and this one received over 94 million hits. Using a salad he has prepared, he shows how crocodiles, cows, lizards, whales and other creatures eat. Invariably, the food and the cardboard boxes that they use as a table ends up on the floor while the friend sat opposite fails to react. At one point he dresses in a pink suit to pose as a flamingo

4. Miley Cyrus – Wrecking Ball (Chatroulette Version)

More humour here. One of the biggest songs of the year was Miley Cyrus’ track Wrecking Ball. Liked by even some of her detractors, and as one of the year’s hits, naturally it was going to be spoofed by someone. Steve Kardynal ‘ a male ‘ is wearing a vest and underpants and mimicking Cyrus’ actions in her official video. If the video wasn’t amusing in itself, the screen is split between Kardynal on one side and a series of people reacting to the video on the other. Some are in tears of laughter, others sing along oblivious, there’s some bemusement and some shock.

5. Baby and Me – Evian

The biggest viewing of a commercially product clip for a product was this advert for the water brand Evian. It shows a man about to get on a bus but when he stoops to look in a car mirror he sees a baby’s face. He walks up to a shop window, sees the baby again and starts to dance. People notice this and start to join him; they too see baby versions of themselves. In the background, the song Hotstepper by Kamoze is playing (a remix by Yuksek).

6. Volvo Trucks with Jean Claude Van Damme

The action film actor has found a niche in working in commercials over the last few years ‘ he is most famous for the Coors Light advert where he asks ‘have you ever had frost’¦ bite your hair?’ His most recent ad was for Volvo Trucks and this went viral on YouTube. Van Damme stands between two trucks driving alongside each other, he has one foot on each truck and they are both reversing in a straight line. After a few seconds, the trucks separate slightly’¦. But Van Damme remains wedged between them in a splits position!

7. YOLO (feat. Adam Levine & Kendrick Lamar)

Another music hit, YOLO (You Only Live Once) has become the motto of a generation and this is the original song that started the acronym and entered it into popular use. With over 55 million hits, the dance/hip-hop track shot to worldwide fame through the course of 2013. It is part parody and part serious message ‘ the video features people doing stupid and dangerous things in the name of ‘YOLO’

8. Telekinetic Coffee Shop Surprise

Practical jokes and practical experiments in public are also part of the YouTube experience. Perhaps popular due to the likes of Derren Brown, observing people as they experience unusual yet staged events is a curious social experiment. In this example, a fake wall is erected in a coffee shop. Two actors are in the coffee shop and scripted that one spills coffee on the other. The man apologises but the woman says ‘get away from me’ and holds out her arm. The man is seemingly thrown back and levitated up the wall ‘ after a few moments the woman is seen to also move the tables. The customers’ reactions are priceless. The video was a promo for the new Carrie film

9. Bad Lip Reading – NFL

With humour again, one of the biggest new YouTube channels of the year is BLR – or Bad Lip Reading. Clips of a show, a film or sports clips are dubbed over with bad examples of lip reading. Looking at them, it is easy to think that they are actually saying those words. In this clip, one NFL player is speaking to a sports report and appears to say ‘Egg roll! I wish I had a breeze running down my leg!’ Later on the same player asks ‘you got an orange peanut? An orange peanut, for me? Wow!’

10. Epic Rap Battles of History: Mozart vs Skrillex

The final clip on the top 10 of YouTube is a mock music mash up of a rap battle between Skrillex and the classical composer Amadeus Mozart. Each takes it in turns to put the other down and promote why they are the better musician. There are some amusing put-downs and big-ups, typical of rap battler. At the end, the video the creator asks ‘who won?’

Conclusion

As long as there are videos to be put onto the internet, it seems now that there will always be a YouTube. Since merging with Google a few years ago, there is no limit to where the formerly independent video site might go. It is already a showcase for commercials, trailers and vloggers.