The Scrooges among us will be grateful that we’ve kept this list as free from festive cheer as possible. But unfortunately there’s no avoiding YouTube’s big-budget Christmas round-up of the most memorable moments and personalities featured on the site in the past year. See how many of the year’s viral hits you recognise.
For all the Star Wars fans who weren’t satisfied by the 1 minute 30 second teaser trailer for the upcoming Episode VII - The Force Awakens film, this shot-by-shot remake starring cute kittens and puppies may help. “The following video has been approved for adorable audiences,” reads the advisory note at the beginning of the trailer.
Do you remember Out of the Blue, the male a cappella singers at Oxford University whose rendition of Shakira’s Hips Don’t Lie went viral? (“I think my ovaries just exploded,” wrote one female below-the-line commenter.) Well they’re back with a special festive performance, this time to raise money for Helen & Douglas House children’s hospice.
Just as X Factor was getting a little dull, what is fast becoming song of the year, Mark Ronson’s and Bruno Mars’s Uptown Funk, swooped in and saved it. Saturday night’s performance by Fleur East got everybody talking. East’s live performance of the song went straight to the top of the iTunes charts, forcing Ronson’s record label to bring forward the release of the original by five weeks.
Elsewhere on the internet, a toddler called Landon encounters the wonder of nature that is twin babies for the first time; two walkers make their way across a frozen Slovakian lake that is so clear it looks like they are walking on water; And Russell Brand responds to the CIA torture report.
Finally, a revolting yet heart-warming video, which is probably the most memorable thing caught on film this week. A Cape Town beachgoer encounters a dead shark and cuts it open to rescue three shark babies it’s carrying, which are still alive inside it. It’s a Christmas miracle!
1) YouTube Rewind: Turn Down for 2014
A year of YouTube
2) Star Wars: Episode VII (Puppy & Kitten Edition)
May the fur-ce be with you
3) All I Want For Christmas Is You - Christmas Charity Single
Christmas carols
4) Fleur East sings Bruno Mars & Mark Ronson’s Uptown Funk
Don’t believe me just watch
5) 100 Years of Beauty in 1 Minute
One-minute makeover
6) PRINCE surprise performance at W Hollywood Jazz Night
Royal visit
7) Adorably confused baby meets twins
Double trouble
8) Walking on beautiful clean ice in Slovakian Mountains
Walking on water
9) CIA Torture Report: What Should We Think?
Trews
10) Beachgoers deliver 3 baby Sharks from dead Mother
Christmas miracle
Source: Viral Video Chart. Compiled from data gathered at 16:00 on 11 December 2014. The Viral Video Chart is currently based on a count of the embedded videos and links on approximately 2m blogs, as well as Facebook and Twitter.
