YouTube's biggest viral hits of 2012... Gangnam Style!

Celebrities did the Horse Dance and millions were shocked seeing the exploits of a Ugandan cult and militia leader. Viral videos on YouTube in 2012 ranged from funny to cute and from inspiring to shocking. This year, records were broken both in the videos and by them, unlike previous years where the viral hits were mostly flash mobs and cute children. Sure, YouTube has a list of its own trending videos both in India and globally, but that isn’t enough for us. So here is our pick from the most watched, much loved videos of this year.

Somebody That I Used To Know (Walk off the Earth Cover)
Five musicians, one guitar—what does its spell? Magic! Canadian Indie Band Walk Off The Earth came up with a version of Gotye’s popular hit ‘Somebody that I Used To Know’ that ripped through the YouTube charts and perched itself at number two on the list of most watched cover songs of 2012. It gained far more views than the original too!

Eagle Picks Up A Baby
Picture this—a quiet Montreal park, a baby playing and others bird-watching. What could possibly go wrong? A golden eagle the camera seems to be tracking, tries to snatch the toddler and fly away with it—that’s all! The video, which was all over social networking websites in mid-December, had everyone stunned and garnered two million views in less than 24 hours. Too bad the video turned out to be fake. It is thought to be the handiwork of three animation students who produced it as a project for school. The animation industry is in talented hands, eh?

Surprise Dance on Finnair Flight to celebrate India's Republic Day
The flash-mob trend of 2011 continued into the New Year with Finnair celebrating India’s Republic Day on January 26 with a flash dance performed by the cabin crew. None of the dancers were Indian, but they delighted the audience with a well-rehearsed routine set to Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Om Shanti Om’ in the cramped aisles. Passengers whipped out their mobile phones to record it and YouTube users have watched it over four million times since it has been uploaded.

The Ohio State University Marching Band
Marching bands in the United States are known to regale sports fans with exuberant cheerleading, dancing and acrobatics during the halftime break. The Ohio State University Marching Band went one step ahead to not just regale the crowd but also the video game lovers in it. The Band went all out making formations from games we all remember like Space Invaders, Pokémon, Tetris and Mario. A classic gaming lover’s delight!

OK Go - Needing/Getting
The American Alternative Rock Band OK Go pretty much owes its success to YouTube. The band is known for making music in their videos from everyday objects attached to contraptions you will never believe. They sometimes just dance on treadmills too. Their newest video Needing/Getting has the band sitting in a car that has been fixed with objects they use to make music. The video with 20 million hits on YouTube is also part of a Chevy Sonic commercial, which is actually the car used to make music. OK Go had also tied up in the past with Google incorporating HTML5 to make a video viewable through Google Chrome. Talk about innovation!

Facebook Parenting: For the Troubled Teen
Ever wondered what happens when a parent finds out their child has been ranting about them on Facebook? Wonder no more! Tommy Jordan’s epic reply to daughter Hannah’s angry Facebook post went viral as he told her off publically for being ungrateful. He ended grounding her, posting the video to her wall and putting six bullets from his .45 into her laptop. The video elicited responses ranging from respect for Jordan to shock and sympathy for Hannah and became one of the most viral videos of this year. Ah, the perils of social media!

Tupac Hologram Performs at Coachella
Technology can even bring the dead to life! Well, not really, but it can sure make a person come back in 2D. Spectators were in for a surprise at the Coachella Music Festival when Tupac Shakur, the much loved and much dead rapper, came back on stage as a hologram to perform with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. The lifelike hologram rapped and interacted with Dogg and Dre like Shakur would. The hologram was made possible with an optical illusion called Pepper’s Ghost. Check out the video!