From Paul Henry to Rico: YouTube announces the most-watched videos of 2010

 

• Bed Intruder Song the most watched video in the US and around the world
• Justin Bieber’s Baby feat. Ludacris the most-watched music video on YouTube
• More than 35 hours of video uploaded to YouTube each minute

In a year when more than 13 million hours of video was uploaded to YouTube, viewers in New Zealand and around the world were captivated by double rainbows, cheeky Rico, and Old Spice.
This year, the New Zealand results encapsulated everything from Rugby, with Air New Zealand’s safety video, to disaster, with a Christchurch earthquake video, and film, with the trailer for ‘Boy’.  The most-watched video on YouTube was Paul Henry’s acceptance speech at the Qantas Film and Television awards, and he was followed closely by our beloved Rico from the Air New Zealand advertisements.
Globally, the most watched YouTube video of 2010 was Bed Intruder Song by YouTube partner Auto-Tune the News aka the Gregory Brothers.  Inspired by a local news segment, this song featuring an ‘auto-tuned’ version of Alabama man Antoine Dodson entered the music charts, and the revenue it generated helped Dodson purchase a new home.
“The most-watched YouTube videos of 2010 reflect the people, places and events that captured our attention and imagination throughout the year,” said Mia Quagliarello, YouTube Community Manager.  “YouTube has become the world’s town square - a place where culture is created and shared.  It’s a sign of YouTube’s growing importance as a platform for content creation that six of the top 10 most-watched videos globally were made-for-YouTube originals.”
In New Zealand, the most-watched YouTube videos were:

1. Paul Henry Acceptance Speech - Qantas Film & Television Awards 2010
2. Air NZ - Happy Hour
3. Air New Zealand - Crazy About Rugby - Safety Video
4. Old Spice | The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
5. TIK TOK KESHA Parody: Glitter Puke - Key of Awe$ome #13
6. Yosemitebear Mountain Giant Double Rainbow 1-8-10
7. Boy New Official Trailer
8. Teenage Dream(with me)
9. Air NZ - The Intimate Art of Touch
10. christchurch earthquake 4.38am 4 Sept 2010

Globally, the most-watched YouTube videos were:

1. BED INTRUDER SONG!!! (now on iTunes)
2. TIK TOK KESHA Parody - Key of Awe$ome #13
3. Greyson Chance Singing Paparazzi      
4. Annoying Orange Wazzup
5. Old Spice | The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
6. Yosemitebear Mountain Giant Double Rainbow 1-8-10   
7. OK Go - This Too Shall Pass - Rube Goldberg Machine version
8. THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE - Trailer
9. Jimmy Surprises Bieber Fan
10. Ken Block's Gymkhana THREE, Part 2; Ultimate Playground; l'Autodrome

And globally, the most-watched music videos from major music labels on YouTube were:

1. Justin Bieber - Baby ft. Ludacris
2. Shakira ft. Freshlyground - Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) (The Official 2010 FIFA World Cup Song)
3. Eminem - Love The Way You Lie ft. Rihanna
4. Eminem - Not Afraid
5. Rihanna - Rude Boy
6. Justin Bieber - Never Say Never ft. Jaden Smith
7. Justin Bieber - Never Let You Go
8. Lady Gaga - Alejandro
9. Justin Bieber - Somebody To Love Remix ft. Usher
10. Lady Gaga - Telephone ft. Beyonce

The most-searched for queries on YouTube during the year show what was on our collective minds as 2010 played out.  Like Google Zeitgeist, these lists reveal the interests, issues, and entertainment that connected us - remember these moments?
Most searched for terms during 2010 in New Zealand, by month, were:
January - Haiti
February - Luge
March - lady gaga telephone
April - omg usher
May - airplanes (b.o.b.)
June - billionaire
July - cody simpson
August - teenage dream
September - christchurch eathquake
October - dikshit
November - what’s my name
More awesome YouTube moments of 2010:

• YouTube reached 35 hours of video uploaded every minute, surpassing 24 hours in March.
• The ‘subscribe’ button was hit for the billionth time - by someone subscribing to Machinima Sports
• nigahiga became the first channel to hit 2m subscribers
• Lady Gaga hit 1 billion cumulative views
• Michelle Phan became the first woman on YouTube to achieve one million subscribers
• Justin Bieber’s Baby became the most viewed video of all time with more than 400m views

To see more of the year’s most popular and influential YouTube videos from across the world, visit youtube.com/rewind.  And for more lists, see YouTube Trends and the YouTube blog.