Absurd. Insane. Annoyingly adorable. What more could anyone want from the guilty pleasure otherwise known as the YouTube video?
Clinging to our memory like wet socks on a mis-tossed soccer ball, these viral little gems in all their endless variations have done for pop culture what Helen of Troy did for a thousand ships: Launch a zeitgeist revolution that gives a lowly Prairie Dog, a wanna be singer or a Filipino jail dance troupe as much star billing as Paris or Lindsay or any other Hollywood celebrity.
As in any good revolution, these viral video's take no prisoners. Mocking the most high, pointing a finger at the corrupt or pounding fallen celebs with a searing sense of humour, YouTube's best remind us that nothing is too stupid in today's world to be entertaining. As Jim Carey once said, "One man's toxic waste is another man's potpourri."
Tay Zonday and "Chocolate Rain"
There's so much to love in this video: The big, James Earl Jones voice that tumbles out of Tay's 12-year-old looking mug.
The geeky glasses, the keyboard accompaniment you just can't shake and the commentary about dirty secrets of the economy or crying angels shaking their heads in shame that slides into your brain from the side of his mouth. Spawning a "Vanilla Snow" parody and a mock McDonald's spot, "Chocolate Rain" is just plan sweet.
Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwTZ2xpQwpA
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Filipino inmates do "Thriller"
Wouldn't Michael Jackson be thrilled to know that his 1982 tune--from the best-selling album of all time, according to Guinness World Records--inspired a battalion of Filipino jailbirds to shake their thing?
A sea of orange jumpsuits, a cross-dressing inmate (starring as this epic's damsel in distress), and some well-rehearsed choreography are the stars of this low-budget bonanza. The smoke machines and glitz of Jackson's music phenomenon are missing. But this mesmerizing pick is just as scary.
Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o
Miss USA/>/> and Beyonc� take a fall
Like a train wreck that doesn't fully derail, the viral video clips of Beyonc� falling down 12 steps during an Orlando concert and Miss USA Rachel Smith wiping out at the 2007 Miss Universe pageant in Mexico City are pure gold and for two good reasons.
When you're down, you've got to pick yourself up, flash those newly capped porcelains and just keep going. And, in the case of Beyonc�, you keep swinging your hair extensions around and around again just to show that the crashing fall didn't ruin your do.
Watch Miss USA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZZd9UGV0uI
Watch Miss Beyonce: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OTwqSLx3nk
Lily Allen's third nipple
Here's a woman who has got guts--as well as an added natural asset. In this shocker, Allen fesses up to the audience of "The Friday Night Project" that she's got a third nipple. Jaws drop as the crowd and quiz show contestants watch Allen direct cameras to her breasts. Truth is stranger than fiction people. This viral video proves it.
Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H23duyFoVLU
Spiderpig
Less is more in creating a classic and here's the video pick that proves it.
With all the mental focus of an astrophysicist, Homer Simpson blithely marches his new pet pig's feet across Marge's nice clean ceiling, mumbling the "Spider-Man" tune as each hoof leaves its marvelous, muddy mark. Silly? Stupid? Absolutely spellbinding? Is this brilliant or not people? D'oh!
Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_96a81yIVY
Dramatic prairie dog look
There's the confrontational evil eye. The curses. The madness of it all as this downtrodden prairie dog stares us all down in the This is Sparta! Remix. With Gerard Butler's gritty mug popping on and off his furry little face, this viral video's hero mocks everything from handlebar moustaches to Batman, conquering our consciousness the way Napoleon nabbed Poland.
Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hjp0XM9vO0
Mika Brzezinski shreds Paris Hilton report
Tell the suits at MSNBC to give this woman a raise. When every other journalist caved in to Paris pressure, Mika set out to torch this royal mess of a "news" story that never really was news.
Not to be undone by the male anchor who tries to stop her or a crew that slides the Paris story back under her nose, miffed Mika slashes the salacious item in the shredder. Even Edward R. Murrow would have loved this Paris protest.
Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VdNcCcweL0
Rob Schneider as Lindsay Lohan on "The Tonight Show"
Say it's not so Rob. A police-approved leg monitor filled a detachable booze can? While Lindsay Lohan fans will call is sacrilege, is there anything sweeter than Rob Schneider's accessorized look as he struts onto "The Tonight Show" stage dressed as LiLo. Black dress and high heels.
A blonde wig blown by unseen winds. Like an early Christmas present, LiLo (aka Schneider) tops all that when Leno asks, "What your favourite film?" ""Herbie Fully Loaded." Herbie was the car. I was fully loaded."
Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qWwKoUZmxo
Rosie vs. Elizabeth
Who needs popcorn when you've got the deposed queen of nice and the pretty, pert "View" co-host spitting at one another like two rattlers in a sand dune.
Calling themselves "friends" as only two people eager to throttle one another can, this televised tiff reminds us that daytime talk shows can be a cruel, dirty business. It's almost as memorable as Elton John calling the Taiwan press rude pigs.
Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qWwKoUZmxo
Will it Blend - The iPhone Edition
Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qWwKoUZmxo
Have we missed your favourite? If so, tell us. Or share your most recent pass-a-long videos with us - but keep it clean!
