For such a small country, Norway certainly had a huge impact on YouTube this year as the top two trending videos of 2013 both originated in the Scandinavian nation.
"The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)" turned out to be the question of the year as the video from Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis attracted more than 275 million views and ran away with YouTube's No. 1 trending spot, the website announced early Wednesday.
Brothers Vegard and Bard Ylvisaker have company near the top thanks to their countrymen in a Norwegian army squad whose 30-second version of the Harlem Shake drew 95 million views to claim the No. 2 spot.
While Ylvis was telling us that mouse goes squeak and the cow goes moo, MisterEpicMann showed us how animals actually eat in the third-most-trendy video of the year (88 million views).
The rest of the top 10 included a Chatroulette nod to Miley Cyrus' wrecking ball video, Jean-Claude Van Damme's epic split stunt for Volvo Trucks and a hilarious Bad Lip Reading of the NFL, among others.
1. Ylvis - The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?), tvnorge, 275,193,2872. Harlem Shake (original army edition), kennethaakonsen, 95,207,6863. How Animals Eat Their Food | MisterEpicMann, MisterEpicMann, 88,737,0524. Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball (Chatroulette Version), SteveKardynal, 77,555,5255. baby&me / the new evian film, EvianBabies, 67,120,1996. Volvo Trucks - The Epic Split feat. Van Damme, VolvoTrucks, 59,008,5737. YOLO (feat. Adam Levine & Kendrick Lamar), thelonelyisland, 53,429,7538. Telekinetic Coffee Shop Surprise, CarrieNYC, 50,444,4859. THE NFL : A Bad Lip Reading, BadLipReading, 44,146,48110. Mozart vs Skrillex. Epic Rap Battles of History Season 2., ERB, 42,019,063
YouTube also released the top 10 trending music videos of 2013. Even though he couldn't match the success of his initial viral sensation, "Gangnam Style," South Korean pop star PSY was still No. 1 with his follow-up, "Gentleman M/V" with more than 598 million views.
Miley Cyrus would need to combine the numbers on her videos in the second and third spot to eclipse PSY. "Wrecking Ball" (396,106,82) and "We Can't Stop" (304,510,262) helped propel the twerking songstress to a huge year, only capped by further viral activity after her much-discussed performance at the MTV Video Music Awards with No. 6 on the list, Robin Thicke. The complete top 10:
1. PSY - GENTLEMAN M/V, officialpsy, 598,597,5682. Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball, MileyCyrusVEVO, 396,109,1313. Miley Cyrus - We Can't Stop, MileyCyrusVEVO, 304,510,2624. Katy Perry - Roar (Official), KatyPerryVEVO, 253,153,7195. P!nk - Just Give Me A Reason ft. Nate Ruess, PinkVEVO, 237,349,9326. Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines ft. T.I., Pharrell, RobinThickeVEVO, 219,124,1277. Rihanna - Stay ft. Mikky Ekko, RihannaVEVO, 215,486,4728. Naughty Boy - La La La ft. Sam Smith, NaughtyBoyVEVO, 202,324,4079. Selena Gomez - Come & Get It, SelenaGomezVEVO, 182,326,42010. Avicii - Wake Me Up (Official Video), AviciiOfficialVEVO, 185,654,425