This week on YouTube, Christmas videos came out earlier than Saint Nicholas, and the community struggled with a redesign.
Miracle on 42nd Street, a Mariah Carey lip dub and dance number challenging gender notions, should give even the 30 Rock tree something to be cheerful about.
Freaky the Scary Snowman, a prankster that began startling passerbys last year and uploading the videos to YouTube, is back to his old tricks. He’s already frightened about a dozen pedestrians over the weekend. As his fame grows, he might have to switch costumes or suffer copycats.
The third Christmas-themed video to emerge in just four days is the parody video “Kristen Stewart Explains Christmas!” Some Christians have already been offended by it, as seen in the YouTube comments.
Non-Christmas-related viral videos that rocked YouTube included Mac Lethal’s pancake rap, TLC’s Virgin Diaries promo, and a racist UK woman’s rant on the tram. According to VidStatsX, “My Tram Experience” was the second most viewed video on YouTube last week, with 10 million hits.
In community news, the Daily Dot interviewed YouTube celebrity and Ultimate star Brodie Smith; Fred Figglehorn inked his own TV show; and the Internet, including the Daily Dot, is still looking for salesman and aspiring comedian Kenny Brooks.
The Food Reviewer, a YouTuber since 2010 that garnered fame for his frozen pizza reviews, was parodied on NBC’s “Community” on Thursday night.
YouTube banned a buy.xxx ad from its site, and Philip DeFranco calmed the YouTube masses “freaking out” about the new layouts and homepage redesign with a helpful tutorial video. Shane Dawson broke up with his girlfriend and got mass community love, as did a bullied adolescent named Jonah.
In politics, Michele Bachmann was challenged on video by students, while Jon Huntsman’s daughters parodied “Sexy Back” in support of their father.
Music videos that debuted this week include Avicii’s “Levels,” Lady Gaga’s “Marry the Night,” the Erratic Man’s “Back in the Day,” and Mariah Carey’s duet with Justin Beiber. The crotch shots, age difference, and perceived “sexual tension” have many wondering about the pedophilia prevalent between the two singers in the “All I Want for Christmas Is You” remix. (We’ll take the aforementioned lip dub any day.)
Earlier in the week, Deadmau5 teamed up with Nokia to produce the best free light show and 4D projection to date. Footage of the London show has been viewed more than 1.1 million times.