Imitation is the Best Form of Flattery
In class on Tuesday, January 20th, we discussed the phenomena of Youtube videos becoming so famous that knock-off videos are made to duplicate the act and put their own twist to it. This got me to thinking, "What are the best Youtube imitation videos out there." Here, I have decided to compile my own list of the top 5 Youtube imitations ever made. Enjoy.
NUMBER 5
Daft Punk Hands vs. Daft Punk Bodies
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cYWfq--Nw&hl=en&fs=1]
Daft Punk hands was uploaded to Youtube June, 2006. With a whopping 27 million views, it ranks up there with the most famous amateur Youtube videos of all time. In October, 2007 an imitation video was made called Daft Punk Bodies. Having only 7 Million views, Daft Punk Bodies never reached quite the same Youtube fame as its mother video Daft Punk Hand. Daft Punk Bodies biggest claim to fame, however, is its use in the Music Video for the hit song "Pork and Beans" by Weezer.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLYD_-A_X5E&hl=en&fs=1]
NUMBER 4
2 girls 1 cup video vs 2 girls 1 cup song by Jon Lajoie
Now for obvious reasons the 2 girls 1 cup original video can not be posted on this website. I do not recommend the video to be seen by anybody. Seriously, it will scar you for life. The video is mainly used amongst younger people (generally 18 - 24 year old males) as a joke on one another. One person will "trick" the other into watching it, or at least that is how it was with me. The video is too vulgar to be on Youtube, so you can only see it through other video sharing websites. Thus, it is nearly impossible to calculate how many times the video has been viewed. However, its popularity is measurable in the fact that Jon Lajoie, a famous Youtube musician, made a response video to it that had 5 million views.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxp3zqIqO68&hl=en&fs=1]
NUMBER 3
U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday vs. George W. Bush's Sunday Bloody Sunday
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFM7Ty1EEvs&hl=en&fs=1]
Sunday Bloody Sunday was a song from U2's 1983 album War. Although the song was not their most famous hit, it has been renowned as one of their greatest songs. The music video posted on Youtube has 4 million views. In 2006, during the height of ex-President George W. Bush's web of corruption, a Youtube video was made using clips from George W. Bush's speeches to make a rendition of the song Sunday Bloody Sunday. Capturing 1.6 Million views alone on Youtube, the video also had a downloadable audio track which was easily found using Limewire or Ares or any other Internet downloading program. Although the song has been covered many times by many famous people, the most popular rendition has to be the George W. Bush Version.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXnO_FxmHes&hl=en&fs=1]
Number 2
Soulja Boy Crank That vs. Spongebob Crank That
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj-kef-rxlE&hl=en&fs=1]
The most imitated video ever to be on Youtube is probably Crank That by Soulja Boy, with over 2,000 imitations. The reason for this is very simple, its easy and fun. People watch the original video, or even the instructional video that was made, to learn how to do the dance, then film themselves doing it in their own unique way. Several people I know have a made a Crank That imitation. The Spongebob imitation to Crank That, however, stands alone as the best imitation of (if not better than) the original. The original video has 45 Million views, while the Spongebob imitation has 55 Million. The Spongebob video contains the same, catchy tune found in the song, however with a funnier, more viewer friendly image on the screen. Also, if you know and watch Spongebob, the fact that Spongebob is the farthest thing from being "ghetto" makes the video even funnier
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3ARyAb_1Bs&hl=en&fs=1]
NUMBER 1
Grape Lady Vs. Family Guy Grape Lady
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMS0O3kknvk&hl=en&fs=1]
Grape Lady, an instant classic. Its a form of humor that has been around forever and will be always, slapstick comedy. This particular video is different than other Youtube hits, however. With several imitations including a song a hit remix song, an imitation included a non-amateur. The imitation was done by one of the most popular comedic television programs on TV today, Family Guy. The Family Guy rendition is definitely the greatest Youtube imitation ever done. No other TV show could have done an imitation like the one seen on Family Guy did and pull it off like they did.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETXJNHhwJeY&hl=en&fs=1]
So there it is, the top 5 Youtube imitations ... for right now. I only have hope to see what the next generation of Youtube imitations have instore for us!