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Culture and Trends

YouTube Rewind: What you watched in 2013

By Kevin Allocca

Global Director of Culture & Trends, YouTube

A Norwegian Army Dance Troupe. An Epic Split. The Fox. And a Rap Battle with an 18th century Austrian composer.

As 2013 comes to a close, these are some of the videos, channels and moments that shaped our year. While each annual list is unpredictable (what's up, Mr. Miley Cyrus impersonator), trending videos just get bigger each year. And with 80 percent of all views on YouTube coming from outside the U.S., the global community is driving pop culture unlike ever before.

You watched The Fox more than 275 million times, making it the top trending video of 2013. You also made it a top searched Halloween costume, and you’ll maybe even read it as a children’s book. You turned out in record-setting numbers to see PSY’s post-"Gangnam Style" performance. You even made more “Harlem Shake” videos than there are people in Manhattan (1.7 million videos if you’re counting).

To celebrate all these moments, more than 60 top creators on YouTube got together and made a little video for everyone:



Here are the top trending and music videos for 2013:

Top Trending Videos for 2013

1. Ylvis - "The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)" by tvnorge

2. "Harlem Shake (original army edition)" by kennethaakonsen

3. "How Animals Eat Their Food" | MisterEpicMann by MisterEpicMann

4. "Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball (Chatroulette Version)" by SteveKardynal

5. "baby&me / the new evian film" by EvianBabies

6. Volvo Trucks - "The Epic Split feat. Van Damme" by VolvoTrucks

7. "YOLO (feat. Adam Levine & Kendrick Lamar)" by thelonelyisland

8. "Telekinetic Coffee Shop Surprise" by CarrieNYC

9. "THE NFL : A Bad Lip Reading" by BadLipReading

10. "Mozart vs Skrillex. Epic Rap Battles of History Season 2" by ERB


Top Music Videos for 2013

1. PSY - "GENTLEMAN M/V" by officialpsy

2. Miley Cyrus - "Wrecking Ball" by MileyCyrusVEVO

3. Miley Cyrus - "We Can't Stop" by MileyCyrusVEVO

4. Katy Perry - "Roar (Official)" by KatyPerryVEVO

5. P!nk - "Just Give Me A Reason ft. Nate Ruess" by PinkVEVO

6. Robin Thicke - "Blurred Lines ft. T.I., Pharrell" by RobinThickeVEVO

7. Rihanna - "Stay ft. Mikky Ekko" by RihannaVEVO

8. Naughty Boy - "La La La ft. Sam Smith" by NaughtyBoyVEVO

9. Selena Gomez - "Come & Get It" by SelenaGomezVEVO

10. Avicii - "Wake Me Up (Official Video)" by AviciiOfficialVEVO

... see even more top music videos.

Check out the YouTube Rewind 2013 channel for even more top lists of the year from around the world, and stay tuned at Google.com/zeitgeist next week for Google's annual look at the people, places and events that captured the world's attention this year.

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