YouTube has marked a year of viral video sensations with a "Gangnam
Style" mash up of its top two songs of 2012, starring South Korean
performer Psy and a horde of the video-sharing site's stars.
"Rewind
YouTube Style 2012" approached 16 million views one day after its
Tuesday release, paying homage to "Gangnam Style" and Canadian pop star
Carly Rae Jepsen's smash "Call Me Maybe".
A tiny Psy next to the
YouTube icon linked to the video that opens with the five members of
Canadian band Walk off the Earth performing on a guitar, which Psy then
smashes before introducing the parody of his own hit.
"Gangnam Style" is closing in on one billion hits after becoming the most viewed YouTube video of all time.
The
four-minute video features dozens of cameos and visual gags, testing
the limit of the viewer's awareness of YouTube culture and ability to
understand all the references.
The Internet's own viral stars make
an appearance include the "Sh-t Girls Say" actor Graydon Sheppard and
YouTube personality Jenna Marbles.
Real news landmarks of 2012
play a prominent part, such as Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner's
supersonic freefall from the edge of space and NASA's Mars Curiosity
landing.
People watch more than four billion hours of video monthly at YouTube, according to the Google-owned service.
The
"Gangnam Style" phenomenon refuses to lose any steam, with South Korean
social networks awash with conspiracies that tie Psy's horse-riding
dance with 16th century French seer Nostradamus and the December 21
apocalypse prophesied by the Mayans.