Advertisement

The YouTube clips that grabbed the most eyeballs in 2021

YouTube released its top 10 viral videos of 2021 this month, and let’s just say there is no accounting for taste.

We are talking hours and hours of videos from a range of content creators, including gamers, sketch comedians, governments and sporting leagues.

The New Daily has watched them all so you don’t have to.

These were the most-streamed clips on the platform all year, from glitter bombs to half-time shows and everything in between.

1. Mr Beast – I Spent 50 Hours Buried Alive

For reasons unclear to us, content creator Jimmy (AKA Mr Beast) spent more than two days underground in a large perspex coffin with only his “weird friends” and a fly for company.

“How did you get in here?” he asks the fly, and honestly that is the least of our questions during this 12.39 minute video.

It has been viewed at least 153,088,901 times though, so someone clearly enjoyed the close up on Jimmy’s feet and watching his friends urinate on his faux grave.

Each to their very own.

2. Dream – Minecraft Speedrunner VS 5 Hunters

In this 36.29 minute video by American YouTube and Twitch content creator Dream, he has his friends hunt him down on Minecraft.

His stick-figure character tries to evade his mates amid the blocks of the Minecraft world in an elaborate game of virtual hide-and-seek.

There are plenty of close calls, and once you understand what the heck is going on, it will have you on the edge of your gaming chair.

Dream has never shown his face, but those who like to watch other people play video games don’t seem to mind, with the video garnering 63,562,472 views since it was posted on April 24.

3. Mark Rober – Glitterbomb Trap Catches Phone Scammer (who gets arrested)

Over the course of 23.14 minutes, former NASA and Apple engineer Mark Rober takes viewers along for the ride as he hunts down phone scammers and nabs them with his glitter bomb trap.

This is a wild ride-along on a vigilante sting operation involving private investigators, packages full of cash, fart machines and an explanation of how phone scams operate.

Uploaded on March 19, the video has 50,927,089 and make that 50,927,090 because we may need to watch this again.

4. NFL – The Weeknd’s FULL Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime show

The NFL posted a 14.17 minute video of the Superbowl half-time show to its YouTube channel on February 8.

It has been viewed 43,091, 229 times and you can watch it here.

5. CoryxKenshin – Friday night Funkin’ KEEPS GEtTING BETTER AND BETTER (Part 2)

Cory Devante Williams (AKA CoryxKenshin or ‘The Shogun Himself’) posted this video of himself playing video game Friday Night Funkin’.

The very colourful 24 minute clip has been viewed 21,911,203 times since it was posted on January 23 .

6. Dhar Mann – Kids MAKE FUN OF Boy with AUTISM, Instantly Regret It

This 8.13 minute video produced by filmmaker and entrepreneur Dhar Mann has a very basic moral message and is not exactly a work of high art.

In fact it is hard to watch at times because it is so over dramatised – was anyone really thinking this was an OK way to treat people?

But there’s clearly something about it that resonates, because it has been viewed 46,468,423 times.

 

7. America’s Got Talent – Golden Buzzer: Nightbirde’s Original Song Makes Simon Cowell Emotional – America’s Got Talent 2021

You have got to love a feel-good moment and this songbird, sorry Nightbirde, captured millions of hearts as she poured out her original song after revealing she is battling cancer.

Even the notoriously ruthless Simon Cowell was caught up in the emotional charge of the moment.

Try to watch this without tearing up, but we have doubts any of the 37,919,866 viewers who saw this on YouTube were able to keep a dry eye.

8. Biden Inaugural Committee – The Inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris | Jan. 20th, 2021

The inauguration ceremony of US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris was live-streamed on YouTube on January 20 (Washington time).

The full video goes for almost seven hours and has been viewed 14,118,641 times.

The ceremony occurred just weeks after the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol, but fears of potential violence during Mr Biden’s inauguration happily went unfulfilled.

9. Forge Labs – I Spent 100 Days in a Zombie Apocalypse in Minecraft … Here’s What Happened

In a video posted on February 21 that hits a lot too close to home, hardcore Minecraft YouTuber Forge Labs “created a virus”.

The clip goes for an hour and 40 minutes which is about how long it took us to stop crying when the fifth lockdown was announced in Melbourne.

The virus mutates and his game-world inevitably descends into a full-blown ‘Zombie Apocalypse’.

At least 43,844,326 viewers have watched the story unfold.

10. Dude Perfect – Game Night Stereotypes

This is a fun take on some classic game night stereotypes viewed 30,388,917 times since it was posted on January 26.

Sketch comedians Dude Perfect have put together 9.40 minutes of antics loosely based in observational humour about what happens when a group of “bros” get together for a game night.

And yeah, you could say it escalates quickly.

Topics: Youtube
Stay informed, daily
A FREE subscription to The New Daily arrives every morning and evening.
The New Daily is a trusted source of national news and information and is provided free for all Australians. Read our editorial charter
Copyright © 2024 The New Daily.
All rights reserved.