Gangnam Style of Psy ~ most watched video in You Tube

To some of my friends, who have retorted on my focussing so much on Cricket, I have been telling of my learning language, Geography, General knowledge and more from the game.

On Oct 7^th this year, when West Indies won the T20 WC in style, a new word was learnt ~ papers were abuzz with reports of Gayle, Sammy and other Team members celebrating the victory in Gangnam style -  it was a great match as Marlon Samuels stood tall among the ruins as one batsman and tore apart the slinga Malinga.  Windies won and  Gayle was at the centre, with grin as broad as his broadest of bats, dancing to "Gangnam Style" !

Gangnam Style, the dance track by South Korean pop phenomenon Psy, has become YouTube's most-watched video of all time. It has notched up more than 808m views since it was posted in July 2012.  The video has overtaken "Baby" by Canadian heartthrob Justin Bieber.  The 34-year-old rapper has rocketed to fame since "Gangnam Style" -- in which he performs his now famous horse-riding dance -- became a worldwide hit following its release.  PSY is Park Jae-sang, a South Korean singer, songwriter, rapper, dancer, and record producer.  "Gangnam Style" is a Korean-pop single by the South Korean music artist PSY. The song was released on July 15, 2012, as the lead single of his sixth studio album PSY 6. The phrase "Gangnam Style" is a Korean neologism that refers to a lifestyle associated with the Gangnam District of Seoul.

As of Saturday evening [24^th Nov 12],  the music video had racked up well over 805 million views against more than 803 million for Bieber's "Baby". YouTube said the video has "been a massive hit at a global level unlike anything we've ever seen before."  "Each day, "Gangnam Style" is still being watched between 7 and 10 million times," Kevin Allocca, YouTube trends manager, wrote in a blog post Saturday, compared to 350 thousand to 500 thousand for "Baby." And where "Baby" took more than two years to register its 800 million-plus views, "Gangnam Style" reached that milestone in just over four months.

Psy's song, reportedly refers to an upmarket neighbourhood in Seoul; the video pokes fun at the consumerism of Gangnam, an affluent suburb of the South Korean capital Seoul.  In it, the portly Psy dances as though he is trotting on a horse, holding the reins and spinning a lasso in a manner that has sparked a global dance craze. The video also features the 34-year-old singer reclining on a sun lounger in tight pink shorts, gazing longingly at a girl dancing on an underground train in tight shorts and gesticulating at a woman working out on a beach - in tight shorts. The dance has sparked numerous copycat versions, being performed by a diverse fan-base including Filipino prison inmates, prominent Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and a Chinese robot. Popular parodies include one performed by Eton College schoolboys and another in the Star Trek language Klingon. Gangnam Style, which won best video at this year's MTV Europe Music Awards, has also been number one in 28 countries.

The song and its accompanying music video went viral in August 2012 and have influenced popular culture since then.  The song's influence on political activism was exemplified by the film Gangnam for Freedom. It was produced by the British sculptor Anish Kapoor to advocate the freedom of expression and had subsequently won the support of various human rights organisations including Index on Censorship and Amnesty International. It has already  become an international sensation and the present news only adds to its popularity

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

26^th Nov. 2012.