This year's top viral videos

Joost was kind enough to send me its “top 25 videos of 2008.” After perusing it, I’m a little confused. Included are the pilot episode of CBS’ never-say-die Jericho, soon to be revived on The CW’s Sunday night; an episode of Twin Peaks, which was a hit 18 years ago; and Bruce Willis’ The Fifth Element, which is airing at almost any given moment on cable.

Of course, the top video is Britney Spears’ “Womanizer,” closely followed by “Circus,” which means we are never going to stop hearing about her ever. I really thought her year of living crazy was going to finally rid us of her, but her comeback means I am not so lucky. And clearly no one else felt this way because she’s at the top of every list I’ve seen, including iTunes and Rhapsody.

After carefully studying Joost’s list, I’m pretty sure that the voters were mostly comprised of boy-men who live in their parents’ basements and rarely leave, because it’s basically a combo of Britney Spears nearly-naked videos and rehashed, old-school sci-fi.

In an attempt to find some lists that more closely reflect my taste, I did a little Googling. Here’s what I came up with:

– Oh no! Fuse’s Best Video of 2008 is Britney Spears’ “Womanizer.” Sigh. I am rapidly losing this battle.

Wrong search. I need to be looking up “viral videos.”

– Videogum has this handy recap, which reminds me no matter how tempting it may be, I must not dress scantily, turn on the Web cam and then upload the resulting video to YouTube.

– Time Magazine, that most noble of news organizations, does this round-up of the year’s top-ten. “Where the Hell is Matt?” is a silly, jubilant piece of fun. Much better than Britney. Seth MacFarlane’s “Super Mario Bros. Rescues the Princess” is one of my favorites: “You got captured by something that goes on a salad!”

If you’ve somehow found yourself stuck at work during this dead holiday week, Time has compiled several lists into the “Top 10 of Everything 2008,” guaranteed to kill at least half a day. The other half you can spend shopping online. There are lots of deals to be had out there!

– The Associated Press via MSNBC appoints Tina Fey as Sarah Palin as the year’s best viral video, and I’d have to agree with that pick. It’s the first one that came to my mind when I started pondering this topic.

“Christian the Lion” – the story of the reunion of a real lion with the two Englishmen that owned him when he was just a cub– made both this list and Time’s. Everyone agrees this story is true, but I still sort of don’t believe it. I’m always waiting for the lion to kill the guys at the end. Plus they paired it with Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” which almost knocks it off the list for me but also brings tears to my sappy eyes, go figure.

Joss Whedon’s “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog” is number-five on this list, and it’s well-deserved. I’d say that one is a contender for number one as well.

Sarah Silverman and Matt Damon come in seventh – I thought that was last year!

Other mentions: will.i.am’s Yes We Can, which pairs music with one of Barack Obama’s more moving speeches; some fifth and sixth graders in Atlanta getting their groove on to T.I.’s “Whatever You Like;” and the endearing and very literal “Hamster on a Piano (Eating Popcorn).”  

If anyone has any suggestions/nominations of their own, please note them here. Happy holidays!

Dang, now that stupid Britney song is stuck in my head.