As it does every year, YouTube accompanied its annual Rewind video with a list of the videos that had the greatest viral impact across the site over the previous 12 months. This time around, it was an offering from late night television that claimed the top spot. YouTube named the Adele edition of The Late Late Show with James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke segment as the top trending video of 2016.
YouTube’s top trending list is based on the traffic and social chatter generated by popular videos across the entire year, so it makes sense that the Carpool Karaoke episode, released all the way back in January, created enough buzz to claim the number one spot. With 135 million views, it is far and away the most popular installment of Carpool Karaoke to date.
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YouTube purists may bristle at the idea of a TV-related video in the top spot, but the rest of the list features a lot of variety. There are weird foreign music videos, user-generated smash hits, ads, entries from YouTube stars like Casey Neistat and Dude Perfect, and, yes, multiple late night clips. Here, via YouTube, is the complete list:
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Nike Football Presents: The Switch ft. Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Kane, Anthony Martial & More
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Grace VanderWaal: 12-Year-Old Ukulele Player Gets Golden Buzzer – America’s Got Talent 2016
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Channing Tatum & Beyonce’s “Run The World (Girls)” vs. Jenna Dewan-Tatum’s “Pony” | Lip Sync Battle
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Donald Trump: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
Beyond the top trending list, YouTube also offered up a category-specific countdown limited to music videos. On that list, Fifth Harmony took the top spot. The group’s video for “Work From Home,” which has received more than 1.1 billion views since its February 2016 release, outpaced a number of other pop hits.
