YouTube's top video of 2013 is What Does the Fox Say?

YouTube has unveiled its Top 10 most popular videos of 2013, with The Fox (What Does The Fox Say?), a music video from Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis, nabbing top honours.

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The mocking video, underlined by a techno beat and dancers in the forest, wonders what kind of sound a fox makes.

People dressed up as animals dance around as Bard and Vegard Ylvisaker croon ”dog goes woof / cat goes meow / bird goes tweet / mouse goes squeak.”

Among the possibilities of fox sounds explored are:

• Wa-po-po-po-po-po-pow.
• Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho.
• Chacha-chacha-chacha-chow.
• Fraka-kaka-kaka-kaka-kow.
• A-oo-oo-oo-ooo.

Not far behind was the Norwegian army’s version of the Harlem Shake — a kind of shimmying dance created more than 20 years ago.

The original video – with people either quivering or shuddering in whatever manner they can — inspired countless parodies, about 1.7 million versions, from groups of people around the world.

'Borderless world'

"What it really shows us is that in this borderless world you can be exposed to these amazing different ways of music or entertainment," Wendy Bairos of YouTube told CBC News.  

The complete list:

1. "The Fox (What Does The Fox Say?)."
2. "Harlem Shake" (original army version).
3. "How Animals Eat Their Food."
4. "Wrecking Ball (Chatroulette Version)," Miley Cyrus.
5. "The Epic Split" by Volvo starring Jean Claude Van Damme.
6. The Lonely Island’s "YOLO" featuring Adam Levine and Kendrick Lamar.
7. "Telekinetic Coffee Shop Surprise." promo for Carrie.
8. "The NFL: A Bad Lip Reading."
9. "Mozart versus Skrillex: Epic Rap Battles of History, Season 2."

According to YouTube, more than six billion hours of videos are watched each month on its site.

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In Canada, the list was slightly different and a little more patriotic, with astronaut Chris Hadfield’s  “unearthly” music video from space getting plenty of clicks:

1. "The Fox (What Does The Fox Say?)."
2. "Dove Real Beauty Sketches."
3. "How Animals Eat Their Food.
4. "Baby & Me," an Evian film.
5. "YOLO."
6. "Harlem Shake."
7. "The NFL: A Bad Lip Reading."
8. "Drive Thru Invisible Driver Prank."
9. "Space Oddity" with Chris Hadfield.
10. "Telekinetic Coffee Shop Surprise."

In terms of music videos, the world enjoyed Gentlemen by Psy — the Korean pop singer known for his previous smash hit Gangnam Style — while Canadians were more curious about Cyrus's Wrecking Ball.