YouTube Rewind: Top YouTube Videos of 2013 (roundup)

Written by Gina Smith

What does the fox say? Hard question. What were the top trending YouTube videos of 2013? Easy. YouTube Rewind 2013 — all categories, music to comedy and beyond. Relive it if you can stand it.

aNewDomain.net — What were the hottest YouTube videos of 2013? You might as well ask: What does a fox say? And if you have a kid, you know the answer is ring ting ting etcetera. Find below Google YouTube’s mashup of its top YouTube videos of 2013 — it’s the annual YouTube Rewind video. Below that, find our selections out of YouTube’s top video listings for 2013. The best of the best.


Credit: YouTube Rewind 2013 Team

TOP TRENDING YOUTUBE VIDEOS OF 2013

The year 2013 wasn’t just the year 23andMe, the DNA ancestry service, revealed to me that I was actually Norwegian. It was the year the Norse hit us hard with The Fox by Ylvis (What Does the Fox Say?).

If you missed it, catch it now and hatee hatee hatee ho back at you. Here’s Ylvis’ The Fox, hovering at 291 million views at this writing.


Credit: TVNorge YouTube channel

What Animals Eat has spawned countless copycats — online and at the dinner table. But the winner takes the cake. Literally. And closing in on 91M views.


Credit: MisterEpicMann YouTube Channel

Jean-Claude Van Damme blew our minds when he showed up to do the following rowdy trick for this Volvo Trucks video, which immediately went viral. JCVD’s still got it. This video featuring Van Damme’s split on two reversing trucks was published just a month ago, and it’s already hit a staggering 61M-plus views.


Credit: Volvo Trucks YouTube Channel

If you ever wondered what NFL players are saying down there on the field, know that you’re not alone. The NFL Bad Lip Reading was an instant hit on arrival after it posted on YouTube in January 2013.


Credit: Bad Lip Reading YouTube Channel

This one was freaky. Maybe you’re too young to get chills from memories of Sissy Spacek wigging out in the original Carrie. But there’s a new Carrie. And this promo asks: What if telekinesis were real? What indeed? Yikes. Check out the Telekinetic Coffee Shop Surprise, below.


Credit: CarrieNYC YouTube Channel

And it’s Mozart versus Scrillex: Epic Rap Battles in History Season Two. Can’t touch this. Not easily, anyway.


Video credit: Epic Rap Battles of History YouTube Channel

YOLO — You Only Live Once. There’s an acronym. But it’s an attitude, too, as this 2013 YouTube video shows. Here’s The Lonely Island, backed up by Adam Levine & Kendrick Lamar … reminding us of what is truly important. YOLO!


Video credit: The Lonely Island YouTube Channel

This story is developing … send me your suggestions and watch for updates.

For aNewDomain.net, I’m Gina Smith.

Gina Smith is the New York Times best-selling author of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak’s memoir, ” iWoz Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer and Had Fun Doing It” (W.W. Norton, 2005/2007/2012). With John C. Dvorak and Jerry Pournelle, she is the editorial director at aNewDomain.net. Email her at gina@aNewDomain.net, check out her Google + stream here or follow her @ginasmith888.