Viral videos of the week: Daniel Radcliffe, Robbie Williams and a focused cat

31 Oct 2014

Still from 'I'm parched' by Josh Ace

This week’s viral videos feature a star-studded showcase from around the web, as actor Daniel Radcliffe raps the alphabet, singer Robbie Williams annoys his pregnant wife, and a focused cat is focused.

About 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, Facebook videos receive more than 1bn views per day, and more than 700 YouTube videos are shared on Twitter each minute, ensuring there is always video trending on the web.

With so much video available for viewing, we take a look at some of the viral videos that have caught our eye this week.

Robbie Williams’ mid-labour ‘entertainment’

As one of the biggest pop stars in the world who people either love or hate with a fiery passion, Robbie Williams’ online presence certainly gives us an insight into his mind.

Now, with the birth of his second child, it seems he has taken things up a notch by tormenting his wife Ayda Field while she was going through the pains of labour.

To attempt to ease her pain, and failing miserably, in the only way he knows, Williams decides to sing and dance one of his songs for her.

This certainly takes being an eager dad to a new level.

 

 

Uploaded: 27 October 2014

Daniel Radcliffe raps the alphabet

You’re a rapper, Harry! Or at least that’s how actor Daniel Radcliffe would seemingly have wanted Harry Potter to be, based on a recent interview on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Perhaps to the surprise of the chat show’s audience, Radcliffe described his love of rap music stemming from Eminem in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Radcliffe also revealed he has been practising his own work.

To show off his skills, he decided to rap the alphabet in a seamless American accent of his own. Pretty impressive.

Uploaded: 28 October 2014

10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman

In the latest example of casual misogyny, a woman decided to walk through the streets of New York City in a T-shirt and a pair of jeans to gauge whether men would actively harass her.

While not showing every case, the relatively short video shows a number of cases where men would comment on her appearance and even one man following her for five minutes without speaking to her.

Uploaded: 28 October 2014

10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Man

Injecting a bit of humour into the debate, Funny or Die decided to parody the video that amassed more than 22m hits in four days by showing what it must be like for a man to do the same experiment.

Ten hours later and the man dodges footballs and job opportunities before being crowned king of New York.

A nice, funny point to highlight a serious issue.

Uploaded: 29 October 2014

Capturing Our Capital

For a city that’s home to more than 1m people, Dublin, Ireland, is full of characters waiting to be given a few moments in the limelight.

In this case, Rebecca Birmingham and her project ‘Capturing our Capital’ went out to do just that.

Placing a few disposable cameras in various points of the city, curious Dubliners from all walks of life couldn’t help but take photos using the mysterious cameras.

Aside from one group of people attempting to rob a camera, the photos produced sum up Dublin more than words ever could.

Uploaded: 23 October 2014

Focused kitty is focused

It couldn’t be a viral video list without a cat, right? This week it’s a rather concentrated feline who is inexplicably staring at a piece of wall.

Despite best efforts, the cat’s humans can’t seem to get its attention, even with a barrage of gentle poking.

Lord knows this journalist wishes he had the same level of concentration on tasks that this cat has on a piece of boring wall.

What is its secret?!

Uploaded: 27 October 2014

I’m parched

Keeping with awesome animals, Bennett may be the definition of ‘man’s best friend’.

The friendly dog and his owner are now so intrinsically linked that his owner can now simply say he’s “parched” and Bennett will go to the fridge and get him a nice, cold beer.

While it might be better for the dog to not have to fetch his owner beers, we’re still waiting for robot butlers …

Uploaded: 26 October 2014

Daniel Frahn performs ‘RKO outta nowhere’ celebration

For those not familiar with WWE wrestling, a wrestling move performed by Randy Orten known as the ‘reverse knockout’ (RKO) is slowly taking the world by storm as people attempt to imitate it and share it on YouTube.

In particular, its appearance in goal celebrations in football appears to be gathering pace, with Daniel Frahn of Red Bull Leipzig pulling off the best one yet.

Just look at the enjoyment on the face of Frahn’s partner in the celebration!

Uploaded: 28 October 2014

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Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com