Viral videos of the week: Giles and Dunphy, iPhone drop and a tempestuous tot

21 Sep 2014

Still from 'Eamon Dunphy and John Giles Cadbury Dairy Milk #FreeTheJoy' by CadburyIRE on YouTube

This week in viral videos, we were watching a two-year-old from Belfast make some scary threats and some veteran football pundits show off some new talents.

About 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, 500 years of video watched on Facebook every day, and more than 700 YouTube videos shared on Twitter each minute, ensuring there is always video trending on the web.

Each week, we take a look at some of the most-viewed and most-shared videos on the web, and here’s what has caught our eye this week.

First iPhone 6 sold in Perth is dropped

The iPhone 6 went on sale in certain territories on Friday 19 September (Ireland will be waiting until 26 September) and, such is the nature of the International Date Line, that it was Australia that got access to the year’s most anticipated smartphone release first. Fanatics in Perth slept outside the Apple Store overnight to ensure they’d be top of the queue and young Jack, the first to emerge from the store with his purchase, was kind enough to provide us with a drop test. The reaction from the crowd is pricelees.

Uploaded: 18 September 2014

Eamon Dunphy and John Giles free the joy

When this ad for Cadbury Dairy Milk’s ‘free the joy’ campaign first aired during the week, it prompted a flurry of activity on Twitter, with many viewers simply astounded by what they had witnessed from RTÉ pundits Eamon Dunphy and John Giles. Personally, I think it was the subtle power Gilesy’s snake hips that sent them all into a tizzy.

Uploaded: 16 September 2014

Belfast two-year-old threatens her laughing mammy

Anyone who has been in the presence of a child since the release of Disney’s Frozen will know that kids just love to belt out the songs from this award-winning animation. Some take these performances very seriously, too, like this toddler from Belfast, who utilises just about every threat known to Irish parents to discipline her mother for giggling – which, of course, just makes the poor mammy laugh even more.

Uploaded: 11 September 2014

Two-year-old’s ‘Chandelier’ choreography

From one memorable two-year-old to another, our next video features two mature dancers following the lead of little Zaya as they dance to Sia’s ‘Chandelier’. I reckon Zaya’s been watching the music video as there are some moves she absolutely nails and, even when she falls down, she makes it seem like it was all part of her choreography – a true professional.

Uploaded: 14 September 2014

Rory McIlroy’s golf ball finds fan’s pocket

Forget about a hole in one, Rory McIlroy accidentally scored a one-in-a-million shot in the second round of the 2014 PGA Tour Championship when his tee shot on the 14th hole actually landed in a spectator’s pocket.

Uploaded: 12 September 2014

Kutiman’s ‘Give It Up’ mash-up

Mash-ups are nothing new to YouTube but one user has an approach that stands out from the rest. Instead of blending well-known music releases to make something new yet familiar, Kutiman takes his inspiration from the multitude of amateur music performance videos posted to the social video network and turns them into a rich collaboration and something completely fresh.

Uploaded: 12 September 2014

Huge wasp nest on a window

While I can’t say I’ve ever wanted to peek inside a live wasps’ nest, one YouTube user has the ability to get a close look at a cross-section of this habitat in complete safety. A window facing a wall only inches away will leave architects baffled, but the nook created between the glass pane and the wall has given this colony something of a Big Brother house for wasps.

Uploaded: 13 September 2014

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Elaine Burke is the host of For Tech’s Sake, a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network. She was previously the editor of Silicon Republic.

editorial@siliconrepublic.com