Gangnam Style Becomes Youtube’s Most-Viewed Video

Gangnam Style, the dance track by South Korean pop phenomenon Psy, has become YouTube’s most-watched video of all time.

It has notched up more than 808m views since it was posted in July.

The video pokes fun at the consumerism of Gangnam, an affluent suburb of the South Korean capital Seoul.

In it, the portly Psy dances as though he is trotting on a horse, holding the reins and spinning a lasso in a manner that has sparked a global dance craze.

The video also features the 34-year-old singer reclining on a sun lounger in tight pink shorts, gazing longingly at a girl dancing on an underground train in tight shorts and gesticulating at a woman working out on a beach – in tight shorts.

The dance has sparked numerous copycat versions, being performed by a diverse fan-base including Filipino prison inmates, prominent Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and a Chinese robot.

Popular parodies include one performed by Eton College schoolboys and another in the Star Trek language Klingon.

Gangnam Style, which won best video at this year’s MTV Europe Music Awards, has also been number one in 28 countries.

It holds the Guinness World Record for the most “liked” song ever – currently with a little under 5.4m likes on YouTube.

Previously, Justin Bieber’s 2010 teenybopper hit Baby held the record for the most YouTube views.

Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun was the first person in the US to tweet a link to the Gangnam Style video.

BBC