2021 has been a pretty eventful year, to put it mildly. But there are some ‘events’ that have grabbed Singaporeans’ attention more than others.
A good indicator of which these are actually what we spend our time watching online.
Recently, YouTube unveiled its Top 10 Lists, revealing what the most-watched videos are this year.
Topping the list is unsurprisingly the epic revealation concerning the mother of all dramas this year — Xiaxue’s 2-hour interview with Night Owl Cinematics’ (NOC) co-founder Sylvia Chan.
Read on to find out more about the top 5 videos in Singapore this year.
It all started in the beginning of October with an anonymous Instagram account, SGcickenrice, alleging NOC co-founder Sylvia had used abusive language towards her staff.
A month-long drama soon ensued, with many more allegations surfacing about the issue, including some from employees’ accounts.
After largely keeping silent, Sylvia then appeared in a tell-all interview with Xiaxue.
Within 1.5 months, the video amassed 1,287,688 views, and has been crowned the top trending video in Singapore for 2021.
Despite our shift to treating Covid-19 as an endemic disease, the coronavirus remains firmly in the background in 2021.
Back in May, Singapore entered the ‘Heightened Alert’ phase, which saw social gatherings group sizes reduced from 5 to 2 pax.
2 weeks into the period of tightened restrictions and Singaporeans were more than ready for measures to be eased once again.
This is perhaps why so many of us tuned in to PM Lee’s national address on 31 May, making it the 2nd most-trending video in Singapore this year.
During the speech, he shared that Singapore will relax restrictions after 13 Jun, “if all goes well”.
True to his word, 5-pax social gatherings later resumed on 14 Jun, with dine-ins allowed soon after.
The video that came in 3rd, much like the 1st, involves NOC.
Before the NOC drama broke out, the media company launched a new series named Reno King, which features house tours of some unique homes.
The series found success, but the most popular video is by far their tour of a modern Peranakan shophouse, which serves as one of NOC’s offices, as well as Sylvia’s home.
Interestingly, the use of the space was also mentioned as a point of contention in Xiaxue’s interview with Sylvia.
Coming in 4th is a video by another popular Singapore YouTuber, JianHao Tan.
The video, titled ’13 Types of People in SQUID GAME’, is a spoof of the Squid Game Netflix series that grew wildly popular since its release in September.
As its title suggests, the video showcases different types of people and how they would react playing the game ‘Red Light, Green Light’.
It has received over 23 million views on YouTube.
Perhaps inspired by the many hours we spent working and staying at home over the past years, another home tour was rated the 5th most trending video of 2021.
The video by South China Morning Post (SCMP) gives viewers a look inside Sheng Siong supermarket billionaire co-founder Lim Hock Leng’s luxury home.
The $32 million mansion is certainly an intriguing one — a colonial bungalow that blends traditional and modern aesthetics into 1.
In the video, viewers also got a sneak peak of Mr Lim’s life and the family values he holds, with various nods to his family’s humble beginnings in pig farming.
Besides trending videos, YouTube also rated the top music videos of 2021, and you wouldn’t have guess who won out BTS, Bruno Mars, and LISA.
The top music video in Singapore this year is ‘The Road Ahead’, AKA our National Day Parade (NDP) theme song this year. It’s certainly a well-deserved spot, with its captivating graphics and heartwarming lyrics.
Here are the music videos that clinched the top 3 spots on YouTube Singapore’s list this year:
2021 has certainly been a wild ride for all of us. It’s interesting to see how the videos we watch are so telling of who we are and where we are at as a nation.
As we wrap up this year, let’s look forward to a better 2022.
Hopefully, a year filled with greater success in our battle against Covid-19, more entertaining videos, and catchy music.
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Featured image adapted from Xiaxue on YouTube.
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