The Views: Christmas, Calories and Covers
With the New Year in sight, resolutions are being made everywhere, even on YouTube. Fitness channels, like Popsugar Fitness, help achieve these resolutions and make them last with easy, fun, and diverse fitness videos. Most recently, Popsugar Fitness posted a “30-Minute Bodyweight Workout” led by Barry’s Bootcamp instructor, Taylor Walker. This workout requires no equipment and the three women in the video follow the moves at varying levels, making it the perfect workout for anyone. Popsugar Fitness shares anything from Latin dance to HIIT and barre classes with their 3.41 million subscribers. Over 90,000 viewers have already watched this specific workout and are one step ahead of their New Year’s resolution. Channels like this make it easy to work out and feel motivated right in your own living room.
Making his start on Vine, creator Rudy Mancuso has brought his sketches and comedy to YouTube to reach a new audience almost 7 million subscribers. One vine of Mancuso’s went viral a few years ago and featured a new character, “Senor Grinch”- a Spanish version of the beloved Christmas hater. Mancuso has continued this saga on his YouTube channel with his newest video, “Senor Grinch’s Wedding.” In his sketch, Senor Grinch learns from Santa (King Bach) that his ex-girlfriend is getting married to “Rodolfo the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and he is not too happy about it. The wedding featured a cast of mystical characters including elves, the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy. Senor Grinch crashes the wedding to try and win his ex back and sing a ballad roasting all of the attendees. Mancuso puts a fun, mature spin on the classic Christmas tales, appealing to almost 800,000 viewers who are trying to get into the Christmas spirit and may need a laugh or two along the way.
Speaking of YouTube sketch comedy, the duo Noah Boat & Ryan aka Rhino of the channel, LiveLoveServe, create entertaining and relatable content for almost 6 million subscribers. One of the recurring videos they make involves imagining if a famous rapper was in your class and how they would act. In the past, these have included DaBaby and Lil Nas X. Most recently, LiveLoveServe posted the video, “If Lil Tecca was in your class.” In this video, Rhino dresses as Lil Tecca and sits with classmate Noah Boat as they go through a normal school day routine, but every word that Lil Tecca says are soundbites of his songs. They use the lyrics of his raps to fit the scenario they create. For example, while playing chess, Lil Tecca repeats the lyrics, “I ain’t ever lose.” These videos are well researched and entertaining as the 800,000 viewers wait to see what words he will rap next. They follow a trend of incorporating popular songs in everyday speech that has become popular on YouTube in an innovative and fun way that targets a large demographic and continues to succeed in popularity.
Ashley, of the YouTube channel, best-dressed, brings her 2.46 million subscribers along on a different kind of video on her channel. Like her channel name suggests, Ashley typically posts fashion-related content, including hauls and look books. However, in her most recent video, over 900,000 viewers follow her along her journey of organizing and decorating her new Los Angeles studio apartment. As told in her intro, this video has been two months of moving in and three weeks of editing in the process, but it's definitely worth the wait. She begins the video by staying true to her content and visiting a thrift store for some inexpensive furniture and decor or what Ashley calls “dead people furniture.” She takes her viewers through every thrift bought piece she bought, including a $1 desk and then gives tips on how to refurbish old and worn out pieces. For the rest of the 40-minute video, Ashley extensively talks through how she beautifully organized and decorated every inch of her apartment, sparking inspiration and jealousy for any viewer. She takes her taste and eye for detail into her interior design that her subscribers are used to seeing in her wardrobe and fashion choices.
The world of musical covers on YouTube is a large one. Creators range from professionals to amateurs, but each offers a new twist on a classic melody. The YouTube channel for the Korean girl group, Twice, has used this means to provide more content for their fans and put their own spin on a new Christmas classic. Nayeon of the group recently posted a video of her cover of “Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande. She is adorned in a fuzzy sweater and reindeer antlers with lights strung in the background, sure to put any of the two million viewers in the holiday spirit. This video allows Twice fans to connect more with their favorite singers on a different platform. It also makes it easier for fans of Christmas music or Ariana Grande to discover new bands or K-pop in general. The video is sweet and festive, and the vocals and editing are exactly what you would hope to see from a famous girl group with over 6 million YouTube subscribers.