It’s a question that has plagued humankind for ages: What do Katy Perry and a creepy arachnid-canine hybrid in common? As it turns out, both are the top trending YouTube clips of 2014 in their respective categories of music and user-submitted videos.
Perry’s Juicy J-assisted single “Dark Horse” dominated the competition, racking up over 715 million views since it premiered in February. Her closest competitor was Enrique Iglesias, whose Spanish version of “Bailando” came in second with over 587 million. Shakira and Rihanna’s lascivious duet “Can’t Remember to Forget” rounded out the top three with over 442 million views, while the Colombian singer also took the fourth spot with her Carlinhos Brown-featuring World Cup anthem, “La La La” (over 418 million).
Jason Derulo’s “Wiggle,” featuring Snoop Dogg, garnered over 389 million views to take the fifth spot, followed by Iggy Azalea’s breakout hit, “Fancy” (over 376 million) and Sia’s “Chandelier” (over 349 million). Since its August 18th publish date, Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off” has earned over 329 million views, enough to best Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass” which fell shy at number nine by about 800,000 views. Capping off the countdown was Nicki Minaj’s ode to the behind, “Anaconda,” which has scored more than 317 million views since it was released in August.
YouTube has also compiled the most watched non-music related clips of 2014, which come from a variety of YouTube users, brands and traditional media outlets. Among the 10 clips joining SA Wardega’s number one viral prank “Mutant Giant Spider Dog” are Nike’s star-studded World Cup ad, Tatia Pilieva charming “First Kiss” compilation, a harrowing clip about street harassment and a stirring performance by a nun on the Italian version of The Voice. All of these videos, and more, were compiled into YouTube’s official annual rewind video, which is available to watch below.
