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Psy, whose real name is Park Jae-sang, galloped past the teenage heartthrob Justin Bieber on Saturday to take the top spot. Bieber’s “Baby,” which took more than two years to reach the 800 million mark, had sat at the top of the YouTube views ranking since July 2010.
“Each day, ‘Gangnam Style’ is still being watched between 7 and 10 million times,” wrote Kevin Allocca on the YouTube trends blog. “The velocity of popularity for Psy’s outlandish video is unprecedented.”
The music video has been viewed on YouTube in more than 220 countries with the United States having the most views at more than 150 million, followed by Thailand, Korea, Turkey and then Brazil.
Ever since its release on July 15, “Gangnam Style” has been taking the world by storm prompting thousands of online parodies, international flash mobs and a global dance craze with its horse-riding dance.
“It’s been a massive hit at a global level unlike anything we’ve ever seen before,” said Allocca.
The YouTube record marks a tremendous feat for the Korean entertainer who has received broad global recognition before any overseas concert promotions and without releasing an English version of the track. Psy’s next track, a mix of English and Korean, is already “done,” the singer said on CNN talk show “Talk Asia” on Friday.
The rapping sensation has swept numerous records and music awards, including the Best Video at the MTV Europe Music Awards and the New Media honor at the American Music Awards. In September, the song was inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records for having the most “likes” on YouTube, currently at 5.3 million.
Psy’s international promotional tours continues as he is scheduled to attend the 85th birthday bash of the king of Thailand, which is expected to have around 25,000 guests, on Wednesday. He will also be heading over to Hong Kong where he has vowed to put on a grand performance at the 2012 Mnet Asia Music Awards collaborating with special guest performers on Friday.
By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)
