After reading Carrie Brownstein’s piece on YouTube for NPR ("Online Fame for Everyone"), I did a quick search for "Charlottesville" videos on the streaming video site. After eliminating a few results that mentioned our city’s name in the text (sorry, U2—Somerville Theatre doesn’t count), I came away with what looks to be, by YouTube’s counts, the most watched local videos on YouTube. Below are the top three; the rest of the results are here.
3. Carter Beauford, drummer for Dave Matthews Band, going "NUTS" during the band’s performance of "Two Step" in 2006 at John Paul Jones Arena. Proof that the jam roots of Charlottesville’s finest rock export are alive and well? You tell me.
2. James Taylor performing "You’ve Got a Friend" at John Paul Jones Arena in 2006. The James Taylor YouTube lobby ousted a lot of other local contenders, actually—"How Sweet It Is" and "Mexico" ranked pretty high among "Charlottesville" videos, too.
The winner?
1. Blogger Mike Stark gets attacked at the Omni Hotel during Senator George Allen’s gubernatorial campaign. 211,190 views and counting…
Of course, view counts don’t necessarily translate to enjoyment, nor is a "Charlottesville" video necessarily local. What did you forward to your colleagues and spendcountless hours watching in 2009? No keyboard cats, please.
