Gangnam Style becomes YouTube's most-viewed video
Psy's horse-riding dance has been performed by the head of the UN
Continue reading the main story Related Stories
Gangnam Style, the dance track by South Korean pop phenomenon Psy, has become YouTube's most-watched video of all time.
It has notched up more than 808m views since it was posted in July.
The video pokes fun at the consumerism of Gangnam, an affluent suburb of the South Korean capital Seoul.
In it, the portly Psy dances as though he is trotting on a horse, holding the reins and spinning a lasso in a manner that has sparked a global dance craze.
The video also features the 34-year-old singer reclining on a sun lounger in tight pink shorts, gazing longingly at a girl dancing on an underground train in tight shorts and gesticulating at a woman working out on a beach - in tight shorts.
The dance has sparked numerous copycat versions, being performed by a diverse fan-base including Filipino prison inmates, prominent Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and a Chinese robot.
Popular parodies include one performed by Eton College schoolboys and another in the Star Trek language Klingon.
Gangnam Style, which won best video at this year's MTV Europe Music Awards, has also been number one in 28 countries.
It holds the Guinness World Record for the most "liked" song ever - currently with a little under 5.4m likes on YouTube.
Previously, Justin Bieber's 2010 teenybopper hit Baby held the record for the most YouTube views.
Bieber's manager Scooter Braun was the first person in the US to tweet a link to the Gangnam Style video.
UN  Ban Ki-moon performing a "" dance move alongside  
The music video for "", a song by South Korean artist , has become the most viewed YouTube video of all time. The video, which now has over 816 million views since being uploaded in July, became the most watched after overtaking the music video for "", a song by Canadian singer Justin Bieber, which was placed on YouTube in 2010.

With approximately 5.4 million likes, "Gangnam Style" is the most liked YouTube video ever, as recognised by . The video has averaged approximately six million daily views since its upload. Guinness World Records previously said about the video: "In years past it was unthinkable that something would be viewed a hundred million times, and now Gangnam Style has achieved more than twice this figure in just three months on YouTube." Should its daily view count average rate continue, "Gangnam Style" could potentially pass one billion views by the start of 2013.

"Gangnam Style" satirises consumerist aspects of the  of Seoul, the South Korean capital. The music video has influenced numerous parody versions, including one called "Mitt Romney Style", which was created in the run-up to the 2012 United States presidential election.

Park Jae-Sang, Psy's actual name, said "Gangnam Style" "never targeted foreign countries. It was for local fans". He said his intention "was to look uncool" in the music video "until the end. I achieved it."

The song has reached number one on music charts in about 30 countries. Its popularity has extended as far as US President Barack Obama; and Ban Ki-moon, the  of the United Nations, who can be seen performing one of the dance moves to the song in the video above.

Psy has now signed with , a record label representing such acts as  and Justin Bieber.


== Sources == 
*
*
*