When TV goes viral: Stacey Solomon and Danyl Johnson on X-Factor

YouTube is a great place to pick out the unmissable little gems from programmes that you wouldn’t necessarily want to watch on TV. A good example is X-Factor – the YouTube channel shows the highlights from the best singers, without having to sit through the whole thing, with its adverts, foot-dragging, tension-mounting and Ant or Dec hug-giving.

In just 2 short weeks, Stacey Solomon from Dagenham has accrued more that 3-million views on YouTube, singing  Louis Armstrong’s What A Wonderful World.

Fair do’s to her – it’s good!

In the same time, Danyl Johnson’s rendition of With A Little Help From My Friends has garnered him more than 4-million views on YouTube. Mind you, 6 of those were me.

But these impressive figures are still dwarfed by ITV’s wrap of Susan Boyle’s April 2009 audition (I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables), which has had, to date, more tha 74-million views.

It shows the first time Susan walked out onto the stage:

Great Viral Ads no. 23: Bond Wins It All in Casino Royale

Spot the Tell Poker logo – inserted into this scene of Casino Royale for viral distribution on YouTube.

(Don’t bother watching to the end – Tell Poker ruin it with less subliminal marketing in the last few seconds).

Great Viral Ads no. 22: Guy Catches Laptop With His Butt

Thank you mashable for bringing this MSI Computers viral ad to the world’s attention, through the power of Twitter…

So far, it has accrued more than 75,000 views in just a few days… but then again, the title is too good to pass over without clicking

Great Viral Ads no. 21: Project Natal (new Microsoft Xbox 360)

Project Natal really is the future of gaming. Think Wii, without the controller.

And there’s more – the platform is even richer than gaming and entertainment. Developers Lionhead Studios claim that personal relationships can be formed through the Xbox 360. Here’s a demonstration of the character ‘Milo’ interacting with the real world.

Great Viral Ads no. 20: Muslim Demographics – the changing face of Europe

With 10-million views in 4 months, Muslim Demographics, posted on YouTube by friendofmuslim is a classic example of a viral video. Searching on YouTube for videos with keywords like ‘Muslim Europeans’ and ‘future of Europe’ doesn’t reveal this particular video on page one of YouTube search results, suggesting that the web address itself has been emailed, or the video has been embedded time and time again.

As it happens, the facts are not accurate: while there may be 2.5m muslims in the UK now, the increase in population hasn’t been quite so explosive as the video suggests: According to Dr Andrew Hinde, a demographer at Southampton University, from the 1981 census, those born in Pakistan and Bangladesh in the UK alone numbered 300,000.

25% of the Belgian population isn’t muslim – the actual figure is more like 6%.

And to suggest that muslim women produce 8.1 offspring is hokum – according to 2008 UN figures, the average for Moroccan and Algerian muslims is much lower, at 2.38.

But the real issue is why this video has been distributed and subsequently viewed 10m times. It’s inaccurate, it’s inflammatory and doesn’t it remind you just a little bit of anti-Semitic propaganda in the 1930s?

More here: More Or Less, Muslim Demographics on BBC Radio 4, 8pm Sunday or online

Great Viral Ads no. 17: Noah takes a photo of himself every day for 6 years

Of course, this isn’t an ad but it is viral in the truest sense.

Noah K took a picture of himself in his flat every day for 6 years, from 11th January 2000.

The video is three years old in August 2009 – and the now bearded Noah is still taking pictures, with a 10-year edition not far off.

Great Viral Ads no. 16: The Miracle Beer Diet Spoof (Livfilms)

A viral ad supposedly for a product can be a simple mechanic to increase awareness for a service provider…

Great Viral Ads no. 9: Roger Federer, the Trainer and Nike

Great Viral Ads no. 6: This is a Library

The Best-Connected Frog in the World (Rainforests Ad)