Music in Review: Bieber To GaGa

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As 2010 comes to a close, the lists begin to roll. Today we get from music site Vevo its run down of the most popular videos on a service that itself became one of the top trending Web properties of 2010. In comScore's latest ranking of Web properties (November 2010), MTV's parent Viacom continues to be the larger presence with 81.7 million unique visitors (No. 11 in the list). But Vevo is now at No .19 with 57.8 million uniques, and it is streaming hundreds of millions of vids a month. Curiously, and not coincidentally, MTV itself reported yesterday that the cable network had seen its largest jump in viewership year-over-year since 1999. Reality programming such as "Jersey Shore" led the way, underscoring how much of music video now has moved off the tube and onto the Web where Vevo and MTV properties continue to battle over audience and video licenses.

Just look at the traffic to Vevo's top ten videos of the year. The venue may have changed, but this old music video addict from the early days of MTV sees little different or new about the current crop of top music videos of the year.

No. 1 Justin Bieber & Ludacris, Baby (416 million views)
The weird and creepy young adolescent sexuality of Tiger Beat circa 1975 apparently stays with us.

No. 2 Lady Gaga, Bad Romance (322 million views)
Imagine if Madonna actually hadn't taken herself seriously. You have to love a pop star who bakes self-parody into the content.

No. 3 Shakira, Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) (262.9 million views)
Shakira as FIFA World Cup cheerleader. Okay, I'm in love.

No. 4 Eminem & Rihanna: Love The Way You Lie (242 million views)
Rihanna's balladeering about a masochistic relationship juxtaposed with Eminem's relentless rage. Domestic violence as romance. They both need Paxil...for different reasons.

No. 5 Justin Bieber, One Time (204 million views)
Wait a minute, didn't we just see this one?

No. 6 Eminem, Not Afraid (172 million views)
Question: which chart-topper gushes more adolescent melodrama in music video, the truly teen-aged Justin Bieber or the purportedly 'adult' Eminem?

No. 7 Rihanna, Rude Boy (122 million views)
Remember when video effects ruled the day in music video? Rihanna's video recalls the early days of rudimentary 'look-what-we-can-do-with-a-video-deck' days of MTV.

No. 8 Justin Bieber and Jaden Smith, Never Say Never (124 million views)
The easy-bake movie music video has not changed a frame since the 1980s. Two singers in a studio intercut with film scenes. At least it breaks up the tedium of Bieber in full lothario mode.

No. 9 Lady Gaga, Alejandro (111 million views)
Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation" video meets Madonna's "Erotica." How many cows died to supply the leather for this video?

No. 10 Usher & will.i.am, OMG (37 million views)
Deservedly at the bottom of this heap, and lagging far behind the rest is a reminder how much of the music video universe is populated by bland executions of bland artists singing bland tunes. The only good thing to say about this video is that it makes you want to replay Michael Jackson's Billie Jean to get a taste of the real thing.