The 25 Best Videos Of 2011

In 2011 music videos can be separated into three distinct categories - big budget extravaganzas, cheap label-funded clips and do-it-yourself efforts. Not that price is an indication of quality. You can spend millions and still end up with an unforgivable turkey like "Marry The Night". For me, it's all about coming up with something original that suits the song. That could be a coked-up secretary dancing in front of a filing cabinet or a superstar made to look like an extra from Cocoon. The common factor being that I got the urge to go back and watch that shit all over again - obviously for very different reasons. Listed below are my 25 favourite videos of the year. Let me know what I overlooked in the comments.

25. Put Your Hands Up - Kylie (Lyrics Video)

I'd rather read Kylie's stunning lyrics than see your favourite basic bitch strut her stuff in a glossy video. The end.

24. Chinese Walk - Amanda Lear (Video)

Want to see an almost 70-year-old disco legend transform into a young Asian beauty? Well, look no further than "Chinese Walk"! Amanda Lear nailed this half-animated visual extravaganza. It's effective and extremely pretty. Proof that a good idea and competent execution can overcome the smallest of budgets.

23. I'm Still Hot - Luciana (Video)

Luciana told me this high-camp clip was inspired by '80s drag/pop sensation Divine and I'm sure John Waters' favourite gal would approve of the end-result if she were still alive. Basically, the Queen of electro wakes up from a bender and walks around the desert carrying a boombox on her shoulder. We've all been there.

22. Sexy And I Know It - LMFAO (Video)

What can I say? I like watching Redfoo shake his junk!

21. God Sent Me Here To Rock You - Naomi Elizabeth (Video)

Naomi Elizabeth's exquisite self-made visual is better than Lady Gaga's entire videography. From the diva's stunning choreography in front of the filing cabinet she clearly spends her days maintaining to the not-quite-couture outfit she wears in the garden, this is pure gold.

20. Cherubino's Aria - Adya & Geisha (Video)

I'm pretty sure the director of this clip took way to much LSD in the '70s.

19. Gucci Gucci - Kreayshawn (Video)

Kreayshawn and V Nasty make a spectacle of themselves on the street. That's it. Literally. The thing is - "Gucci Gucci" is so full of life. There's no stupid set-up or styling. It's rough and real and better than anything Onika will make in her entire career.

18. Party - Beyoncé (Video)

Sometimes Bey has a tendency to over-think things. Unlike your gutter-ho fave, she's always trying to lift her game to previously unimagined heights and that can backfire on her. This time around she kept it simple. After Googling "poor people pool party" on her diamond encrusted laptop, King B knew what she had to do - hire a trailer park, let Solange out of the dungeon and call up her girl Kelly. The rest is YouTube history.

17. Friday - Rebecca Black (Video)

The most successful viral video in history is a work of unintentional comedic genius. You couldn't have scripted this epic trainwreck. From the hilariously bad graphics to the dumb look on Becky's face and a cameo from the world's shadiest rapper, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Only instead of making it unwatchable, those flaws made "Friday" an instant cult classic that will enjoyed by drunk internet-users for decades to come.

16. Lonely Lisa - Mylène Farmer (Video)

Ballet dancers, sunbeds in the desert and France's answer to Madonna make "Lonely Lisa" an unforgettable experience. Great song too.

15. Big Bad Wolf - Duck Sauce (Video)

The protagonists in this warped masterpiece have a second head where their reproductive organs should be. I still can't decide if I'm turned on or disgusted.

14. Drop It Low - Kat DeLuna (Video)

Queen Kat brings the choreography - and safety helmets - in one of the year's best dance videos.

13. Midnight In Berlin - Barb@zul (Video)

Spain's hottest bear-band finally got around to releasing the sequel to their 2010 internet hit "I Don't Care". That blockbuster was something of a gay soap opera, which ended with Laz dumping Juan for messing around with another man. In the sequel the boys move to Berlin and enter the adult entertainment industry. I think.

12. Pon Pon Pon - Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (Video)

Japan's hottest Harajuku girl dresses up as a toddler, dances around like a possessed oompa loompa in a room full of creepy toys and vomits eyeballs. Could your fave?

11. Wonderland - Natalia Kills (Video)

I had such high hopes for Natalia Kills when I saw her dark and twisted "Wonderland" video. She cleverly re-imagines a bunch of classic fairytales with a distinctly gothic twist. The cinematography and styling is spot on and I love the use of extreme gore in a pop video. How did she morph into such a pathetic Gaga wannabe? Sad.

10. White Nights - Oh Land (Video)

Charming isn't an adjective I'd use to describe a lot of music videos but that's the first word that comes to mind when I think of Oh Land's lovely "White Nights" visual. The Danish singer presents us with a quirky dreamscape in the clip, deftly jumping between surreal scenarios. I particularly love that the former ballerina finally gets to show us her graceful dance moves. Light up a joint and watch this on repeat.

9. Shake It, Shake It - INY (Video)

Korea's hood girlband leaves your faves for dead - literally - in this disturbing masterpiece. The riveting set-up finds the edgy beauties stealing iPods from unsuspecting schoolgirls. Unfortunately, they cross a gangster and spend the rest of the clip being chased around Seoul by a bunch of rapists. Thug life!

8. Move Your Body - Beyoncé (Video)

When she's not running the world, Bey is making sure your kids don't get fat by teaching them how to Dougie. You're welcome.

7. When The Night Falls - Chromeo Feat. Solange Knowles (Video)

Chromeo always deliver the goods but this kooky effort is one of their best. The Canadian dance pioneers spend the clip getting women pregnant with their magical instruments. That is until the ladies revolt and come after the hapless musicians. It's well-conceived, original and stars a Knowles. What more do you want?

6. The One That Got Away - Katy Perry (Video)

Here she is. Shady Katy. I'm surprised the video isn't jam-packed with subliminal messages instructing viewers to download the song from iTunes but maybe she's saving that for her seventh number one. As for the actual clip, I can't fault it. This is beautifully written, directed and acted. Most importantly, it's touching and effortlessly taps into the sentiment of the song. Well done.

5. Play With Me - Chloe Lattanzi (Video)

As a huge fan of her unreleased material, I almost fainted when I heard Chloe Lattanzi had finally unleashed her debut video. After almost a decade of false starts, Olivia Newton-John's amazingly talented but certifiably insane daughter introduced herself to the world by snorting drugs, self-mutilating and repeatedly committing suicide in "Play With Me". I have never been so proud!

4. Sure As Hell Not Jesus - Cosmo Jarvis (Video)

Cosmo stars as a pedophile priest with a Justin Bieber poster above his bed in this mini-movie. Need I say more?

3. Blow - Ke$ha (Video)

While Lady Gaga made 14 minute snoozefests and Rihanna tried to turn Trainspotting into a musical, K$ did something revolutionary. She had fun. "Blow" stands out like Khloe Kardashian's erection at a day spa with its irreverent dialogue and crazy special-effects. I love James Van Der Beek's cameo and the unicorn heads. Someone needs to offer Ke$ha a movie deal!

2. Midnight City - M83 (Video)

Just when you thought that the music video genre was all but dead M83 drop this achingly beautiful clip. "Midnight City" follows a group of kids with special powers who escape from their school/prison and wreak havoc. It's incredibly well done and suits the song perfectly. Make sure you check this out if you haven't already.

1. Run The World (Girls) - Beyoncé (below)

From the moment Bey rides past with her immaculate lacefront blowing in the wind like strands of freshly spun gold, you just knew that this was going to be epic. "Run The World (Girls)" might have used up the entire "4" era video budget in one hit but it was worth it. One minute it's a post-apocalyptic episode of America's Next Top Model, the next it's an African dance showcase. I love the emphasis the clip places on choreography. Who else but Beyoncé would dare to bring the Pantsula to the masses? Re-visit the video of the year below.

The 20 Shadiest Music Moments Of 2011

Is it just me or was 2011 shadier than usual? It seems like every ho with a record deal was caught doing something underhand this year. Perhaps we're just more observant and unnecessarily criticise artists for playing the game. Or maybe the music business is so cut-throat at the moment that you need sticky fingers and a Teflon conscience just to get ahead. In any case, there were no shortage of examples to choose from when I put together my list of 2011's shadiest moments. I'm sure I forgot some essential acts of thievery and bad behaviour - so feel free to remind me in the comments.

20. Kylie's pop-up book debacle

Kylie announced the $199 "Goddess Edition" of her album way back in June. It's now December and still nowhere to be seen. It can't have been easy for Dannii to cut and paste each copy herself between takes on Australia's Got Talent but this whole debacle is starting to feel shadier than a rain forest.

19. Britney's tweets

And the award for the most obviously ghost-written Twitter belongs to Britney. Who do they think they're kidding? We all know Brit is too high on Xanax and Vicodin to stand without assistance, let alone regularly update her social media platforms with tightly-scripted content. Many artists have admin staff running their Twitter - I met the guy being paid to write Taylor Swift's tweets when I was in New York - but Britney's lack of involvement is so obvious that it crosses into shady territory.

18. Lady Gaga inventing Madonna's support

Now this was awkward. At the height of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" controversy (ie. that it's a blatant "Express Yourself" rip-off), the deluded one went on the Jay Leno Show and proudly announced that Madonna sent her an email declaring her love for the song. Unfortunately, the 97-year-old pop icon's publicist denied the exchanged ever happened. How embarrassing!

17. Madonna's mad YouTube skillz

Madonna is the Queen of shade - probably because she sleeps in a crypt and only comes out at night to feed on male models. In the year's shadiest click of a button, the once popular singer rubbed more salt into Lady Gaga's wounds by uploading "Express Yourself" to her YouTube account - a move that was interpreted as a clear jab at Mother Monster.

16. Lady Gaga thanks Whitney Houston

The not-so-subtle feud between Madonna and Lady Gaga continued at the Grammys when the latter thanked Whitney Houston for inspiring "Born This Way" - despite the fact that it sounds like everything Madge recorded in the '80s thrown into a blender. Acknowledging the pop legend's biggest rival was a particularly shady touch.

15. Kelly Rowland releases a greatest hits album - with no hits

Girl, please.

14. Rihanna's bargain bundles

While Katy Perry's price-rigging on iTunes generated loud criticism across the blogosphere, Rihanna's "buy my last album, get my new single for free" deal was inexplicably given a pass. By everyone but me.

13. Beyoncé's "Countdown" choreography

King B stole ten seconds of a dance routine from a random Belgian ballet in her iconic "Countdown" video and faced the wrath of the original choreographer. While I'm usually down with Bey's stunning homages, this particular example was more specific and detailed than usual. It's a clever reference and works brilliantly in the clip but someone could have cleared it with Teresa before the ungrateful bitch went ballistic.

12. Rico Love's beat recycling

It's a common dilemma - a song blows up and everyone wants a piece of the action - but how many times can Rico Love recycle Kelly Rowland's "Motivation"? First came Melanie Fiona's awesome "4am" and now Mary J's equally good "Mr Wrong". Ryan Tedder and RedOne have been doing it for years but this shit is still super shady regardless of the original's quality.

11. Britney's body double

Anyone with eyes can tell that Britney didn't dance in "Hold It Against Me" - I'm convinced her stand-in was actually a man! - but she vehemently denied it. The same accusations were made about Brit's "Til The World Ends" video but this time she was proven to be a shady liar when photos of her body double performing choreography surfaced online. Worst yet is using a body double to make out with her real-life boyfriend in her aptly-titled "Criminal" video. That goes beyond shady into the realm of totally fucked-up.

10. Onika's age

Nicki Minaj is possibly the oldest person nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy in the Award's history. Earlier this year, her cover was blown when a police report outed her as being 28 years old. Until then the poor man's Lil Kim had listed her age as 26. Whoops.

9. Lana Del Ray's entire career

I love Lana Del Slay. She is my new obsession and I still play "Video Games" on repeat. But all this crap about making her own videos and being discovered on YouTube is hard to swallow. This has been a carefully orchestrated exercise in record label shadiness from the beginning. And you know what? It worked. So now she can stop pretending that she does everything from catering to injecting her lips with filler between takes on her self-funded, self-directed and self-styled videos. Something in the tea ain't clean!

8. Flo Rida and Leona Lewis rip off Avicii

Avicii really needs to get a copyright lawyer on retainer. First Leona Lewis steals the Swede's hit instrumental "Penguin" for her gigantic flop "Collide" and then Flo Rida pilfers "Levels" for "Good Feeling". If nothing else all this shadiness has raised the DJ's profile and made him the go-to producer for singers that can't afford David Guetta

7. Jeff Bhasker trashing "Motivation"

Everyone should be able to express their own opinion on Twitter but there was something distinctly shady about the producer behind some of the hottest cuts on Beyoncé's "4" trashing Kelly Rowland's "Motivation" - particularly when Rico Love's production was riding high at #1 on the R&B chart at the time and Bhasker's efforts were getting a lot less love.

6. Kelly Rowland's recycled videos

Sarah Chatfield proved to be the music industry's greenest director when she recycled two videos for Ms Kelly. "Lay It On Me" was a scene-by-scene remake of Livvi Franc's "Now I'm That Bitch", while "Down For Whatever" re-visited Wynter Gordon's "Believer". I'm not sure where the blame lies but this is seriously shady. It's one thing to take an idea and make it better but this was just lazy.

5. Beyoncé's BBMA performance

I have never seen anything like King B's 2011 Billboard Music Award performance. That was next level shit that made your tired fave look like a dusty typewriter in comparison to Bey's shiny, new laptop. But it doesn't change the fact that elements were taken from a previous performance by Lorella Cuccarini. As it turns out the Queen of soul, pop and probably country (if she put her mind to it), hired the Italian singer's producers to re-create the technology - so she can hardly be accused of stealingit. The shadiness results from tarnishing such an iconic moment by using an old idea - regardless of whether she improved on it (she did) or not.

4. Lady Gaga's "Judas" debacle

Mother Monster's sticky fingers worked over time this year. Not only did she blatantly steal "WannaBE" from Loli Lux - using the sexy DJ's exact beats on "Judas" - but she then stole the video concept from Brandy! The similarities to that diva's "Afrodisiac" clip - also choreographed by Laurieann Gibson, funnily enough - are uncanny.

3. Rihanna rapes David LaChappelle's artistic legacy

In a bid to spread her creative wings Rihanna decided to co-direct her "S&M" video. So the Barbadian bonehead flipped through a book of David LaChappelle's photos and basically stole his entire aesthetic. He had the last laugh when she had to cough up the big dollars to keep it out of court. You would have thought Rih-cycle would have learned from stealing M.I.A.'s "Boyz" video concept for "Rude Boy". Shady lady.

2. Katy Perry's price-rigging

I kind of love Katy Perry's creative antics (iTunes discounts, celebrity videos and completely unnecessary remixes) to rack up number one hits in America but it is shady. Can't she just be proud of landing six top 10 hits from the one album? That's an insane achievement! I'm not sure if losing all credibility to squeeze out another couple of chart-toppers is really worth it. Having said all that, I really hope "The One That Got Away" makes it to number one just to annoy everyone!

1. Lady Gaga's 99 cent album deal

The majority of these entries have been tongue-in-cheek. I don't care that Nicki Minaj is a couple of weeks away from menopause and Bey can copy as many Belgian flops as she likes. However, Mother Monster's 99 cent album deal crossed all kinds of lines. At a time when illegal downloading has all but killed the music industry, Lady Gaga gave the year's most highly-anticipated album away for free. Or near enough. If people didn't think mp3s were worthless before, they sure do now. And for what? To get a bogus first week sales record? So lame, so shady, so Gaga.