Psy’s ‘Gentleman’ video smashes YouTube records

SEOUL: “Gangnam Style” star Psy’s new music video had received more than 50 million views on YouTube by yesterday, re-writing the video-sharing site’s records for single-day hits.
The dance video to “Gentleman,” the South Korean singer’s long-awaited follow up to “Gangnam Style, was only posted on YouTube at 9:00 p.m. on Saturday.
In the first 24 hours, it racked up around 20 million hits, destroying the previous record for single-day views of 8.0 million, set by Canadian heartthrob Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend” video in May 2012.
Now that record looks set to be stretched again, with the view count about 40 hours after release standing at 51 million. “51million views in 40hours!! My God~!!!” the 35-year-old star exclaimed on his Twitter account.
The video shows Psy, wearing his signature sunglasses, dancing at various locations in and around Seoul including a high-end clothing store, restaurant, swimming pool and a library. “Gentleman” was ranked in the top 10 songs on iTunes stores in a number of countries yesterday, including France, Canada, New Zealand, Denmark and Sweden. It also topped the chart in Finland.
Critical reactions to the song were mixed but the video — showing the quirky singer’s signature self-mocking humor as well as the new hip-swivelling dance — left many fans satisfied.
“The song isn’t all that great but let’s face it. The video is actually hilarious,” wrote one Youtube commentator.
“I just love the fact that neither he nor the dancers are taking themselves too serious, but seriously enough to pelvic sway with perfect synchronization,” wrote another.