What They're Watching: Amazing Freestyle Soccer Tricks

This post was authored by Michelle Castillo as a part of a YouTube Trends series exploring the videos being watched this week by the team at What's Trending.



They may not make millions, but there’s budding sports stars all over the world with amazing skills that will never be featured on the professional courts.



This street performer uses his surroundings and acrobatic abilities to show off all his soccer ball skills. While you won’t need to climb up a pole in the middle of the pitch, his athleticism is still impressive.







Here are other marvelous athletic feats for you to watch from the comfort of your own computer. Who says you need to buy tickets to the game to enjoy sports?



We don’t want to know the hours of practice that went into making all these shots… and how many

outtakes there must have been to create this compilation.







Dude perfect one upped the beer pong team with these amazing basketball trick shots:







Here’s how to impress people at the local bar:







Who says only boys can pull of great trick shots? Here’s one girl dropping three soccer balls in a trash can.

Today's "What They're Watching" recap provided by

4 in the Afternoon: FireFly Sand

Twice each day we scan our YouTube metrics as well as websites on the cutting edge of internet culture to discover the most buzzed about videos.

912	Worship in Yemen	More Sand	Fly

1. Alec Baldwin gets flammable in the latest edition of New Era's popular series with John Krasinski. As seen on AdWeek.


2. Scores of Yemen worshipers gathered in Sana'a today celebrating Eid al-Fitr.


3. More sand, please. As seen on Videogum.


4. The latest from Nicki Minaj has already drawn over 1 million views and is one of our Most Shared videos.

Around the World: Surprises and Cheers

We know what the U.S. is watching, but here are some of the Most Viewed and Most Shared videos right now in different countries around the world:

CANADA: Viral spot/experiment/prank	EGYPT: Coca-Cola Ramadan Flashmob
AUSTRALIA: Billabong surf highlights	MEXICO: Improv's Werevertumorrow greet a big crowd.

See more of what's popular in different locations nationally and around the world with our Trends Dashboard.

4 in the Morning: Swing Drive Snap

Twice each day we scan our YouTube metrics as well as websites on the cutting edge of internet culture to discover the most buzzed about videos.

The Highest Swing	Driving Underwater	Fireworks in Tripoli	Pole Vault Snap

1. The world's highest swing, located in Queenstown, New Zealand. As seen on Daily Wh.at.


2. This clip of a mishap involving the National Guard in NJ is one of our Most Shared videos.


3. An inside look at what's described as Martyr's Square in Libya Monday, where singing and fireworks marked large celebrations.


4. Things go awry for this pole vaulter in a clip that's among our Trending Videos.

Gaddafi's Hat: 'Zenga Zenga' Gets a Sequel

Auto-tuned news footage is nothing new here in the United States, but it's a trend that's recently also spread popular overseas in some interesting countries. Back in February, "Zenga Zenga" became the viral hit of the Middle East and North Africa and its been seen over 4 million times since then.



Tel Aviv DJ/musician Noy Alooshe created the very popular, mocking remix of Muammar Gaddafi's February speech, which spread from his home country of Israel to a number of other countries in the region. (He also produced a popular alternate version, which does not contain the dancing girls and could potentially be more "palatable" in some areas.)







Now that the tide has changed in Libya, Alooshe released something of a sequel to that video, utilizing an interview clip with a reported Libyan rebel that was widely seen in the days that anti-Gaddafi forces made their way into the heart of Tripoli:

4 in the Afternoon: CrossFly Soul

Twice each day we scan our YouTube metrics as well as websites on the cutting edge of internet culture to discover the most buzzed about videos.

Crossfire	Fly in a Web	Philippines Typhoon Flood	Share some Soul

1. Freddie Wong's new nostalgic, special-effects piece is one of the most-viewed videos from the weekend.


2. This July video of a little boy explaining his thoughts on flies in spiderwebs took off this weekend. As seen on HuffPost.


3. Footage from a very flooded Balili river in the Philippines this weekend, which was hit by typhoon Nanmadol.


4. The new KIA Soul ad -- featuring the return of the dancing hamsters -- debuted on the VMA awards last night and is among our Most Shared videos today.

4 in the Morning: Jetski Lazer Cannon

Twice each day we scan our YouTube metrics as well as websites on the cutting edge of internet culture to discover the most buzzed about videos.

Jetskiing in Newark	Slingshot Canon	Every Irene News Segment Ever	Kiwi vs. Laser Pointer

1. Amongst the multitude of footage uploaded this weekend from Hurricane Irene was this clip capture in Newark, NJ Sunday. Another angle.


2. The latest contraption from Joerg Sprave's popular Slingshot Channel. As seen on Gizmodo.


3. A comedic short mocking the weekend's hurricane coverage. (Some adult language.) As seen on BuzzFeed.


4. This simple 2008 home video had very few views until this weekend, when it was watched over 100,00 times. As seen on BoY.

Rising Search: Vermont Flood Videos

One of the top spiking search terms on YouTube Sunday night was "vermont flooding irene" as footage began to surface of significant rises in water levels in Vermont in the wake of Hurricane Irene. Other, related video searches that were on the rise included Bennington and Brattleboro, VT, Shelburne falls, MA, and Yonkers, NY.



Spreading Sunday night were dramatic videos of two Vermont covered bridges being destroyed, the Bartonsville Bridge and the Quechee Bridge, respectively embedded below.







(Alternate footage of the Quechee Bridge flooding, which was also a rising search, can be seen here.) Update: Footage of another wrecked bridge in Jamaica, VT has also been posted.



Here's a UPDATED playlist of 15 videos of the major flooding Sunday in New England, beginning with this clip of a car floating by in a powerful current:

Latest Trending Videos: The Week of August 26

Muppets, portals, explosions, and spaghetti: here are 10 of this week's top trending videos from YouTube Trends:



(Use the arrows to navigate between videos or watch them all here.)

4 in the Afternoon: Soldier Dentist Space

Twice each day we scan our YouTube metrics as well as websites on the cutting edge of internet culture to discover the most buzzed about videos.

Irene from Space	Soldier Surprise	Emile After Dentist	You Got What I Need

1. NASA released new footage Friday of Hurricane Irene taken from the International Space Station.


2. U.S. soldier returns home early to surprise his mother at a UPS sorting facility in Michigan. As seen on Daily Wh.at.


3. Actor Emile Hirsch after having his wisdom teeth removed. As seen on BWE.tv.


4. Kevin Youkilis and a hip-hop star appear in this New England-area spot. As seen on SI.com.

Preparing for Irene

As Hurricane Irene makes landfall in the Southern United States, those in the Northeast and elsewhere have begun preparing for the storm. In the past day or so, we've seen a great many videos regarding the storm that have been uploaded to YouTube.



In fact, roughly 4,000 "Irene"-related videos have been uploaded in the past 24 hours. Many of these videos consist of on-the scene footage -- like those we began receiving late this morning from Jacksonville and North Carolina -- aftermath footage, or clips people have posted of the preparations they're making.



We've seen quite a variety -- from the official to the foul-mouthed and funny. Here's a selection of a few we've come across today:







On a lighter note, searches for a number of songs relating to the storm are sharply on the rise, including "Goodnight Irene," "Rock Me Like a Hurricane," and a certain popular song from 1982 though it's not 100% clear if these are searches specifically for parodies or just searches by people who have mistaken the songs lyrics:

10 Popular Minecraft Song Parodies

In December, we detailed how the computer game Minecraft had become one of the gaming industry's underground hits of 2010. At the time, many of the most popular Minecraft-related videos were clips of some of the incredibly elaborate work being done within its block-building world.



While those types of videos certainly still exist and remain popular, a new Minecraft trend developed in 2011 of people using the game to create music videos parodying some of the biggest pop songs of the year.



Below, we've listed 10 of the most-viewed examples of the trend from the past few months:

(May take a moment to load.)



Earlier this year, Minecraft also saw its first in-game proposal.

4 in the Morning: Back to the Airport

Twice each day we scan our YouTube metrics as well as websites on the cutting edge of internet culture to discover the most buzzed about videos.

Back to the Future - Argentina	Airport Rowing Practice	Steve Jobs Animated	The Standoff

1. This viral spot for a South American electronics store is the most-shared video in Argentina today.


2. The UK men's rowing team has some fun in the Munich Airport. As seen on Newslite.


3. The bizarre and confusing Taiwanese CGI biography of Steve Jobs' career. As seen on Gizmodo.


4. From Russia comes this video depicting one of nature's oldest feuds. As seen on VVVs.