The year 2011 was just like fusion cuisine; had the perfect balance of sweet and spice that brought us all nice surprises. In the field of media and entertainment, it represented the dawn and the dusk of many events. This year witnessed the end of stupendously successful series like “Harry Potter” and “The Oprah Winfrey Show”, while it also marked the beginning of many other masterpieces. Walking down the memory lane, let us take a look back and rejoice in some of the events that worked their magic on us:
The best moments of entertainment in 2011.
Top Pop
2011 spilled flower power all over the music industry. Named for the age Adele was when she recorded the album, 21 was the best-selling album of the year 2011 with 4.8 million sold, according to Billboard. The album was released on 24 January 2011 in UK and sold 2, 08,000 copies in UK and 3,52,000 in USA in its very first week of release.
Adele is the first living artist, in nearly fifty years, to have two top five singles and albums in the charts at the same time. Her single “Someone Like You” after being performed at the 2011 BRIT Awards became number one while her album 21 retained the top spot for eleven consecutive weeks, longest ever by a female solo artist on the UK albums chart, breaking Madonna’s nine weeks at number one in 1990.
She’s up for six nominations at 2012 Grammy Awards and has already made an appearance in 2012 Guinness book Of World Records. The album has broken the record for the most UK digital downloads and was rated as number one in 24 countries. Clearly, by the record breaking pace she’s going, Adele proves that for a long while there’s been ‘no one like Her’!
A 360° Success
U2’s Worldwide 360° tour became the highest grossing in history beating the previous record of Rolling Stones in 2005-2007. The tour had been on for two years beginning from 30 June 2009 to 30 July 2011.
The Irish rockers crossed the $558 million world record on 10th April 2011 after their concert in Sao Paolo, Brazil. According to Billboard Boxscore, U2’s 360° Tour packs out 63,000 people each show on an average, taking $6.4 million.
The Royal Knot
The royal wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge with his college sweetheart Catherine ‘Kate’ Middleton on 29 April 2011 at Westminster abbey, London was an extravagantly spectacular show. The whole wedding drew global audience with its intricate details been broadcasted live all over the world.
The designer dresses, guest list, ornamentations, cake and even the selection of music made rounds in media weeks before and after the wedding. The Royal Wedding was anticipated to be the biggest travel event of the year and thus that day was declared a public holiday in United Kingdom. The anticipation proved to be right as over 5000 street parties held to mark the Royal wedding throughout the United Kingdom and one million people lined the route between Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. In UK, TV audiences reached to 26.3 million viewers with a total of 36.7 million watching part of the coverage.
The ceremony was viewed by tens of millions more around the world including 72 million on the YouTube Royal Channel. It topped Google’s Zeitgeist 2011 search list and without a doubt was one of the best moments to have garnered all media attention.
‘You Know Who’ Finally Dead
The colossal success of “Harry Potter” series had a major extension in 2011 with its last and final instalment - “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2”. It spelled magic all over the box office with its 43.5 million dollars collections, beating the records of “Twilight: Eclipse” and “The Dark Knight".
The Harry mania started on 4 November 2001 when the first movie of the series had released. This final sequel was released in 2D, 3D, and IMAX cinemas worldwide from 13-15 July 2011. The Harry Potter series enchanted and mesmerized the audience who practically lived through the journey of Harry Potter for 10 whole years.
The film is currently the third highest grossing film of all time (behind Titanic and Avatar), the highest grossing film of 2011, the highest grossing film in the Harry Potter series, and the ninth film ever to gross over $1 billion.
The Viral attack
The year 2011 witnessed some very popular viral videos. Rebecca Black’s single debut “Friday’ created an “overnight sensations”. It was released as a single on March 14, 2011, by Ark Music Factory and by March 21, 2011, the "Friday" music video had been viewed more than 30 million times on YouTube. Black even gained international attention as a ‘viral star’.
The viral impact was re-instilled all over the world with the Indian song ‘Why this Kolaveri di’ becoming the most searched video in November 2011. The song was aired on 16 November 2011 and it instantly became viral on social networking site for its quirky “Tanglish” (portmanteau word of Tamil and English) lyrics. Within three weeks of its release, the song spread like a wild fire on the social networking sites catching the attention of global audience. It received more than 20,341,650 views and 167,212 likes which were increasing every minute. YouTube honoured the video with a Recently Most Popular Gold Medal Award for receiving a large number of hits in a short time. It was also named the Best Song of 2011 by CNN.
And if you were thinking that only songs and albums become viral hit, then you are in for a big surprise. "The Force" Volkswagen Passat commercial became a viral hit and the most watched car commercial of 2011. The video was leaked online a week before it went on air on Super Bowl Sunday, and by its official TV airdate, over 8 million people had already watched it. It is the biggest viral video of 2011 with an approximate 44.5 million views.
The King’s Speech
The movie ’The King’s Speech’, released in 2010 and directed by Tom Hooper, was a major box office and critical success. The historical drama film was widely praised by film critics for its visual style, art direction, and acting.
It won four statuettes at the 83rd Academy Awards and was nominated for 12 Oscars, more than any other film.
It won the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay. Colin Firth, who played the stammering British King George VI, took away the best actor prize. Also, the film had been nominated for 14 BAFTAs, more than any other film. The lead actor Colin Firth won practically every award for his role as George VI.
Battlefield 3
A direct sequel to battlefield 2 is a first person shooter video game. It was released in North America on October 25, 2011 and in Europe on October 28, 2011.
The game was highly anticipated and according to its developer EA Digital Illusion CE it delivered 3 million pre orders by the day of its release.
The game sold 5 million copies in its first week of release breaking all previous records.
Glued To The Throne
When Jay-Z and Kanye West asked people to “Watch The Throne”, people did watch. Reckoned as the most successful concert of 2011, it became a worldwide furore.
It ranked number six in “Top 50 Albums of 2011”, number nine on “The A.V Club” list and number three on Claire Suddath list. The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and, till December 2011, had sold 1,230,000 copies in the United States.
It has been nominated for 2012 Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album and Best Recording Package.
Oprah Winfrey show bids adieu
The year saw the end of longest-running day time television talk show in United States and in television history- The Oprah Winfrey Show.
The No.1 talk show in American television history since its debut in 1986 ran for 25 seasons. As of 2011, it was one of the longest-running daytime television talk shows in the United States and in television history, having run nationally since September 8, 1986 for 25 seasons and 4,561 episodes.
The final episode aired on May 25, 2011, featured appearances by Aretha Franklin, Tom Cruise, Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé, Tom Hanks, Maria Shriver, Will Smith, and Madonna. The final episode received the show’s highest rating in 17 years and was shown in movie theatres.
Disclaimer: The above list is a generic compilation of events drawn from information found in the public domain. Widescope is not involved in or associated with any of these events either directly or indirectly.
