YouTube Gays Killed the MTV Star?

From Britney to Whitney, Miley to Shakira, when a pop star puts out a new hit, the gays film a video tribute. Beginning with Shane Mercado's take on Beyoncé's "Single Ladies," a new kind of star was born.

By Advocate.com Editors

YOU TUBE VIDEOS MAIN X390 | ADVOCATE.COM

By now it’s a given — pop icon (almost always a girl) releases a hit single, it gets in the hands of the gays, and before you go searching for remixes on LimeWire, somebody, somewhere, has uploaded their own version.

Fans have been singing along to their favorite songs and uploading the results to YouTube for years. But the video tribute — or, in some cases, step-for-step remake — is a relatively new phenomenon that exploded when Shane Mercado (followed by a slew of imitators) took on Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies.” But Mercado’s success didn’t begin and end on YouTube — talk show stints and even a red carpet date with Sasha Fierce herself followed.

And so did the gays.

Click to the next page to watch highlights from the many tributes, including songs by Miley Cyrus, Whitney Houston, Shakira, and Britney Spears. Some are goood, some questionable, but all of them keep us coming back for more.

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Reader Comments

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Name: Michael
Date posted: 10/27/2009 12:34:01 PM
Hometown: Manchester

Comment:
This is just plain silly to blame gays for creative spoofing. It is art. I am using that term 'art' very loosely here. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, no?
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Name: Nick
Date posted: 10/24/2009 12:47:05 PM
Hometown: Altadena

Comment:
Didn't MTV kill the MTV star?
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Name: Marcus
Date posted: 10/23/2009 3:54:54 PM
Hometown: New York City

Comment:
It's even taking over the straight community too. Check out "Shawty its ur booty" by Santinichris on Youtube. Hilarious!

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