Britney Spears' ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
Britney Spears' ALS Ice Bucket Challenge ALS Ice Bucket Challenge | You Tube

Ice bucket challenges send social media into melt down

CELEBRITIES pouring buckets of ice water over their heads, Nicki Minaj shaking her thang and Taylor Swift dancing 'awkwardly'... here's what was trending on social media this week.

1. ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

All over the world, people have been pouring buckets of ice water over their heads in the name of ALS.

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is the latest craze to sweep social media, raising awareness and funds for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as motor neurone disease.

The list of celebrities to douse themselves in freezing cold water and share the video on social media is long and lengthy: Oprah Winfrey, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Bill Gates, Taylor Swift, Robert Pattinson, Jennifer Lopez, David Beckham and Lady Gaga, just to name a few.

Even Justin Bieber had a crack, although he forgot two important elements of the ice bucket challenge: ice and a bucket.

>> Bieber does 'ice bucket challenge', stuffs it up

Strangest ice bucket challenge would have to be Lady Gaga's:

And then there was this ice bucket challenge fail:

Sadly, one of the co-creators of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge died after drowning in a diving accident on August 16.

>> Ice Bucket Challenge co-creator drowns age 27

But according to the ALS Association website, as of Wednesday, August 20, The ALS Association had received $31.5 million in donations.


2. Nicki Minaj's 'Anaconda' film clip

After amping her fans up on Twitter, Nicki Minaj released the 'much anticipated' (guess it depends on whether you are a fan or not) film clip for her song 'Anaconda'.

>> Nicki Minaj releases 'Anaconda' film clip

In the hours leading up to the release on Twitter, Minaj was urging fans to add the hashtag #AnacondaVideoOnVevo to their tweets to make it to the top of Twitter's trending list.

Her efforts, or should we say her fan's efforts, paid off and when the film clip was released at the stroke of midnight on Wednesday she also made the top of Facebook's trending list.

And 24 hours after it was released, it had been viewed more than 11 million times.


But reviews are mixed.

There are the die-hard Nicki Minaj fans who love it, then others who are questioning the 'sexually suggestive content' of the clip.

"Am I watching a porn video, or a legitimate music video?" one viewer asked.

"It is an attriotious protrayal and objectifation (sic) of women and furthermore contains sexually suggestive and explicit themes..." another wrote.

On our websites you said: "All that money and she still can't buy any talent."


3. Taylor Swift dances awkwardly in 'Shake It Off' film clip

Taylor Swift's release of the film clip for 'Shake It Off' - the first single on her first full-length pop album 1989, which will be released on October 27 - had her fans going crazy.

>> Taylor Swift releases Shake It Off music video

The moment the video was premiered during a live Yahoo! event, it hit the top of the trending lists on both Facebook and Twitter.

Unlike Minaj's 'Anaconda' film clip, Swift's fans are applauding her 'awkward' dancing, something she poked fun at herself for during a recent interview. 

But as always, when there are lovers there are haters.

Some commenters on the video on You Tube (which has had more than 17 million views) said she should stick to singing country and the clip if "proof she can't dance".

But as one commenter put it to those having a dig at her dancing: "Am I the only one who thinks it's hilariously ironic how she's getting so much hate for this video when the entire concept of it is that she doesn't care about the hate and she'll just keep doing her thing? It's so sad so many people straight up do not understand this video."

135mm: When the rain will lash Gympie region again

Premium Content 135mm: When the rain will lash Gympie region again

Wednesday brought the best falls yet for many parts of the Gympie region, but there...

Driver in hospital after truck explosion at Two Mile

Premium Content Driver in hospital after truck explosion at Two Mile

Paramedics rushed to the scene just after 6am.

Gympie Magistrates Court appearances for today

Premium Content Gympie Magistrates Court appearances for today

Here is a list of matters listed at Gympie Magistrates Court