Top 5 biggest entertainment stories of the 2012 Election

Your popular 'entertainment' vote

The 2012 Presidential Election gave the media much to talk about, with controversies left and right, but which entertainment stories mattered to you?

Over the past several months we have seen many contentious issues take hold of the online debate. We've seen celebrities endorse different candidates and advocate a whole range of values. We've also witnessed the viral nature of many campaign videos, from comedy to controversy. However, there have been some key moments in this election that have shined above all the rest.

Film Industry Network readers' top 5

Drumroll: Here are the top 5 entertainment news stories of the 2012 election.

5. 'Romnesia'

At number 5, President Obama's debate in Fairfax, Virginia back in October started a media frenzy after he diagnosed Mitt Romney with a disease called 'Romnesia'. The new term quickly became a trend and people were looking to see what it actually meant. The entertainment value was clearly there : It was a funny, 'Obamaism' that hit a note, and gave people something to debate about Romney's personal character. This term gained significant traction in the media, and created a fictionalized alter-ego of Mitt Romney that readers found amusing.

4. Clint Eastwood vs Obama

In fourth place was Clint Eastwood's duel with Barack Obama. At the Republican National Convention, Eastwood went onstage and began to debate with an empty chair, asking an invisible Obama if he could step aside. It quickly became the highlight of the RNC drawing both criticism and acclaim. Eastwood certainly baffled many viewers but sealed an entertainment victory. We were all very amused.

3. Romney-Hood the movie

Trending at 3rd place in this election was Obama's new movie plot : "Romney Hood". Mitt Romney was effectively a Robin Hood in reverse, and it was this idea which became part of a bigger issue in the tax debate. Portraying Romney as an evil Robin Hood was another off-the-wall approach by the President that paid off, and we wanted to see which actors could play roles in this new movie. (Although it's going to be a while before we see this one ever take off)

2. Mitt Romney vs Big Bird

Coming in at 2nd place was the epic 'Big Bird vs Romney' parody that Conan aired after Mitt Romney publicly stated he would axe funding for PBS programs. It was a highly entertaining video showing Big Bird being chased by Mitt Romney in a WW2 fighter plane from the air. Readers were thrilled by this incredibly over-the-top interpretation of events, which gave Big Bird an even bigger star in the media in the weeks after it was released.

1. 'The Obama That I Used to Know'

And finally, the big winner of the 2012 Presidential Elections is : 'The Obama That I Used to Know' music video. Filmmakers created a remake of Gotye's 'Somebody that I used to Know' which mocked Obama's 'change' and interpreted his policies and compared them with their current 'real-life' situation. What's interesting about this entry is that it was an indie production that had no media exposure before it went viral. It became an online hit due to its creativity and people's intrigue about how it would compare to the original music video coupled with the issues at hand in the election. What terrific filmmaking!

Thanks for checking out our Top 5. We hope you enjoyed the roller-coaster ride of this election.