Mariah Carey's magical NYE moment has nothing on this.
While much of the country was drunkenly tuned into the ABC's official coverage of Sydney's New Year's Eve fireworks and its pre-show featuring Hoodoo Gurus jams, Lawrence Mooney gags and Matt Corby's Ron Burgundy impression from the Falls Festival, there was another epic countdown taking place over on The Loop, Network Ten's millennial-focused music video show on sister station Eleven.
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Awkward New Year's countdown goes viral
Network Ten's The Loop receives a full-blown roasting for it's awkward New Year's countdown.
The show, hosted by Scott Tweedie and Olivia Phyland, was a lengthy overview of the year's best music videos – but it's the cringey midnight countdown that's captured the internet's attention.
A clip from the episode has gone viral, racking up over 130,000 views and hitting YouTube's trending list, after it was uploaded and posted on Reddit yesterday.
![The Loop's excited NYE revellers.](/web/20170103165010im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/l/4/b/m/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtl46k.png/1483432766348.jpg)
The awkward clip sees Tweedie introducing a bunch of competition winners – "one of the biggest competitions in Australia," he says – to the stage, a lucky group who won the opportunity to help the hosts' live countdown to midnight.
The eight or so revellers seem less than enthused, though.
The group stands by silently and uncomfortably, bemused at Tweedie's 2017 excitement.
One angrily throws her used party popper at the host on her way off the stage.
A middle-aged dude with pom-poms shares a twirl with Phyland before sulking away.
Reddit truthers have speculated on the veracity of the clip, questioning whether the group were really "competition winners", deflated after having to spend their NYE stuck in a Network Ten green room, or if they're actually a bunch of "station workers who had to work late and [were] not happy about it".
"This isn't staged. This is a legitimate show in Australia," one YouTuber helpfully explained to overseas commenters.
"There are people that believe this was real? It's obviously a bunch of Channel 11 employees who can't act," countered another.
Asked about the shenanigans on Twitter by Nova presenter Chrissie Swan, Tweedie played coy.
"Security escorted the lady who threw her popper at Liv out of the building immediately," he wrote.
@mickyb273 @ChrissieSwan @loopeleven they won the biggest prize of 2016 - the countdown! Very lucky people
— Scott Tweedie (@Scott_Tweedie) January 2, 2017
@ChrissieSwan @mickyb273 @loopeleven security escorted the lady who threw her popper at Liv out of the building immediately
— Scott Tweedie (@Scott_Tweedie) January 2, 2017
Fraud or not, the fact that it's taken almost three days for the clip to come to people's attention probably proves just how few were watching live, which might be just as hilarious.
Eleven did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The truth is still out there.