The beat and synth part sound incredibly good, the vocal lines are full of catchy hooks and repeatable lines. A mix of languages means most listeners pick up on

The beat and synth part sound incredibly good, the vocal lines are full of catchy hooks and repeatable lines. A mix of languages means most listeners pick up on some - but importantly, not all - of the lyrics. This creates an "earworm" effect. On top of being legitimately good, the song and accompanying video are funny. Very funny. It seems like funny pop strikes an unexpected chord with listeners (see the band LMFAO, Rebecca Black's Friday). The signature dance moves tie the humour and music together in a package that is, for many, irresistible and must be exercised. Beyond those elements, meta-success starts to kick in. The song is culturally important, because it crosses all sorts of conventional, cultural and geographical boundaries and tears down expectations of what makes "good" music, what a pop idol looks like. The song is commercially important, not just because of how much money it made, but more for how that money was generated - almost entirely via YouTube advertising and iTunes sales. Which is to say, the conventional record publishing industrial complex was left out of the equation. I could go on, but these are the elements that are most important to me.