AI trends for YouTube Shorts, with you in them

Clip remakes of YouTube videos

These trends copy a few seconds of a video that went up on YouTube first. The remakes mostly took off on TikTok, but the source, and its view count, sits on YouTube. Views are as we read them on the date given. All five are wide, so read the posting section before you upload.

1. Hotel Lobby ≈137M views · 2 people · 15s A YouTube performance, four years on. The clip is Quavo and Takeoff's 'A COLORS SHOW' take on 'Hotel Lobby', posted by COLORS on 17 Jun 2022: two performers trading bars at one hanging mic against an orange wall. It had about 134.2M YouTube views on 23 Oct 2026. The AI swaps began in mid-September, and the top 20 Shorts remakes had about 0.61M views between them when we read them on 15 Oct. You and a friend, 15 seconds, wide, with the song under it. See yourself in it
2. Raindance ≈200M views · 2 people · 28s The biggest YouTube source on this page. Dave's 'Raindance' video with Tems went up on YouTube on 9 Jan 2026 and had about 291M views on 23 Oct. Remakes copy 28 seconds of it: the pier at golden hour, the woman in the pale green dress walking up, the two of them on the sand. Its Shorts remakes were small, about 9.5K views as we read them on 15 Oct, against about 112M on the TikTok posts we sampled on 14 Oct, so a Short of it still stands out. Two people, with the song. See yourself in it
3. Alors on Danse ≈14M views · 2 people · 18s A 2010 TV sketch kept alive by YouTube uploads. It isn't Stromae's music video: it's a sketch from Made in Jamel, a man at a small keyboard and his friend leaning right into the lens. The earliest full upload we found went up on YouTube on 24 Apr 2011 (about 10.2M views on 23 Oct 2026), and Jamel Debbouze's own channel posted a clean edit on 6 Nov 2025 (about 1.51M). October's Shorts remakes had about 1.0M views as read on 14 Oct. Two friends, 18 seconds, wide. See yourself in it
4. Burning BridgesBeta ≈20M views · 1–2 people · 20s The one that worked as a Short. Drake's 'Burning Bridges' video went up on 15 May 2026 and had about 27.8M YouTube views on 23 Oct. A YouTube Short recasting the chandelier party with characters from The Office passed 838K views by 11 Oct, and a TikTok repost of it had about 2.9M plays on 23 Oct. Its growth had slowed by then, so this is a late jump. Just you, with a friend, or Horror night; 20 seconds, and you can take it with no song and add the official sound yourself. See yourself in it
5. On the Radar ≈20M views · 1–2 people · 14s A YouTube booth, barely remade there yet. The trend copies 14 seconds of Fetty Wap and Monty doing '679' in On The Radar Radio's green booth, from a 3 min 11 s YouTube upload of 17 Apr 2026 (about 2.34M views on 23 Oct). The '679' remakes we found on YouTube that day were tiny: the biggest, a 15-second one, had 3,327 views. Two of you at the mic, or just you, with the booth's own sound. See yourself in it

One-photo templates already shaped like a Short

No source clip: each makes a new 9:16 video around your photo, in the style of a meme people copy. They come with sound made for the scene and no song, which suits Shorts, where you pick the sound in the app.

1. Turn the Lights Off ≈500M views · 1 person · 10s Big on YouTube already. A YouTube search on 19 Oct 2026 found 72 uploads with Jon Hamm in the title and about 141.0M views between them, nearly all his club dance from Your Friends & Neighbors set to Kato's song; the biggest had 25.0M. Apple TV's own 23-second promo of the scene went up on 18 Mar 2025. Yours is you, or your pet, eyes shut and arms rising on a packed dance floor, 10 seconds, with club sound: add Kato's 'Turn the Lights Off' when you post. See yourself in it
2. Clapping Cat ≈220M views · 1 pet · 5s A pet meme with a real YouTube footprint. On 23 Oct 2026 a YouTube search found 131 on-topic uploads with about 38.2M views together. The meme itself is @merkurianin's 10-second clip of his own black cat grinning and slow-clapping with human hands, posted on 25 Sep 2026. Here your cat or dog does it, with human hands or its own paws, in 5 seconds with its own clap sound. See yourself in it
3. Toc Toc Dance ≈430M views · 1–2 people · 10s Huge in France, quiet on Shorts. The deadpan one-foot hop and door knock to Patrick Sébastien's 'Toc Toc' took off in late September 2026, but the best YouTube compilation had 13.6K views when we read it on 18 Oct, and searches there mostly return children's knock-knock songs. Solo, with a friend or your pet; 10 seconds with footsteps and room sound, so add the song in the app. See yourself in it
4. AI Crying Video ≈150M views · 1 person · 10s Searched as a how-to on YouTube. On 22 Oct 2026 a YouTube search found about 15 tutorials for it in English, Indonesian, Tagalog and Bangla, about 150K views between them, and no big Shorts remakes. It's the night-street farewell: a wobbling smile, tears, then you turn and walk off. 10 seconds with quiet street sound and no music, so the sad song is your choice. See yourself in it
5. Knight Cat ≈210M views · 1 pet · 10s An Instagram meme with room on YouTube. The kitten in armour began as Reels from @sickmanai in August 2026. A YouTube search on 22 Oct found only small uploads of it, the largest 8.7K views. Your cat or dog grips a sword twice its height while the wind hits; 10 seconds with wind and armour sound and no music. See yourself in it
6. Thriller Dance ≈5.0M views · 2 pets · 10s A Halloween one, with a few YouTube hits. AI pets in a red jacket doing the zombie dance from the 1983 'Thriller' video. On 19 Oct 2026 the AI pet uploads on YouTube were few: one had 218K views and another 113K. Your pet, or you, in the lead spot for 10 seconds with wind and thunder; add 'Thriller' when you post. We expect it to fade in early November. See yourself in it
7. Doorbell Cam Tornado ≈2.0M views · 1 person · 10s A look YouTube knows from compilations. Fake doorbell-camera clips spread after Sora 2 came out on 30 Sep 2025; on YouTube on 23 Oct 2026 the tornado version was nearly absent (the biggest upload had 864 views), while doorbell-cam compilations ran to a few thousand. You sprint up the path, the gust spins you round and drops you in the hedge. 10 seconds with wind, leaves and your yelp. See yourself in it

Two TikTok and Instagram trends that fit Shorts

Neither started on YouTube. Both are on this page because of their shape and their sound.

1. Bulin 47 ≈382M views · 1 person · 15s The easiest upload here. Bulin 47's street freestyle under red lights was posted on 2 Oct 2026 and had about 10.5M TikTok plays on 23 Oct. The clip is 15 seconds and vertical, and it carries its own dembow beat and freestyle, so it goes up as a Short with nothing to change. Just you, in the middle of the crowd. See yourself in it
2. Rumpelstiltskin Dance↗ Rising ≈58M views · 1–2 people · 9s Wide, but a strong one for Halloween. The tiptoeing imp comes from an AI-made fake 1980s fantasy film posted on Instagram on 27 Aug 2026; on 23 Oct a dog version on YouTube had 1.7K views. Your 9-second video keeps the film's own music, while most remakes swap in Riff Raff's track, so add it in the app if you want the trend sound. You as the imp, or a friend as the maiden too. See yourself in it

Where each trend started and what YouTube showed, read 15 to 23 Oct 2026

The YouTube column is what we could count there on the date given; it isn't the trend's total reach, which each trend page estimates across all three apps.

YouTube counts come from single-video reads and YouTube searches by our own tools; small numbers mean the trend hasn't been remade much on YouTube yet, not that it's small elsewhere. Bulin 47 and Rumpelstiltskin are left out: we track them mostly on TikTok and Instagram.

How to post yours as a YouTube Short

You make the video here and upload it to YouTube like any clip on your phone. Nothing is charged until you press Make.

1. Make the video

   Pick a trend above, add a sharp, front-facing photo (one per person, or one of your pet) and check the free preview still. If it looks right, make the video for 100 credits ($6.99); we email it when it's ready, and it's refunded automatically if it fails.

2. Check the shape

   YouTube counts square or vertical videos up to 3 minutes as Shorts. The templates and Bulin 47 are vertical (9:16), so they go straight in. The clip remakes from YouTube are wide, because their source is: post them uncropped as a regular video, or crop to vertical only if one person is in it, since a tall crop of a two-person clip cuts someone out.

3. Upload it from the YouTube app

   Tap the plus, choose Short, and pick the file from your camera roll. Every video here is 28 seconds or less, well under the limit.

4. Sort out the sound

   Clip remakes keep the source clip's own audio, so Hotel Lobby, Raindance, Alors on Danse, On the Radar and Bulin 47 already carry the trend sound. The templates come with scene sound and no song: tap Add sound in the Shorts editor, pick the trend's track and turn the original down. Rumpelstiltskin keeps its film music; add Riff Raff's track if you want the TikTok version.

5. Title it with the trend's name

   People search YouTube by name, so put the trend in the title, for example "Hotel Lobby AI trend with my best friend", and add a hashtag or two for it. For more on how Shorts surfaces trends, see how to find trending Shorts.

Is this a YouTube Shorts template?

Not in the editing sense. On 24 Oct 2026 Google finishes "youtube shorts templates" with "free", "capcut", "canva" and "overlay": layouts and overlays you fill in yourself. Here the template is the trend. You give us a photo and get back a finished video of you, or your pet, in the scene, ready to upload: templates come out, and on a clip remake is 50 credits more.

In a clip remake your face, hair, facial hair and your own glasses go in from your photo, while the clip's body, outfit, moves and camera stay; you can choose your own outfit on some. In a template, we make a new video around your photo in the style of the meme. If the preview needs a change, type it in your own words and it's made again.