5. '21st Century Girl,' Willow Smith
Just like her dad Will in 'I Am Legend,' this pint-sized singer knows how to outlast the future. In this top video of 2011, an old woman is seen traipsing around a barren desert, searching for clues to the past, when all of a sudden Willow emerges from the depths of the sand. She then joins a gaggle of other modernizers, reaching back through the sands of time to resurrect the streets of Los Angeles in the 21st century. Pretty powerful stuff for a 10-year-old, don't you think?

4. 'S&M,' Rihanna
Banned in 11 countries and pulled from the all-ages section of YouTube, 'S&M' is Ri-Ri's most controversial video to date. The Bajan diva courts ball-gagged reporters from behind plastic wrapping, walks Perez Hilton around like a dog, gets hog-tied and simulates sex with a blow-up doll. "The song is called 'S&M'!" said Rihanna, defending the video. "I think the imagery follows suit with what the song is. So if they don't want to play it ... watch it somewhere else."

3. 'I Need a Doctor,' Dr. Dre
Off his third -- and final -- studio album 'Detox,' this video shows Dre in a nostalgic mindset, looking back on his hip-hop past with a montage including footage of N.W.A and Ice Cube. At one point, Dre dies in the video, but Eminem and newcomer Skylar Grey's angelic voices bring the maestro back to life. Partially a tribute to rapper and N.W.A partner Easy E, who died of AIDS in 1995, the video ends with Dre at his partner's graveside.

2. 'E.T.' Katy Perry Feat. Kanye West
Visually stunning, and deserving of the No. 2 spot on our list, the Floria Sigismondi-directed 'E.T.' video features an extraterrestrial, shape-shifting Katy Perry who arrives in a junkyard world and awakens another alien -- striking albino male model Shaun Ross, who plays the role of Perry's love interest. For his part, workhorse rapper/producer Kanye West spits typically well-timed rhymes, contentedly floating in space, but doesn't get any alien action.

1. 'Born This Way,' Lady Gaga
No. 1 on our list of the best videos of 2011 so far, this dazzling, Nick Knight-directed video begins with Mother Monster giving birth and wraps with a Day of the Dead-inspired, skull-faced Gaga blowing a gum bubble at the camera. What's going on in between is anyone's guess, but with the combination of the video's awesome, 'Thriller'-esque dancing and the pulverizing dance beat, it's hard to, well ... beat.