The votes have been tallied on Lip Sync to the Rescue and the Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) earned a spot on the podium.
The 10-most popular lip-sync videos from first responders across North America were showcased during the CBS TV special, which also aired on Global TV, Monday night.
SPS came in third for their rendition of the Backstreet Boys’ hit I Want It That Way. The officers also re-enacted a scene from the TV show Brooklyn Nine-Nine in the video.
They were the only Canadian contender to make it on Lip Sync to the Rescue.
“To be third, we were absolutely amazed. Incredulous. It was a huge honour, we were proud of the work we had done to make this video,” SPS spokesperson Kelsie Fraser said on Tuesday.
“We affected and impacted so many people. The stories that we’ve heard over the last year, the impact that this video has had, whether it’s brought a smile to someone’s face on an otherwise gloomy day or some more impactful stories, it’s been incredible to see.”
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WATCH (Sept. 7, 2018): Saskatoon police belt Backstreet Boys for lip sync challenge
In total, 15 million votes were cast to decide the best among 30 videos.
The Norfolk, Va., and Seattle, Wash., police departments ranked first and second, respectively.
SPS said it made the video to show the human side of its officers and to connect with the people they serve.
“I know when we first released it, (our officers) were having people coming up to them on the street and recognizing them from the video so it’s been a huge thing for our community, also for our service,” Fraser said.
“We continue to get comments daily on the Facebook post. People saying ‘they’re proud of our police service,’ ‘they’re proud to be from Saskatoon,’ we have people saying that they want to visit Saskatoon, it’s now on their bucket list, it’s been a really cool experience.”
Since the SPS video was posted last September, it has received 3.8 million views on a single Facebook post.
— With files from Nicole Stillger
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