In 2011, 5,000 citizens of Grand Rapids worked together to help save the city's reputation after being voted “Most Boring City in America” by Newsweek. To show just how wrong the magazine truly was, they assembled in the downtown area and created an inspiring music video set to the beloved song "American Pie" by Don McLean. The eight-minute long video was shot in one seamless take, with a camera following a myriad of singing and dancing residents against a backdrop of marching bands, pillow fights, and fireworks.

Unsurprisingly, Grand Rapids' video went viral with almost 6 millions views. Recently it was even featured in a documentary about the history of the song: "The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean's 'American Pie'". But more importantly, they proved that boring was definitely NOT something that could describe their talented city.