By Korye Logan
A million channels for a million people converge at YouTube Live.
San Francisco & Computers Worldwide – The “New Tube” reigned supreme Saturday night as millions of people all over the world tuned their computers to YouTube Live to participate in an unprecedented Internet event. YouTube Live was an entertainment festival that featured hours of music, comedy, dance and performances by bonafide stars and online celebrities side by side. More importantly, YouTube Live was a celebration of the democratization of global media made possible by the ubiquity of the Internet and camcorders.
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The fifty plus performers at YouTube Live have videos on the site that have been viewed a combined two and a half billion times. The format of the three-hour event was a combination rock concert, awards show, behind-the-scenes interview and home video produced user-generated content (UGC). Diversity was a theme embraced by all as the event showcased the breadth and depth of the “next generation” to the world. Represented were a vast mix of musical genres, art forms, races, lifestyles and more.
YouTube Live was surprisingly void of an overbearing sponsorship presence. Either YouTube preferred a sponsor-light model or the ad sales department was challenged by spending cutbacks due to the down economy. Companies that did sponsor YouTube Live included Lionsgate, Guitar Hero, Virgin America, Flip Video and HP.
Virgin America had a party plane with a VIP crowd watching the event at 35,000 feet to celebrate the premiere of Virgin’s in-flight Wi-Fi Internet service. People on the plane nicknamed it YouTube One. It was featured in, of course, a video.
Music, Dance, Comedy & a Spirit of Change Highlights YouTube Live
Social marketing was represented early in the night with an appearance by YouTube legend and Blendtec inventor Tom Dickson. This geeky and friendly business guy in a lab coat featured his classic “Will it blend?” series by blending stuff that included “Chad” Vader’s lunch. I’m sure somewhere Josh Bernoff is quite proud.
The night’s big rock jam began with a jumpstart from video game legend Freddie Wong on Guitar Hero. The real jams then kicked in with Joe Satriani accompanied by YouTube shredding legend and Korean guitar virtuoso Funtwo on the Satriani classic “Surfing with the Alien.” Funtwo’s guitar is quite an interesting piece of majestic artwork.
YouTube Live featured dozens of performances, some great and some not-so-great. True to the UGC spirit, YouTube Live included a live chat entitled “Channel Comments.” This space was prominently featured on the YouTube Live home page. It housed an ongoing dialogue of the global audience’s spur-of-the-moment opinions – the good, the bad and the ugly.
Tay Zonday is the man with the golden voice for the YouTube generation. He provided the rich voice over for the event and also posted a fun “Chocolate Rain” parody commercial. This classic YouTube song has millions of online views and has even spurred a remix edition featuring John Mayer.
James Kotecki presented a video montage of YouTube’s “Year in Politics.” The video blogger for Politico celebrated the power that YouTube helped extend to the masses in this year’s election. From Obama Girl to Joe the Plumber to Ron Paul’s Revolution to John Edward’s hair – nobody can deny the impact. This is something that would even impress our nation’s founding fathers.
The band Sick Puppies from Sydney, Australia turned in a solid performance of their hit song “All the Same.” Their breakthrough came from a video of sign holders at a mall that included Juan Mann, the Free Hugs guy, and lead singer / guitarist Shimon Moore. The band plays an emotion charged rock style reminiscent of Incubus or Staind. Postings in YouTube Live’s chat channel left many wondering what happened to Sick Puppies’ attractive female bass player Emma?
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Queen Rania of Jordan was honored during the event with the YouTube Visionary Award. Her acceptance speech was, most appropriately, a video top ten list of why she started her YouTube channel. It included such classic reasons as “Because I couldn’t get a camel on a skateboard.” The purpose of her YouTube channel is to build cultural bridges and encourage tolerance.
A young boy of about age seven initiated a dynamic performance by Jon M. Chu’s League of Extraordinary Dancers. The act was comprised of a large group of athletic performers engaged in a diverse mix of dance styles. It concluded with the boy busting out some serious break dancing moves. The boy’s name is Anjelo and he has his own YouTube channel Anjelo Little Demon.
Other performers included: Bo Burnham, Lisa Nova, MythBusters, William Sledd, Beardyman Beatboxes, Jason Latimer, Spinto Band, Four-Eyed Monsters, Charlie the Unicorn, Katy Perry, Fred, Katers 17, Michael Buckley, Planet B-Boy, Brandon Hardesty, Sports Stacking kids, Latimer the Magician, SF Parkour, Julia Nunes & the Ukulele Orchestra, DJ Mike Relm, Chad Latimer, Esmee Denters, Happy Tree Friends and Akon.
YouTube Live – an epic experience for those who matter most: its audience.
A video montage of all the performances concluded this historic night in the evolution of the Internet. It will be interesting to hear the buzz in the blogosphere over the next few days. Yet the opinions of a bunch of old bloggers will ultimately take a backstage to how this event impacts the lives of millions of young people worldwide.
What Woodstock was to some, Live Aid was to others… what Lollapalooza was to me, YouTube Live is to millions of young people worldwide. Consider that people living practically anywhere on Earth were able to share this experience simultaneously. Importantly, YouTube Live included its audience. At the end of the show, viewers were encouraged to upload their own videos. These videos live online right next to the star performances from the event.
More than just a show, YouTube Live is a global conversation. It’s an amazing ongoing dialogue shared by millions. Some make videos, some watch, some critique – but everyone participates. You see, YouTube Live is about empowerment. It featured its own audience, because its audience and its stars are one in the same.
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