YouTube Stars!

There are all kinds of singers who have videos on YouTube, from people who sing in their bedrooms to professionals like Miley Cyrus. Her video "7 Things" is the third most viewed video of all time on YouTube at 107 Million views, right behind Evolution of Dance, and Charlie bit my finger - again! (YouTube's Most Viewed Videos)

It is easy to find the videos of the popular singers. They are Featured on the Home page and appear in the Most Subscribed Chart. It's a little harder to find up and coming singers, but we're here to help! We have been writing about YouTubeStars for almost 4 years. We don't catch all the new stars when they are just getting started, but we did write about TiffanyJoAllen when she had 7 subscribers and now she has over 91 Thousand subs. We also wrote about singer and parody maker, VenetianPrincess when she had under 3000 subs - now she has 653,927 and is #10 Most Subbed of All Time, ahead of pop stars like Miley Cyrus (#15 this week, down 1) and Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato (next to each other at #22 and #23).

Today we'll watch 4 videos by talented YouTube singers. I wonder where they will be in 4 years! If you hear and see something you like, subscribe to these future YouTubeStars!

But first, the News!

Whitney Raenan (YouTube, Twitter, Website) is a singer with over 14 thousand subscribers who recently released her single "iCandi" on iTunes and Amazon.com. It is a very cool upbeat pop song and I like it a lot! I bought it from iTunes and you should too! Watch this vid where Whitney talks about the single's release.

MissHannahMinx is up to 14 entries in her "Make Me Minxy Contest." You still have a little more time to enter, the deadline is December 20th. Watch her latest excellent video about Japan, "Japanese Cute Obsession."

Long time YouTubeStar Paperlilies was asked by YouTube to attend and report on the Avatar opening in London a few days ago! Watch as she talks to Sigourney Weaver and Michelle Rodriguez, and gets to shake James Cameron's hand!



Now, watch excellent these singing videos!


Jess Loren (YouTube, Twitter, MySpace) recently uploaded a delightful original tune titled "Home In California." This mid tempo pop song has a great chorus that will get stuck in your head! Jess sings and plays guitar in this song, and the video is a beautiful slideshow of people, places and things. I have played this one many times, it's great!




Melanie Ungar (YouTube, Twitter, MySpace) is 16 years old and lives in Toronto. She sings and plays guitar to cover songs as well as her own originals. She has a sweet voice and is becoming a very good guitar player. Melanie likes to tell a little story or give an update before most videos, which is nice because we get to learn more about her. She seems like a very nice person! This is part of what Melanie wrote about herself on her profile:

I want to inspire people because people inspire me. I want to make people smile. I want to make people laugh. I want to make people open their hearts. I want to make people enjoy life. I want to have an impact on someone's life, through music.

Watch Melanie sing Demi Lovato's "World Of Chances" and enjoy the story she tells at the beginning! Also watch her sing Taylor Swift's "The other side of the door" which is the Featured Video this week at the Top 100 Weekly Chart!




Two weeks ago, our Featured Video was "Colors Of The Wind" sung by Christina Peoples (tinasjak on YouTube). Christina has the voice of an angel! She reminds me a lot of Grammy winning singer and actress, Julie Andrews, so you know she sing very very well! Here is a little more about Christina from her profile:

Music has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. From choir since 2nd grade all the way through college to perfoming in operas, musicals, reviews, solo concerts, I can't remember a time when I wasn't singing! I did take a break after college from performing, but I missed it so much! So, I began teaching piano and voice which I still do, and started really working on my voice again. I've also had the privilege of doing some TV commercials, one of which my children starred in, as well:) That was so much fun and I'd love to do more but my main focus is singing:) My goal is to entertain through my singing and perfoming and I welcome any comments and suggestions!

Last week, Christina uploaded 2 new videos of songs she recorded professionally in a music studio. This is a beautiful slideshow of the same song "Colors Of The Wind." Also watch/listen to "My Heart Will Go On" (Titanic Theme).




Here is another woman with the voice of an angel! I am not the only one to think this, others have made the same comment. On YouTube, she is cofeescup. On MySpace and iTunes, she goes by the name of lemonflower. Check out her album, "Welcome To My Diary" - I bought a few tracks from it on iTunes and you should too! These original songs showcase her writing, playing and singing talents. Here is the album notes:

Lemonflower is the alias chosen by this artist because her real name evokes images of elderly school marms who bake pies, and perform other such homely tasks. She has recorded her debut in the privacy and comfort of her bedroom, and two in a hospital bed. Lemonflower shares with you her most tender moments through song.

Enjoy this cover of "Michigan" by Red House Painters, and also listen to lemonflower's a cappella version of "Memory" from Cats - it is amazing!

Labels: coffeescup, MelanieUngar, MissHannahMinx, Paperlilies, surfhouse, tinasjak, whitneyraenan

posted by KennyCrane at 12/14/2009 03:09:00 AM 7 Comments

Recently, K80blog made a video discussing the state of the vlogging community on YouTube. She said that YouTube has become a bit boring and has lost it's edge. People seem to be playing it safe and not taking risks. Katie said that she came here to express her opinions, stay honest and to make the most of her channel. She challenged the community to keep YouTube interesting. So far, there have been 75 Response Videos to her vid. Here is her video. After that, there are two response videos and then a video from a new and interesting vlogger!




Paperlilies remembers the earlier days of YouTube when it was interesting to watch people talk honestly about their real lives. She agrees that YouTube has become dull and that people are less honest. In her case, Bryony has to limit what she can say due to deals she is considering as a result of her previously honest and popular videos.




Tlg847 is always good at providing perspective on YouTube issues and larger cultural trends as well. Here, Tom talks about horse racing and how the sport has become "big event" motivated. People are drawn to spectacle. But the mundane was once interesting on YouTube as people were newly able to peek into lives of ordinary people. He finishes by observing that poets have always been able to make something special of the mundane - and reads a poem to illustrate his point.




YouTube has only been around for a couple of years. Some people have already made interesting and entertaining videos that have created a following. They have many subscribers, and may have also used their YouTube success in other mediums such as TV and Music and the Arts. Stevie Ryan (LittleLoca) hosted a TV show, HotForWords has been on Bill O'Reilly's show (and will be on it again soon!), Esmee Denters was signed by Justin Timberlake's company, Paperlilies has sold paintings on eBay.

But for every person who has already "been there, done that" on YouTube, there is someone new, just starting out, just becoming popular. One such person is JustStirCrazy. Audra is 24 and lives on the West Coast. She has had some real life drama; she was in the military and survived a bomb blast in Iraq. She also has an equally attractive twin sister named Dael Anne who has been in a few of her vids. Audra has fiery red hair and a personality to match. She says what is on her mind, and people love to listen because her rants are often poetic! Check out this rant/poem and also, don't miss this other rant and this honest expression of 5 things Audra hates.

Labels: audra, dael, juststircrazy, k80blog, Paperlilies, tlg847

posted by KennyCrane at 5/18/2008 10:45:00 PM 0 Comments

One of the best things about YouTube is that people who watch a video can respond to it in the comments and by a video response. This creates a conversation about the subject matter of the video. Often, the comment section adds so much to the understanding of an issue because a YouTuber can see different sides of the issue - different points of view. As long as people express their thoughts in a respectful way, this is a good thing! When commenters just spew hate in order to get a rise out of the video poster and the comment readers, it is best to ignore the commenter since they often leave these kinds of comments just to get attention - be it positive or negative. The human drive for social interaction is very strong, and YouTube can fulfill that need to some degree. Let's continue to do what we can to make YouTube a constructive community where it is possible to have an overall positive experience.

Here are four videos about interaction on YouTube. The first is a short bio from one of our favorite singers, in which she also discusses commenters. Next, we'll hear from one of the "wise men" of YouTube on the topic of what to do when certain people threaten others online. Then, we'll see a response video on the same topic, from a member of the former eNation. Finally, we'll have a look at a controversial video and the lively and heartfelt discussion that ensued in it's comments.

First, some news! I recently heard from Marina of the HotForWords channel about the importance of the "Total Video Views" stat. Apparently, people who want to get an idea of how well you're doing on YouTube are interested in knowing how many views all of your videos together have received. It seems that YouTube does not publish this piece of information anywhere. Marina asked if I could find that number for her. I created a widget that anyone can put on any of their websites (MySpace, Facebook, their own personal sites) which simply provides a YouTuber's Total Video Views number in text form. HotForWords is already using the widget on her website. The widget can be styled just like any other text - change the font, font size, colors - to whatever suits you. We created a website to support this new widget enterprise: www.MyYTStats.com. Please go there and see what we have so far. We have several versions of this Total Video Views text widget - one scrolls and one fades in and out. They are all available for YOUR use on YOUR websites, for FREE!



Our good friend Jennifer Newberry just launched a new channel dedicated to vlogs only. Jennifer is a 26 year old blond Swedish-American singer who we have posted about in the past. We even interviewed Jennifer back in December! This is the first video on Jennifer's new channel. Listen to her thoughts on "mean comments" and learn a little about who Jennifer really is. Then read the interview!



Tom, tlg847, pulls no punches as he discusses how threats to people and their families are handled in "life" and on YouTube and the Internet. He uses "bad language" to make his point. Is "it's only the Internet" a valid excuse for threatening and/or nasty behavior? Join in on the discussion by commenting or making a video response! Several interesting websites were mentioned in the comments. One is an ACLU page that talks about Civil Liberties in the "Summary of Argument" section. Another briefly describes the Avogato Trust Metric. Tom has been working with Renetto, PeriUrban and KenRG on a new website which Tom mentioned in this video and in the last video here. The final frames in that video tell us what the new website's name might be. This picture is from that video.



VitalFinds, an intelligent and prolific videoblogger who contributed to the eNation discussions and helped test the 2BuxMall, made a video response to Tom's video. She adds her ideas about what should and should not be acceptable in a well run video community website.



Last week, popular vlogger and artist Paperlilies made this video to announce her latest art competition. Bryony has done quite a lot to foster the art community on YouTube. She has painted several pictures on camera and auctioned them off on eBay. Tom, tlg847, bought one of the first ones. Bryony has sponsored other art competitions which gathered a good amount of participation and interest from the YouTube community. This time, her well known wit, sometimes veering into snarky territory, was deemed to be offensive to several members of the YouTube community. There have been almost 800 comments on the video so far, many on the topic of religion. Have a look and if you have an opinion, leave your comment!

Labels: Jennifer, JenniferNew21, kenrg, MyYTStats, Newberry, Paperlilies, PeriUrban, religion, renetto, statistics, tlg847, vitalfinds

posted by KennyCrane at 3/23/2008 10:46:00 PM 2 Comments

First, the good news. YouTube has expanded their Partner Program. This means that more people will be able to make money from ads that will run in and next to their videos. YouTube ran a pilot Partner Program earlier this year and asked about 100 people if they wanted to be in it. Now, they are ready to admit many more. The rules state that you may be made a partner if you have lots of subscribers and video views and you adhere to YouTube's Terms of Use. How much money can you make? No one is talking because Partners have to sign a non-disclosure document. It has been rumored that partners are paid around 10 cents per thousand views - that's $100 for a million views. If you want to find out for sure what the pay rate is, apply for the Partner Program. If you're chosen to join, you'll find out about the earning potential. Good Luck!

To learn more about the partners program, watch the following video from YouTube's own channel. Also, read this article and have a look at YouTube's blog entry on the partner expansion.




The bad news is that there are signs that YouTube is still unable to administer its system fairly. There are continued reports of people having their accounts suspended for little to no reason, while others who are banned multiple times for good cause are still able to keep coming back. People are still able to artificially inflate their video views, and the thumbs up/down system has been abused. Mikma, a YouTuber whose trademark catchphrase comment is "Mikma was here" has recently had all of his comments deleted by YouTube. All this has many people wondering if YouTube can fairly administer their Partner Program. Time will tell, we'll have to wait and see how it goes. Here are two videos, from Tom (tlg847) - a member of the new YouTube Council, and long time YouTubeStar Paperlilies, about the Mikma mess.







More bad news, from the American heartland. There was a mall shooting recently in Omaha Nebraska. YouTuber FairyPixie lives there. She made a heartfelt video about the tragedy. She made the point that kindness is contagious and we should be nice to each other. Maybe a kind act could be just the thing to keep someone on the edge from doing something terrible. Watch the video, FairyPixie expresses this thought much better than I can!

Labels: fairypixie, mall, News, omaha, Paperlilies, partner, program, tlg847

posted by KennyCrane at 12/12/2007 02:31:00 AM 1 Comments

The latest YouTube craze is responding to peron75's "Getting to Know YOU...TUBE!" video. Michael Buckley makes videos on the peron75 channel and is also the host and writer of the WHAT THE BUCK shows. In his Getting to Know YOU film, he asks YouTubers to do a response video answering the questions he asks, such as -
1. What's your first name?
2. Where are you from?
3. How old are you?
He also poses "bonus" questions like -
What would you do with Power of Ten winnings?
What magazines do you subscribe to?
Favorite TV show on the air now and why?
Favorite TV show ever!
What are you most proud of?

This video came out on August 29th and already has almost 50 thousand views. Everyone seems to be making a video response, there are almost 400 so far! This question answering craze seems to have it's origin in Renetto's "Who are you" video from last year (read about that, here). Of course, surveys like this are always popular on myspace.

Michael's channels have been moving up the charts nicely. The WTB show is at number 19, up 6 spots from last week. The peron75 channel is at number 57, up 4 positions.

Here are a few of the best responses to Michael Buckley's Getting to Know YOU...TUBE! video.


From talknerdytokim



From Paperlilies



From AngelicaV1



From AmourEsTout



From digupmyheart



From JoshRimer



From fallofautumndistro

Labels: AmourEsTout, AngelicaV1, digupmyheart, fallofautumndistro, JoshRimer, Paperlilies, peron75, renetto, talknerdytokim, WHATTHEBUCKSHOW

posted by KennyCrane at 9/17/2007 02:32:00 AM 2 Comments