YouTube Stars!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Ark Music Factory Singing Contest

Ark Music Factory is having a contest! The winner will receive a song written by owner Patrice Wilson, the same man who wrote "Friday" for Rebecca Black. The winner will also get to record the song in an L.A. studio and make a music video. Entrants had to be between the ages of 10 and 17, and had to submit a YouTube video of themselves singing. The contest submission period was from July 22 to August 5. Over 100 singers entered the contest, and you can see their videos here.

It is now time for members of the Ark Music Factory to vote for their favorite contestant. You can sign up to be a Member of Ark, Here.

The rules of the contest are here. In the first round which ends in a few days, 40 contestants will be chosen to continue. Here are YouTube videos of some Ark Music Factory contestants that we really enjoyed!

Vote for Loren Ann Martin, HERE.

We chose Loren Ann Martin's video for her Original song, "All Figured Out" as This week's Featured Video on our Top 100 and Top 200 Charts. Loren is 14 and lives in Indiana. She has written two original songs; this one and "His Eyes." Loren is a very good singer and she can also act! Enjoy listening to her sing her catchy pop songs and check out these well made videos!

We have a NEW Featured Video every week on our YouTube Top 100 Chart. If you missed any of our Previously Featured Videos, you can still watch them here.

Check out our Top 100 and Top 200 Charts of the Most Subscribed YouTube Channels every week!

More Ark Music Contest videos that we like!

Vote for Laurie-Anne Palin, HERE.

Vote for Katiebelle Akin, HERE.

Vote for Jillian Rae, HERE.

Vote for Natasha Fisher, HERE.

Vote for Tiffany Sanchez, HERE.

Vote for Torrey Mercer, HERE.

Vote for Elizabeth Elias, HERE.

Each of these singers is following their dreams and we wish them all the best in the contest and in their music! We'll give you all an update on the Ark Contest in the coming weeks. Good luck to all the contestants!

Labels: ARK Music Factory, contest, Patrice Wilson, singer

Friday, March 18, 2011

It's Friday! Rebecca Black and ARK Music Factory

Its been a fun fun week, watching the Rebecca Black "Friday" video go from 1.5 Million views when I wrote about it on Monday, to over 17 Million views on Friday! I am here to follow up on the story.

We now know a bit more about Rebecca, the song, and the company that produced it. Rebecca is 13 and goes to a charter middle school in Orange County CA which provides "technological skills, fine arts and health exploration and multi-cultural awareness." She played the lead role in her school play, "Oklahoma." She contacted ARK Music Factory, which offered her a choice of two songs they had written, and she chose Friday to record and make into a music video.

Rebecca Black

Some have said that the song has non-rhyming lyrics that make no sense, too much autotune was used and the green screen video effects were poor. I have kept and open mind and decided after I had heard the song several more times that I like it! The video is good too, for what it is; it is fun to watch! Friday is being market on iTunes, classified this way: "Genres: Pop, Music, Children's Music Released: Mar 14, 2011 ℗ 2011 Rebecca Black" In the past three days, I have seen it go from #68 to #54 to today at #31 on the iTunes Top 100 chart, so obviously people are buying the track.

If you can understand that this is a children's song, written by a very new production company, and sung by an 8th grader - then you may be able to appreciate it for what it is. Rebecca Black, and ARK, are just starting out, let's see where they go! Rebecca has already been a Trending Topic on Twitter all week, had millions of views of her video and been on Good Morning America - thats a pretty good start!

There are some nice people at ARK's website, as well as a fair share of trolls that come into the chat room and act outrageously for attention. The ARK site is powered by the Ning Social Networking engine and has the ability to post pictures, music, and video, and there are blogs, forums and a chat room. You can Friend people and message them, just the same as any other social site.

We spent some time in the chat room this week, using our Ning "TJ" account name and met some enthusiastic musicians at all levels of development of their musical skills. There was a wide range of opinions exressed in the chat room about RB, Friday, ARK, and the other ARK musicians. Just like the video, people seemed to either love or hate the song, the video and ARK. Most were able to act civilly and provide their opinion respectfully.

Here now are a bunch of YouTube videos from some of the people who visited ARK this week and put a link to one of their YouTube videos in the chat.

Labels: ARK Music Factory, Friday, music, Rebecca Black, viral

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Rebecca Black - Friday - Perspectives

Here are the latest stats on the viral video hit "Friday" - sung by 13 year old Rebecca Black, and written and produced by Patrice Wilson, Clarence Jey and Maverik. The video is about to hit 55 MILLION views. The song is at #13 on the iTunes Chart , ahead of Cee Lo Green, Britney Spears, Pink, Avril Lavigne, Diddy, Katy Perry and Bruno Mars.

The video has about a million Likes and DisLikes - about 9 DisLikes for every Like. The comments are in about the same ratio. Why so many negative comments? Maybe "herd mentality", maybe Schadenfreude, maybe honest opinions. In any case, it is very interesting to watch this Sociological phenomenon.

What do we know now about ARK Music Factory? Yesterday, ARK started a new YouTube channel, ArkMusicFactory300. The first video on this channel is a 6 minute interview with Ark owner Patrice Wilson. Patrice talks about his European background, what Ark is, how much they sometimes charge to make a video, how their goal is to make catchy pop music and their plans for the future. Ark will be going out to different places, holding auditions, and looking for the next viral video star. His final comment is that you should follow your dream, no matter what anyone says.

Patrice says not all artists pay for their videos, and the ones that do pay are charged $2000 to $4000, which is a good price for all they get - a song, video, photo shoot, image consultation and promotion. What a musician pays for their song and video package depends on if they elect the "Full 360" or the "Partial 360" plan. Rebecca Black paid for her video and got all rights to it. The song is marketed on iTunes as ©Rebecca Black, which means she should get all of the 70 cents per sale that iTunes pays the artist. From that amount, she may have to pay Patrice and Ark 9.1 cents per sale for a "mechanical license" or there may be some other agreement of payment to Patrice and the writers of the song. Other artists might choose to pay nothing for their song and video, but they may have to assign all rights to Ark. By the way, on her Jay Leno interview at 5:20, Rebecca Black said she will be giving some of her profits to her school and to help Japan.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ARK MUSIC FACTORY. FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT: PATRICE WILSON

As for the song itself, it is true that the lyrics don't rhyme and they are a bit cheesy. But they were written mainly for a tween and pre-tween audience and were intended to be fun and wholesome. Who says all lyrics have to rhyme and make absolute sense or be deep and profound? The goal of Ark was to create a catchy fun song, and it can be argued that they succeeded in this!

One last observation... "Here's another clue for you all"... After the title shot, the very next image in the "Friday" video by Rebecca Black references the song, "Another Pleasant Valley Sunday". Pause it at 3 seconds and see. What does this mean? Maybe the producers of Friday were giving a wink to those in the know - they realized their song could be seen as another "satirical commentary on middle-class society".....

Monkees - Pleasant Valley Sunday (watch the video)
Written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King

The local rock group down the street
Is trying hard to learn their song
Seranade the weekend squire, who just came out to mow his lawn

Another Pleasant Valley Sunday
Charcoal burning everywhere
Rows of houses that are all the same
And no one seems to care

See Mrs. Gray she's proud today because her roses are in bloom
Mr. Green he's so serene, He's got a t.v. in every room

Another Pleasant Valley Sunday
Here in status symbol land
Mothers complain about how hard life is
And the kids just don't understand

Creature comfort goals
They only numb my soul and make it hard for me to see
My thoughts all seem to stray, to places far away
I need a change of scenery

Ta Ta Ta...

Another Pleasant Valley Sunday
Charcoal burning everywhere
Another Pleasant Valley Sunday
Here in status symbol land

Another Pleasant Valley Sunday...

from monkees.net

Here are a few videos related to Friday by Rebecca Back:

'Friday Too' (based on 'Friday' by Rebecca Black) - AlFord Acoustic Cover

Here is a touching song by a really nice guy and talented musician. It is based on the Friday lyrics, but sung from the perspective of someone who is either shunned or bullied. It describes how it feels to he hated. This is the comment I left on this video at YouTube:

Interesting variation on the Friday song. I'm a supporter of Rebecca Black and ARK Music Factory. I think the song is catchy and realize it's targeted at tweens and younger who really like it. I've heard from parents who like it too because the lyrics are wholesome. Who says every song has to have deep rhyming lyrics? Its a fun song, Rebecca sings it well, the video is well made. If a person doesn't like it, of course that's their right, but why attack an 8th grader the way some have?

REBECCA BLACK OBSESSION!

Michael Buckley does a comedy series on his WhatTheBuckShow channel. Here, he talks about how he is obsessed with the song and video. He says that when a video goes viral, you have to have a thought something like "what just happened?" after you see it. He appreciates the non-sexual content where kids are just having fun. "Low brow brilliant!" "A cute little anthem for kids!" "You made my day!"

Important Message to Rebecca Black From Comedian Kyle Cease

Stand up comedian Kyle Cease gives encouragement to Rebecca Black. He says reactions like this come with success. He says their anger is not directed at Rebecca, they are just trying to find a place to direct it. "It's so much easier to knock down other people's building than to build your own." "What does 'best' or 'worst' even mean? It's just an opinion." A very insightful video; check it out!

MORE Links from people who have been visiting the chat room at ArkMusicFactory. This list is a continuation of the list I started, here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUprUlL6iPg
http://twitter.com/#!/miketailor
http://www.reverbnation.com/bahjat
http://www.youtube.com/BahjatOfficial
http://www.youtube.com/user/xryzgaming
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2AkSwi2Uww
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP-QPsgjdJI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNig6k2XKDo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dcoq9u9wVE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDL_UTK40oU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-M-hG1Tp9s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2AkSwi2Uww
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9ll9s89uXA
http://arkmusicfactory.com/video/rockin-pop-practice
http://www.youtube.com/DavidStevensonMusic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1oJ8tdQkl0
http://www.facebook.com/radionation.ca

Labels: doctorford, Friday, Kyle Cease, Monkees, Pleasant Vally Sunday, Rebecca Black, WHATTHEBUCKSHOW

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Rebecca Black, Friday: Defense and Covers

Hello, YouTube lovers! This time we have 4 videos defending Rebecca Black from all her many critics, and 4 fun fun fun fun covers of "Friday"!

Today is April 13th. It has been about a month since "Friday" began to go viral. Here's the stats right now:

Views: 99,324,828
Comments: 2,089,987
Like: 260,300
Dislike: 1,995,488
#2 - Most Discussed (All Time)
#2 - Most Discussed (All Time) - Music
#34 - Top Rated (All Time)
#23 - Top Rated (All Time) - Music

As "Friday" hits 100 MILLION views, lets recap the story. Last year, Patrice Wilson, a rapper and businessman, team up with Producer Clarence Jey to create Ark Music Factory, a record label and community where people would be safe to follow their music dreams. They advertise for musicians without original material, offering to provide them with a song, video, photoshoot and image consultation. They offer two plans, either pay to buy the song and associated services while Ark retains publishing rights, or pay nothing for the song and services with Ark retaining all rights.

Alana Lee Hamilton, 14 year old student at El Rancho Charter School in California, responds to the Ark ad and goes on to record and make a video for "Butterflies." Alana tells 13 year old 8th grade classmate Rebecca Black about her Ark project and Rebecca talks to her mom about also making a video. Rebecca's parents, both veterinarians, pay Ark $4000 for a song and video. Rebecca is presented with 2 pre-written songs. One was about being someone's lover/hero and the other was "Friday." She chooses "Friday" because she liked the song, felt it went well with her personality and was more appropriate for her level of life experience.

Rebecca records the song, then the video is made at her dad's house with family and friends as extras. Rebecca's mom comments on the cheesy lyrics but Rebecca seems happy enough to sing them and act them out in the video, telling her mom that she sang them as they were written. The video goes on Ark's YouTube channel, trizzy66, on February 10th, 2011. It gets a few thousand views and then people like Tosh.0 begin to talk about it. They brand it as the worst pop song/video in history and people start to ask, "Who is Rebecca Black?" on twitter, tumblr and other social media sites. "Rebecca Black" becomes a Trending Topic on Twitter for several days and the video passes 1 million, then 10 million, then 25 million views.

Many of the viewers feel compelled to comment on the video. The Like/Dislike ratio is about 1 to 8 and the comments reflect that. People seem to enjoy stating their opinion about this video. Although many more people dislike it then like it, it is still the #23 best "Like"d music video of all time (about 5 years since YouTube began their rating system).

Negative comments seem to be of two main types. There are those who think the song/video was a serious effort to produce a high quality pop tune and video, but delight in the epic fail that they decide the video has become. They list the nasal autotuned vocals, cheesy preteen lyrics, less than professional acting and other technical defects as reasons for their opinion. One might say that these commenters take pleasure in what they perceive as someone else's failure. Of course, success and failure are subjective and depend on the original goals. The song has succeeded in attracting popular attention, so in that sense, it is a successful pop song. The original intent of Rebecca Black was to enjoy making a video for her friends and add it to her portfolio of musical accomplishments, and she did seem to enjoy herself.

A second type of comment points out that a "rich" family decided to spend some of their own money so that their child could sing this prefabricated pop song and film the video. People seem to think that you can't and shouldn't try to buy your way to pop success and fame, you should spend years of time and effort honing your skills and improving your talent. Then, and only then, should you receive any recognition for your work. One might say that these commenters are reacting to a perceived injustice. Their internal "cheater detector" mind modules see someone getting a benefit without paying a cost. They get the same feeing as when someone cuts in front of them in a line, or uses some sort of influence to get something they don't deserve. Of course it was not Rebecca's intent to buy her way to fame and success. They paid a very reasonable price for a legitimate product. It may have been one of Ark's goals to get the song, video and singer noticed, and they did let Rebecca know this but without any guarantees - and it seems even they didn't expect such a massive response. There are many examples of people who spent as much or more on videos with no recognition, as well as people who spent nothing at all and have had success on YouTube. Parents are free to spend their earned income in any way they choose; they bought a fairly professional video package and were satisfied with the results. They did not buy any video views, that all came as a result of the final product.

Why is the song so popular? Just like any other easily remembered and transmitted story, it takes a very familiar and relate-able core and adds a counterintuitive twist. The chord structure of I IV V is seen in many pop songs which subconsciously reminds listeners of other hits. The twist is the minor chord in the C, Am7, F, G progression. The lyrics come rapid fire and add to the percussive beat. They repeat phrases and meanings that are understood by any age group. The twist is that the lyrics don't rhyme and the vocals are autotuned which adds an extra syllable to "Fri-e-day" along with crackles and other digital affectations. The video shows kids having fun and has the obligatory verse by a black rapper. The twist is the subtle body language that projects a bit of "what am I doing here?" and the fact that the rapper is not in the peer group of the rest of the actors. Intentionally or not, this song and video follow a known formula for creating a successful meme - something memorable because it is both familiar and alien at the same time.

Even though the ratio of negative to positive comments is skewed toward dislikers, the song has huge numbers of fans. Sales on iTunes have been strong. People are willing to pay a dollar to have this on their iPod. Here are 4 videos from people who generally say, "leave Rebecca Black alone!" They feel that many of the comments on the video are way over the top, much too harsh to be directed at a young teen who didn't write the lyrics and just made the video for fun, fun, fun, fun!

Here are 4 videos that cover Rebecca Black's song "Friday." By listening to the two more serious covers, you can come to appreciate the basic tune without the digital audio effects and video distractions. By watching the two more comedic covers, you can laugh along with the lighthearted humor and leave with a smile on your face!

Labels: ARK Music Factory, cover, Friday, Rebecca Black

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Kayleigh Levitt Writes About Andrea Dorfman

Hello YouTube lovers! I would like to introduce you to our newest Guest Blogger, Kayleigh Levitt. Kayleigh was introduced to me by my dear friend and popular guest blogger, CelestialSam. Kayleigh is a creative young lady with a real talent for writing. In her first Guest Blog for YouTubeStars, she writes about Artist and Filmmaker Andrea Dorfman. We're proud to have this talented young lady who can sometimes be found in a tree singing and playing guitar as our newest Guest Blogger!

But first, The News!

This week's Featured Video on our Top 100 and Top 200 Charts is a great music video for an awesome cover of "Grenage" originally by Bruno Mars, sung by Tiffany Jo Allen! Tiffany is working on her 4th CD and you can download her older material here. Enjoy Tiffany's very cool cover of Grenade. Watch the video right here; click on the thumbnail of Tiffany and Bruno Mars!

We have a NEW Featured Video every week on our YouTube Top 100 Chart. If you missed any of our Previously Featured Videos, you can still watch them here.

Check out our Top 100 and Top 200 Charts of the Most Subscribed YouTube Channels every week! Go and Bookmark the Top 100 YouTube Chart at YTChart.com right now!

Speaking of YTChart.com - there is a new YouTube channel called YTChart! They have 12 videos so far which give weekly updates on the top Music Videos on YouTube. You should subscribe to that; I just did!

Congrats to Katie Belle Akin for winning the Ark Music Contest! Here's what Katie recently told me: "UP TO ME video, won with over 5100 votes cast for the ARK MUSIC FACTORY VIDEO CONTEST, there were 40 approved entries, it was a tough competition but my fans, friends came through with the votes, THANK U to all who voted!!! recording new music in Nashville this weekend and next stayed tuned for more, www.katiebelleakin.com"

Now, here is Kayleigh's article about Andrea Dorfman.

Andrea Dorfman is an artist and filmmaker based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She confronts the way society shuns the idea of loneliness. She brings it into an endearing and familiar light. She whispers words of comfort to the heavy head that hits the pillow at night thinking the same thoughts it did the day before. She makes loneliness into a friend instead of an enemy.

If we do not want to hang out with ourselves, what makes us think anyone else will want to? Company starts with us, when we are alone. Constantly we play this game of social interaction. The goal seems to be to get as many companions as possible. Being alone is not frightening if we like ourselves the way we are. Andrea Dorfman suggests it is time to seek love within instead of from others.

We all break down to atoms vibrating at different frequencies. We all break down to human beings who breathe the same air. We all break down to people who want the same thing. Connection. And we already have it. We are all connected by our desires. We are all connected by the nature of our humanity. We are all connected at the soul of our being. We are not alone. We are ALL ONE.

She mentions the miracles that happen when we let ourselves be alone. Serendipitous conversations may fall into our lap at the most profound moments. We may let ourselves dance with wild abandon. Maybe we can let our lives be a testament to the heat among the freezing moments.

In knowing this, there is nothing to fear about being alone. We just need to re-learn how. We need to make it okay again.

Andrea Dorfman helped Sook-Yin Lee produce this music video called “Beautiful” for the CBC radio website for her show Definitely Not the Opera. She says “I was lost, and I’m still lost, but I can’t deny the feeling It’ll be okay my friend.”

Being lost is a part of finding our way back to ourselves. Being lost is not a waste of time like most people think; it is actually a highly productive part of life.

At a certain point people gain this sense of self. It is the point when the question “Who am I?” changes to “What am I going to do with who I am?” It is called the Finding part of the journey. We whistle along through our day to day activities, happy to know who we are finally and everything begins to fall into place. Certain assets come with knowing who you are. Things like steady jobs and living situations and cats that you have had for over a year.

This steadiness passes though. It passes with the time it takes for a breeze to circle the earth. It passes like all things pass. Lost and found. We were found; now we’re lost again.

Everything we thought we knew begins to shake from underneath our steady feet. At first it’s a quiet rumble that can be ignored if you try hard enough. After a certain point, the rumble becomes an earthquake that can’t be drowned out. One day, the same ole’ same ole’ just doesn’t satisfy you anymore. Humans need change as much we say we are creatures of habit. It is in our nature to grow and expand like this infinite universe. As we grow, we have to lose the old idea of who we were so we can find the new person we are becoming.

In knowing that being lost is a gift in disguise, we can see that as Sook-Yin Lee says, it is beautiful. And that if I am still lost, I can’t deny the feeling that everything will be okay, my friend.

Andrea Dorfman helped make another music video for Tanya Davis entitled “Art”. In this video she is questioning what it is worth to be an artist in today’s world. She asks if telling her stories to the world will keep her healthy and well. She wonders if people will get something good out of her expression and be glad she made art because it made them feel inspired.

Then she watercolors out an Art Manifesto. One of the lines says, “A broken heart makes great art.”

Art is a conversation between the artist and the person experiencing the art. There is something about taking the broken pieces of something and making it beautiful again. It extracts the essence of the struggle and then transforms it. The person experiencing the art and the artist both feel a satisfactory triumph at the ability to transform what was broken. Art is about the resilience of spirit despite the human condition.

So follow your bliss. If you are an artist, it is a gift to the world. People are not made out of atoms, they are made out of stories. Each strand of DNA tells a story of the human that came before it. And we get to add on another chapter to the odyssey of our lineage. The plot thickens far too often to feel like we are alone on this journey. We need to resonate with each other. We need stories to be expressed through art to remind us that there is a common thread that runs throughout everything. That thread is simply that we are humans with hearts.

Labels: "Andrea Dorfman", "Kayleigh Levitt", andyradorfman, Katiebelleakin, Kayleigh Levitt, TiffanyJoAllen, YTChart

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Rebecca Black is Back - My Moment

Back in March of this year, a 13 year old girl from Orange County CA became an overnight sensation! For weeks, everyone had something to say about Rebecca Black and her slightly silly but curiously catchy song, "Friday" and its quirky but fairly well made music video. We wrote several articles about Rebecca Black and you can find them all here. Now, Rebecca is back with her second song, "My Moment" - just released today and already it has over 650 thousand views! I'll have a few things to say about the song and video, below.

But first, The News!

This week's Featured Video on our Top 100 and Top 200 Charts is a great music video parody set to the tune of Christina Perri's Jar Of Hearts, about the new Harry Potter movie! Recently I told you about two Harry Potter fanatics who vlog on YouTube. This Harry Potter parody video is from Kathy, featured in that post. She asked viewers to send in clips and she added them to her own scenes that relate to the new Harry Potter movie that made almost 170 million dollars ($169,189,427) opening weekend in the U.S. alone! Watch the Featured Video of Kathy singing beautifully about Harry Potter right here; click on it!

We have a NEW Featured Video every week on our YouTube Top 100 Chart. If you missed any of our Previously Featured Videos, you can still watch them here.

Check out our Top 100 and Top 200 Charts of the Most Subscribed YouTube Channels every week!

Now, watch Rebecca Black's latest video, My Moment!

Rebecca Black was just 13 when she decided to make a music video like her friend Alana Lee had just made. After getting the okay, and money ($4000) from her parents, Rebecca goes to Ark Music Factory and buys a package consisting of an original song and music video. Ark puts the video on its YouTube channel and the video gets a few thousand hits. Then Tosh.0 mentions it on TV and millions come to enjoy or hate on the video. The dislike to like ratio is about 8 to 1 but the video keeps getting views and comments.
(Read more Rebecca Black history, here.)

People want to know who Rebecca Black is, and her name becomes a the number one Trending Topic on Twitter, even ahead of the Japan natural disaster. Rebecca gets horrible hate comments but wins the friendship of Ryan Seacrest, Lady Gaga and Simon Cowell. She ends up in a starring role as herself in the hugely popular 8 minute mini-movie / music video for Katy Perry's song "Last Friday Night".

Just today (7/18/2011), Rebecca Black has released her second song, "My Moment" - on her new YouTube channel, Rebecca. Rebecca is 14 now, she just had a birthday on June 21. She looks about the same but now we can hear her sing without the same level of autotune as on "Friday". She sings very well! Yes, there are better singers out there, but there are certainly worse ones as well. The song itself is pretty good, it is a fairly typical pop song with no huge hook but I have listened to it several times and I like it. I have already bought a copy of it on iTunes.

The song tells Rebecca's story so far. It has a little of the feel of Taylor Swift's "Mean." Some people are not encouraging at all, but Rebecca will be following her dreams.

Rebecca Black Twitter

The video begins with Rebecca Black sitting in a recording studio (see the picture above). She starts singing some ah-ah-a-ah sounds, recalling the opening moments of "Friday". The lyrics start with, "Weren't you the one who said that I would be nothing? Well I'm about to prove you wrong!" The video continues with shots of Rebecca out and about, with fans and on the roads of L.A. Other scenes show her in makeup prep and at a dance class. The middle of the video contains some nice dance scenes with Rebecca and (according to her recent tweet, seen at the left) several dancers from "So You Think You Can Dance" - the hit dance competition TV show on the Fox Broadcasting Network.

The video winds down with shots of Rebecca Black in a limo with her younger brother, her mother and others, on their way to a Premier event. We see Rebecca getting out of the limo as photographers flashes go off. She has pulled up in front of a club of some sort with her name and "My Moment" on the Marquee. Rebecca has just had some words for the haters in her lyrics - "Haters, said I'll see ya later... I'm doing big things, things you never dreamed of. I hope you are happy 'cause I'm 'bout to blow up! This is my moment, my moment! It's my time!"

The final scene shows Rebecca Black dancing in front of the club as the paparazzi take shot after shot. She is wearing a red dress which comes down to just above the knee, a black belt and black shoes. The dress is very similar to the famous white dress that Marilyn Monroe wore in "The Seven Year Itch" which sold at auction for $4.6 million on June 20th of this year. No, Rebecca's dress did not blow up, but her song, video and career just might!

Now - Watch the video!

Uploaded by rebecca on Jul 18, 2011

GET THE SONG ON iTUNES NOW! http://bit.ly/mymomentitunes

World Premiere Music Video for "My Moment" the new song from Rebecca Black.

Follow Rebecca on Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/msrebeccablack

Visit the Official Website
http://www.rebeccablackonline.com

Become a Fan on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rebecca-Black/225253837493603

Subscribe on YouTube!
Category: Music
Tags: * Rebecca * Black * My * Moment * Friday * Pop * Last Night * Singer * recording * artist * musician * charts * song * official * songwriter * db * entertainment * original * new * 2011 * hollywood * los * angeles * all * american * girl * new single * music video * album * pop music * itunes * internet sensation * viral * cool * dance * studio * red * carpet * behind * the * scenes * dream * career * star * celebrity

License: Standard YouTube License

TOP COMMENTS on Day ONE:

1) I do admit this is better then Friday and its not terrible

2) however can she please go more then 10 seconds without looking at the camera. Sometimes that's ok, but that is just obnoxious.

Temari125 2 hours ago 2783
ITS NOT THT BAD PEOPLE!

GiaPappas 2 hours ago 1988

well it's not as stupid, so you get a thumbs up... there you go, +1 thumbs up. Your freaking welcome. but i still won't pay to listen to this.

ZachariahLogan 2 hours ago 944
The comments go by so quickly! It's like playing a video game! "Try to hit thumbs up, thumbs down, or reply. XD

Blackcat51292 2 hours ago 804
Let's see any of you do better. Get over yourselves. She's made more out of herself as a thirteen year old then any of you will in your whole lives.

laurennikimel 2 hours ago 583
hmmm i think this song is a little better than friday ...

geographicDJspeedy28 2 hours ago 659
302 views and 60 000 dislikes, dont know bout you but youtube needs math class

TheRBaral 2 hours ago 1006
888 comments since you started viewing ... dammmm

hussainaadil 2 hours ago 417
ahaha she just shits on all your haters on this song lol i have never seen some many trolls come out of hibernation just to hate on a cool kid lol

DahMasterDebaters 2 hours ago 299

Labels: Friday, Harry Potter, KathyKatInAHat, My Moment, rebecca, Rebecca Black

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Big Hits and their Covers

Summer is finally here! School is out; time to sleep late, hang out with friends and watch a lot of videos! Here are two very popular music videos for songs you are hearing on the radio, along with covers from members of the YouTube community.

Thanks to everyone who emailed Kenny about the YouTubeStars Guest Blogger openings! We found a few people that we may work with, but we are still looking for others. WE PAY WRITERS to Guest Blog for YouTubeStars! If you are interested in GETTING PAID to write some Guest Blogs about interesting videos and videomakers, please email Kenny and be sure to include a LINK to your YouTube channel in the email.

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CelestialSam

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Vlogs to Think About

Have you ever watched a video that really made you think? Here are 3 videos with messages. Watch and take some time to think about what the person in the video is saying. Some videos give a few minutes of laughter, others cheer you with a nice song; these will inspire you to think about the topics these awesome vloggers are talking about.

But first, The News!

This week's Featured Video on our Top 100 and Top 200 Charts is an interesting video from Piper Reese (PipersPicksTV) - in which this young tween interviews the often outrageous YouTube Star comedian Shane Dawson. Piper asks Shane Dawson some very good questions and Shane gives fun and intelligent answers. Piper points out that Shane's videos sometimes help people out, and Shane responds that his videos are outrageous but contain some moral. Also hear Shane Dawson talk about cats and dogs, YouTube and TV, Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus. Watch it!

We have a NEW Featured Video every week on our YouTube Top 100 Chart. If you missed any of our Previously Featured Videos, you can still watch them here.

Check out our Top 100 and Top 200 Charts of the Most Subscribed YouTube Channels every week!

Pop and Jazz singer Steffi Ledbetter (singingfool14) is in the Finals of Cree Ingles Idol Search Season 10. We love her voice and her style! Here is Steffi singing a Parody that she wrote herself, of Katy Perry's "California Girls" which she calls "Alabama Girls"

Loren Ann Martin is doing very well in the Ark Star contest that we recently wrote about. Loren is just 14 but her original pop song, "All Figured Out" is catchy and well written. The video is well made too! Vote for Loren, here. Good Luck, Loren!

Now, watch Vlogs to think about!

Emilythebravee is an intelligent and interesting vlogger who is beginning to get noticed on YouTube. Emily Lynne Carson is from California and is just beginning her freshman year at college, where she lives in a dorm with one roommate. I first heard of her from YouTube musician Mike Lombardo, last Fall. He noticed what a talented vlogger she is. Mike should know; he is in a relationship with One of the great YouTube vloggers, HayleyGHoover.

In this video titled "Not Brave", Emily talks about her video image versus how she is in real life. She lists minor and major things about herself that she says are "flaws." Emily's point is, don't be fooled by who you see in a video, they are not perfect, no one is, we all have flaws. Don't aspire to be someone else, be who you are and realize that "we are all awesome in our own way." Think about what you would like to improve about yourself, and which things aren't flaws at all but simply characteristics that make you who you are.

In this insightful call for action, Emily talks about the YouTube Community. She mentions that there are watchers and makers. Based on her experience at YouTube and visits to the last 2 VidCons, she talks about ways for the watchers and makers of videos to better connect with each other. Start a conversation with people you find to be interesting on YouTube. Comment, do video replies and even blog like we do here! Keep the Community alive! This is YouTube, it is not TV. We have two-way communication here and we have to work to keep that going. Think about what you can do to improve the YouTube Community.

HannahDoesVlogs is a 15 year old "crazy, nerdy" vlogger from the UK. She has 13 vlogs that I find to be intelligent and interesting. Hannah Hunter gives her analysis of a few songs produced by the Ark Music Factory (who also produced Rebecca Black's "Friday") in a few of her vlogs in a smart and respectful manner. Watch them to get a nicely presented assessment of Ark Music Factory from a person who is in the target demographics for their songs and videos. Here are Hannah's opinion videos on Ark: click here and here.

In the following video, Hannah gives her opinion about certain types of behavior by people her age. She says that people her age are starting to grow up really fast, acting like they are 19 or 20. She has heard of them drinking, smoking and "doing sexual things" - Hannah says she doesn't get what the rush is. At 15, people are just beginning to be at an age when they can do more things, but they don't yet know who they are and often get pressured into doing things they are not yet ready to do. Hannah observes that teens will rebel from their parents and the law, but she manages to have fun with her friends without doing these things which may be harmful. She thinks it is lame to do things like this just to show off. Watch and listen to Hannah's own words. Then think about who you want to be, how you want to behave, and how you might handle it if people try to pressure you to do things you do not want to do.

Labels: ARK Music Factory, creeingles, EmilyTheBravee, HannahDoesVlogs, LorenAnnMartin, PipersPicksTV, shanedawsontv, singingfool14

Monday, March 14, 2011

Rebecca Black - Friday

It is the middle of the night, Sunday night or Monday morning. Then comes Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and then FRIDAY! Yayyyy!

What? Have I lost my mind? No, I've just watched some reaction videos to a slightly strange but catchy pop music video I saw a few days ago, by 13 year old Rebecca Black. Don't know who Rebecca is? Well, she's trending right now on Twitter!

I'll show you the "love it or hate it" music video for her song, "Friday" as well as two videos inspired by it, below.

But first, The News!

This week's Featured Video on our Top 100 and Top 200 Charts is a music video for a 60s inspired Indie Rock tune from 2007 that never got many views. I happen to LOVE this kind of music! It reminds me of 60s Garage Rock and modern bands like the Dandy Warhols and Blur. Excellent harmonies and trippy reverb fuzz guitar, have a listen! The video is sparse, just the band playing and cameos of the girl who is "my new source of fascination." #WhosThatGirl ??? Dig this groovy music video for The Cons' "You'll Be My Baby"! Check out our Top 100 and Top 200 Charts of the Most Subscribed YouTube Channels every week!

Now, here is Rebecca Black's Video and 2 related vids...

A few days ago, I came across this video for the song "Friday" sung by 13 year old Rebecca Black. It was uploaded on 2/10/11 and it already has 1.5 MILLION views. The tune is decent; it is fairly bland but not the worst pop song I ever heard. The chorus, "Its Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday" vaguely echoes Justin Bieber's "Baby, Baby Baby oh." Other lyrics include, "I see my friends kickin' in the front seat, sittin' in the back seat, gotta make my mind up, which seat can I take?", "partyin' partyin' yeah! partyin' partyin' yeah! fun fun fun fun lookin' forward to the weekend" and "Yesterday was Thursday Thursday, today it is Friday Friday, ... tomorrow is Saturday and Sunday comes afterwards..."

Two and a half minutes into the the 3:48 video, after we get the recitation of the days of the week, the song switches to an older black man (singer Pato) cruising down the highway rapping to the beat. ItsKingsleyBitch, see below, asks if he is heading to the teen party where Rebecca and her friends are. "This is just not acceptable!"

The song is released on the trizzy66 YouTube channel, which seems to belong to ARK Music Factory in L.A. - a label that mostly signs young female artists. Yesterday, 3/13/11, they released a rap mix of Friday which seems to poke fun at the song. It riffs on lyrics like "which seat should I take" and "Fried Eggs".

So what is going on with this song and video? Is it all a spoof, an internet gag? Is it a new teen singer's first try at fame, with awkward results? After all, she is ONLY 13! I think this will continue to blow up on the net this week - it is already becoming a meme with people putting up parodies, speeded up and slowed down versions, reaction videos and commentaries. This reminds me of previous YouTube controversies, like the Lonelygirl15 debate (real or actress) and the reaction to misguided young video girl Jessi Slaughter. It will be interesting to see how this plays out!

Rebecca Black-Friday (OFFICIAL VIDEO)

Rebecca Black - Friday (Groundhog Day Remix)

Looks like mseales is not a fan of this tune. He made this mashup of a clip from Groundhog Day backed by this audio track.

Description: "Even Phil can't escape the burbling inanity of the internet's latest mockery. If Purgatory is Sonny and Cher, Hell is surely Rebecca Black."

Comments: "This is why Bill Murray kept killing himself later in the movie." "i almost did this to my computer when i first heard the song" "Funny how all the teeny boppers have to use auto-tune these days. Can anyone sing anymore?" "I dont think I can watch this without cracking up!"

OVEREXPOSED: REBECCA BLACK

Comedy, satire, commentary, or hater? Here's an f-bomb loaded discussion of Friday by ItsKingsleyBitch who seems to like calling Rebecca a bitch. Do you think a 20 year old man calling a 13 year old girl a bitch is "acceptable"? Do you agree or disagree with his opinion of Rebecca and this song?

Description: "It's not TOO Overexposed yet, unless you have a Twitter or Tumblr, so this will only make sense to certain people. If you're lost, watch Rebecca Black's stupid ass "Friday" video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD2LRROpph0"

#WhosThatGirl?

Labels: Friday, itskingsleybitch, mseales, Rebecca Black, trizzy66, WhosThatGirl

Thursday, August 04, 2011

Ladies in Red

Today I'll show you two singing videos from Ladies in Red outfits. Each has their own style, which is quite different from what you normally see on YouTube. If you like what I show you here, check out their other uploads!

But first, The News!

This week's Featured Video on our Top 100 and Top 200 Charts is a sweet home made performance video of Roxanne Andrighetti (Randrigh) singing her new original song, Find My Bliss. Roxy likes to use her music as an emotional outlet and her lyrics are often autobiographical. Here's the tags she chose, it will give you an idea about the song and its singer:

Randrigh Roxanne invisible meaninglessness find my blind live from the vancouver bedroom italian persian singer in canada unsigned original

Watch the Featured Video of Roxy singing about her feelings; click on it!

We have a NEW Featured Video every week on our YouTube Top 100 Chart. If you missed any of our Previously Featured Videos, you can still watch them here.

Check out our Top 100 and Top 200 Charts of the Most Subscribed YouTube Channels every week!

Pop and Jazz singer Steffi Ledbetter (singingfool14) is competing in Cree Ingles Idol Search Season 10. We love her voice and her style! Here is Steffi singing Rihanna's "Take a Bow." Also, enjoy Steffi singing a great jazzy version of "I Got Rhythm!"

Marina Orlova (HotForWords) is now a U.S. Citizen! You may have seen her recent segment about that on The Factor with Bill O'Reilly. Marina recently changed her video format to be less flashy, more serious and shorter. I like her stripped down style but not everyone does. Do you?

Now, watch the Ladies In Red!

SweetRose is a lovely lady who is loaded with style and class. She loves to sing and always has a song in her heart. Her voice is pleasant and soothing; we like to hear her sing! SweetRose also has some beautiful outfits, complete with matching hats, that add to the charm of her singing videos. Here is SweetRose singing Selena Gomez & The Scene's new hit, "Love You Like A Love Song" - guaranteed to make you smile!

Vicki Owens is an outgoing lady who loves to use lavish outfits and props to enhance her singing performances. She is always smiling and dancing around as she covers new hits and classics. Her voice is smooth and expressive; we like to hear her and watch her move! Vicki can often found at the Ark Music Factory website spreading good will with her encouraging messages on profile pages and the Ark Chat. We like her attitude! Here is Vicki singing a Parody Cover Song "Why Don't You Do Right" by Jessica Rabbit, which will also make you smile!

Labels: friskyvickisowens, hotforwords, ladies, randrigh, red, singingfool14, sweetrose1944

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

It's Thanksgiving! It's Friday!

Its been a year and a half since Patrice Wilson and Ark Music Factory gave us the song and video, "Friday" - sung by 13 year old Rebecca Black. We all know the story of Friday, but if you somehow missed it, read our coverage here.

Patrice is back on the YouTube scene with a song that is very much a clone of Friday. This song is about Thanksgiving, but features a lot of the same lyrical and video styles from Friday. The video starts with an allusion to time. The lyrics are about time. They even contain the same triple we - "we we we". In Friday, it was, " we we we so excited" and now its "we we we we're gonna have a good time."

Both songs contain wholesome lyrics that do not rhyme (other than "school is out, I can shout") about having fun in groups. "Fun, fun, think about fun, you know what it is!" was in a verse in Friday, as well as "we're gonna have a ball today." It's Thanksgiving puts the fun right in the chorus, "oh oh oh, its Thanksgiving! We we we we're gonna have a good time!"

The mention of sequential time slots is another similarity. In Friday, we heard, "Yesterday was Thursday, today it is Friday..." Now we get a list of holidays and their container months, "December was Christmas, January was New Year, April was Easter, and the Fourth of July, but now it's Thanksgiving, oh oh oh it's Thanksgiving!"

Inside Edition with Deborah Norville said tonight that this is the worst song ever. Many agree and some do not. As of now, the video has 7 million views with 107 thousand dislikes and 13 thousand likes. Who knows how many of the dislikes are from people simply following the crowd and wanting to be part of the In Group that has predetermined that anything put out by Patrice Wilson is most likely terrible.

Have a listen and decide for yourself what you think of this song and video. Singer Nicole Westbrook, 12 years old 7th grader from Los Angeles, seems nice enough and has a pleasant enough voice. She seemed to enjoy filming the video, singing into a Turkey leg, and most likely will make some money on this project, as the song is already available on iTunes.

Also watch this interview with Nicole Westbrook from ABC News.

Labels: ARK Music Factory, Friday, Nicole Westbrook, Patrice Wilson, Rebecca Black, thanksgiving

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