Whether you prefer your humor extra dry or love watching the next big talents rise to stardom, two of the biggest names in entertainment are bringing their star power to YouTube.
The You Generation
Simon Cowell, the mastermind (and trademark take-no-prisoners judge) behind hit shows like “The X-Factor” and “American Idol,” is launching a global talent contest. Through 26 different talent competitions over the year, The You Generation will uncover YouTube’s rising stars, whatever their skills.
The Ricky Gervais YouTube Channel
Whether you’re a devout fan of David Brent or can’t get enough of Michael Scott, “The Office,” otherwise known as Ricky Gervais’ brainchild, has permeated pop culture on both sides of the pond. In case you’re wondering where this classic character’s been over the past decade, David’s back--this time, on YouTube, alongside brand new personalities, sketches and comedy creations via his existing YouTube channel.
To make sure you don’t miss a laugh or an introduction to the next generation of stars, click the “Subscribe” button when visiting each channel.
In our monthly On The Rise program, we identify four partners whose channels are seeing significant growth but haven’t yet reached the 100,000 subscriber mark. Your suggestions helped us identify four dedicated partners who are well over halfway to that milestone, and you get the opportunity to help them grow even further. This March, our On The Rise nominees have established themselves and built loyal fan bases who support their music, video effects, comedy, vlogs, and group sketches.
Here’s where you come in--you actually have the chance to help push these partners even further on YouTube. Review their videos below, vote for your favorite here, and one of these candidates will have the opportunity to be featured across YouTube later this month. In addition to your votes, each channel will be evaluated on criteria such as viewer engagement and channel optimization techniques to decide which partner we’ll feature.
In past months, featured On The Rise partners like DevinandErica and MyCupcakeAddiction have gained many subscribers and seen their careers take off, in large part due to your support. This month’s poll will be open until March 19, 5 p.m. PT, so don’t forget to vote for your favorite channel. Check back to see which channel will be featured on March 27.
thefumusic
Jacob and Josh Fu have been playing together since birth, and as adults have taken their music to YouTube. In their videos, the brothers combine musical talent (including covers and “furiginals”) with a passion for creativity and special effects.
psychosoprano
Colleen is the woman behind the YouTube character, Miranda Sings. Her psychosoprano channel features a combination of vlogs and comedy sketches made with her friends and family. She has also performed in a couple theatres around the world, but you can check out some of her work on her channel.
Trickniks
Nikki Limo is an actress and comedienne by profession, and you might catch her stand-up if you go to a Los Angeles comedy club. On YouTube, Nikki creates comic vlogs, collaborations, and answers her fans’ questions in her Q&As.
petergilroy
Peter formed a sketch comedy group with his friends Tyler, Jacob, Scott, Kurt, Brock, Josh, Roger and Alex and have named themselves “The Bath Boys.” The channel hosts everything from short films to music videos so go take a look.
If you’re interested in participating or have suggestions for partners you think should be featured, you can nominate a YouTube partner to be considered for the “On The Rise” program. You can also check out some of our Google Hangouts with past featured partners on the Partner Support channel. Devon Storbeck and Christine Wang, YouTube Partner Support, recently watched “MinuteEarth: The Story of Our Planet.”
Occasionally, we invite special guests to share their thoughts on the YouTube Blog. Today, Sesame Street became the first nonprofit to reach 1 billion channel views on YouTube. In honor of that achievement, we bring you a guest post from the Count Von Count about the number zero.
Greetings, it is I, the Count Von Count from Sesame Street. It is a pleasure to be blogging to you today because when I blog I get to count the words. That is 31, 31 wonderful words in my blog post, ah-ha-ha.
Today I want to pay tribute to one of my favorite numbers. What number is it? I am glad you asked. Today I pay tribute to the number zero. A surprising number, I know. For when you have zero there is nothing to count. So why do I, a person who loves to count, love the number zero?
Well, for one thing, zero comes in very handy when there is nothing around to count. For you can count zero of that thing. Like right now, as I look around the castle, I count zero elephants, zero airplanes, and zero Justin Bieber CDs. Wonderful.
But that is not the only reason to love zero. For you see zero can make a little number much bigger. How? Like so—say you have a little number 1, a very nice number indeed. But, when you take that one and put a zero next to it, all of a sudden you have 10, 10 wonderful things to count. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 – ten little fingers on your hands. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 – ten little toes on your feet. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 – ten little hot dogs in the meat drawer of my refrigerator. Oh! I love counting to ten.
But that is not all that zero can do. Take that 10 and put another zero on the end, and suddenly you have 100. 100 is a glorious number to count. I can count 100 seats in a movie theater; I count 100 golf balls at the golf course. I count 100 senators in the U.S. Senate. I love counting to 100!
Now what if you take that 100 and place another glorious zero beside it? Then all of a sudden you have 1,000. 1,000 is an extraordinary number to count. You can count 1,000 seashells on the seashore, 1,000 paperclips in Bert’s paperclip collection, 1,000 hairs growing out of your uncle’s ear. I love counting to 1,000!
Let’s not stop there! Let’s add three zeros to that 1,000 and all of a sudden we have 1,000,000 things to count. Have you ever counted to 1 million? I did. When I worked for the census bureau in Rhode Island. You should try it one time, or every four years, your choice.
Now take that 1,000,000 and add three more wonderful zeroes and what do you get? I’ll tell you: you get a number so big, so great, and so huge! When you have nine zeroes after a 1 you get the number 1,000,000,000. Yes 1 billion things to count! And it is all thanks to that lovely number zero. Thank you, zero, you make counting a billion times more fun. By the way, that is 510 words, 512, 513, 514 … 515 words in my YouTube blog post! Ah-ha-ha!
Awards season is upon us. And for the fourth year, YouTube is teaming up with See3 Communications to present the DoGooder Video Awards, a celebration of the best nonprofit videos of the year. If you’re a nonprofit who made a video in 2012, you’re eligible and encouraged to submit your video.
But wait, there’s more! For the first time ever, we’re opening up the awards for submissions from individuals who are making videos to change their communities or the world. So if you’re a YouTube creator trying to save the whales one video at a time, or if you made a video on behalf of your favorite nonprofit this year, visit YouTube.com/DoGooder to nominate your video.
There are four separate categories in this year’s DoGooder Awards: the ImpactX Award for videos that drove clear real-world impact; Best Nonprofit Video; Funny for Good, recognizing effective use of comedy; and the Change Agent Award, for individuals who’ve gotten involved and produced their own cause-focused video.
We’ll award prizes like $3,500 grants, free admission to the Nonprofit Technology Conference, and special promotion on YouTube.
The deadline to enter is March 22, 2013. Official rules are available here.
One in three Internet users suffers from restricted access to the web due to government censorship, filtering or online surveillance, according to the free expression advocacy group Reporters Without Borders. Around the world, bloggers and cyber-dissidents are jailed for expressing their views. Reporters Without Borders makes sure their struggles are not forgotten.
We believe in a free and open Internet where everyone can express their opinions and learn from others. For this reason, for the past several years we’ve partnered with Reporters Without Borders to organize their annual Netizen of the Year Award, which honors an Internet user, blogger or cyber-dissident who has made a notable contribution in defense of online freedom of expression.
This year for the first time, Reporters Without Borders is asking you to help decide who will win the award. Nine “netizens”—from Bulgaria, Egypt, Honduras, Iran, Kazakhstan, Mali, Russia, Senegal and Vietnam—have been nominated for consideration. Watch the videos showing their stories and then vote at youtube.com/netizen2013.
We hope you’ll be as inspired as we have been by these brave people. The winner, based on votes from people like you around the world, will be announced on March 7. He or she will be invited to the award ceremony taking place at Google’s Paris office on March 12—the World Day Against Cyber Censorship.
Occasionally, we invite special guests to share their thoughts on the YouTube Blog. This guest post is from Autism Speaks about a documentary they are premiering on YouTube. The film was previously only available at small regional screenings and will now be available to viewers across the globe.
Today we’re announcing the online premiere of "I Want to Say," a documentary short about technology and hope. It tells the story of how technology is making a difference in the lives of some people who need it most: children with autism.
This documentary is part of our Hacking Autism initiative to facilitate and accelerate technology-based ideas to help give those with autism a voice. Technology is radically remaking the world of autism. It is creating opportunities for those with autism to find their passion, develop their skills and eventually compete for jobs.
Autism Speaks is supporting the development of therapies and assistive technologies by promoting collaboration among designers, engineers, scientists, and individuals and families affected by autism.
We wanted to premiere this documentary on YouTube to show the world the power of technology for people with autism. Our hope is that you find "I Want to Say" as compelling and powerful as we do.
Alison Dyer, Social Marketing Manager at Autism Speaks, recently watched “How to BEND light !!”
Today’s guest blog post comes from Ronda Carnegie, Head of Global Partnerships from TED.
For the third year, TED and YouTube teamed up on Ads Worth Spreading, an initiative to recognize ads that inspire, educate and engage. Today at the TED2013 conference in Long Beach, Calif., this year’s ten winners were announced.
Ads were nominated in six categories: Talk, Social Good, Cultural Compass, Creative Wonder, Brand Bravery, and Education. Six nomination teams made up of one TED speaker and one rising thinker in advertising searched for ads in each category, while 25 leading figures in the ad industry searched for ads across categories.
Each of these ten ads go beyond the creative brief to spark imagination and create moments of emotional connection with audiences. The winning work will be showcased at TED2013 as well as on TED.com and you can watch them all here on YouTube. Combined, they have been viewed more than 100 million times on YouTube.
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