Youtube presents a potential method of climbing to fame that attracts Internet users like the Yukon attracted gold rush fanatics. Most youtubers want their cut of adoring viewers, and while most manage at least a few thousand hits for their videos of themselves talking at their web cams, a select few have used youtube to catapult themselves to varying degrees of cyber-stardom. Here are five of them, in no particular order.
Chris Crocker
Anyone who watches television or browses online news sites and blogs knows about Chris Crocker. Crocker is most famous for his "Leave Britney Alone!" video, which has logged more than ten million views, and showcased him crying and yelling about the media's recent favorite fallen star, Britney Spears. Crocker has now appeared on television several times, including in clips on multiple news stations and an appearance on the Maury Povich show, and has been signed to his own coming reality television show.
Whether or not you find Crocker likeable (his social commentary videos have gained millions of hits as well), one thing is clear: this guy attracts the eye. He's weird, he's loud, and he's successful at getting attention, whether he tries for the sake of a message, or just to get himself a bit of attention. Really, he does both.
Bo Burnham
Burnham is a 17 -year-old comedian/songwriter from Massachusetts who started posting videos of himself singing his songs and playing guitar in 2007. While not quite as famous as Chris Crocker, Burnham's youtube videos have millions of hits, and a much more positive public response, on average. His songs are somewhat controversial (especially "Klan Cookout" and "The Perfect Woman"), but are nonetheless widely received as hilarious and impressively clever. Not all of them are controversial, however - just see "3.14 Apple Pie" and "New Math," for some generally, er, almost, sort-of, clean humor.
In other words, due to his ironic camera-hamming, character impersonations (see "Rehab Center for Fictional Characters"), and appreciable singing voice, Bo has gotten away with taboo after taboo, and has won many a heart (and marriage proposal) from his cult-like following of youtube users. Bo is one of youtube's top subscribed comedians, sells his songs via iTunes, has a Hollywood agent (who also represents giants like Drew Carey and Dave Chappelle), and a Comedy Central booking. Not bad for someone under twenty who makes a hobby out of being deliberately politically incorrect.
Tay Zonday
"Chocolate Rain" is a pretty familiar online tune, and has earned Tay Zonday, the deep-voiced singer and songwriter, guest spots on shows like "The Daily Show" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," as well as numerous comedic impersonations - the song is spoofed all over the place, online and offline. Some, including Zonday himself, suspect the song's fame to have risen from attention drawn to it by "4chan," the popular message board whose community is also to be credited (or blamed) for the "Rick Roll," the "Anonymous" peaceful protesters, and other memes.
"Chocolate Rain," while being described by its creator as cheesy, is also hypnotic sounding in its torrent of repeated verses and its singer's deep voice. The song, which is about racism, has received over twenty-three million views - good news for egalitarianism.
Tom Dickson
The "Will it Blend" series of videos is one of the most successful viral advertising campaigns to date. The infomercials feature Tom Dickson, dressed in a white lab coat, with a Blendtec Total Blender, and something to blend.
This guy will chop up just about anything. He used his trusty blender to turn an apple iPhone to dust (literally), as well as liquefy a McDonald's extra value meal and wreck credit cards. He doesn't stop himself at unsafe blending prospects: to date, he has blended golf balls, marbles, bic lighters (great balls of fire!) and cubic zirconium.
Exemplifying the fame of the series, the remains of the iPhone that Dickson blended, with a DVD compilation of all the "Will it Blend" episodes, sold on ebay for $901. Dickson has also appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Between youtube and the official "Will it Blend" web site, the episodes have received more than one hundred million hits.
Liam Kyle Sullivan
While Sullivan has had professional gigs unrelated to his youtube series of videos (like "Gilmore Girls" and "Alias"), youtube is what he's most known for. His "Shoes" video, in which he dresses in drag and 'sings' in the role of a shoe-obsessed valley girl named Kelly, became an instant classic in 2006. Since then, the video has earned almost seventeen million hits.
For those unfamiliar with any of the Internet stars mentioned above, don't fret: the Internet will never forget them, and you can find their videos not only by doing a simple search at youtube.com, but by searching their names at google.com. If you've missed out on these respective phenomena, check them out: you're guaranteed to be entertained. That is, unless you find yourself a little repulsed. That's okay, too - after all, youtube is all about getting a reaction out of viewers.