Youtube Stars - from left - Ana Free, Tiffany Alvord, Clarence Liew, Joseph Vincent, Jason Chen, and David Choi …
Five of You Tube's biggest names are here in our city state to perform at the first ever "You Tube Stars music festival" at the Hard Rock Hotel in Resorts World Sentosa this Saturday.
Together with homegrown You Tube talent Clarence Liew, better known as CLO, they will be taking their online songs onstage for fans and have promised a "surprise" for those who turn up.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, the six, whose ages range between 19 to 26, bantered with an easy camaraderie and gushed enthusiastically about the Transformer's Ride at Universal Studios, while also exchanging stories about sweet fans and nasty comments.
Record labels and reality competitions
All six You Tube stars agreed that they were unlikely to ever sign on with a record label or appear in front of Simon Cowell for an audition.
American-born Korean, David Choi, who has been singing on You Tube for almost seven years and has over 950,000 You Tube subscribers, feels that being signed by record labels 'don't mean a whole lot these days'.
"I have a lot of friends who got deals and stuff and nothing has happened." said the 26-year-old Los Angeles native, whose songs have been featured on television networks NBC, Fox, and MTV. "Sure, You Tube is changing all the time, but I would rather just go with the flow."
Watch: David Choi's "Won't Even Start"
"I think there's a perception that being signed means you're going to be successful and I think that's not the case .. when you're in control of your own channel and your own career .. sometimes you go a little further." agreed British-Portuguese Ana Free, 21, who has opened for the likes of Shakira and James Morrison.
The six also shared their views on reality singing competitions.
"I tried out for America's Got Talent just to see what it was like. It was a freak show .. on my right there was a juggler." said David.
Fellow Asian American Jason Chen, 23, said that he had auditioned for Chinese reality shows but "didn't enjoy it" as it was "all about the ratings", while Californian Joseph Vincent, 22, tried out for American Idol and didn't make it past the first round.
"The Voice asked me to come audition for them, but I didn't want to." said baby of the group, Tiffany Alvord, 19. "If you're not the winner, you're kind of the loser. People don't really remember, but we are all really unique and different - like Taylor Swift and Christina Aguilera - you don't say one is better, because they are just different."
Watch: Tiffany Alvord's cover of "The One That Got Away", which has over 8 million views.
How to make it Big
Most of them felt that starting out early, with the exception of Clarence, who started last year, made it easier for them to "jump on the You Tube bandwagon".
"I think it was really timing. When I first started there wasn't a ton of people covering songs. I'd post covers of popular songs before their videos were out and people would find them when they searched on You Tube." said Tiffany, who now sings to 800,000 subscribers since starting out in 2008.
"It helped that we jumped on the bandwagon early because it's really saturated now. You have to communicate with your fans, post regularly, don't disappear." said Ana, 21, who frequently updates her 76,000 subscribers on her Facebook page and Youtube Channel about what she's up to.
Having a unique singing style works too - Jason, Joseph, and Clarence all say that their re-interpretations of popular songs earned them new viewers.
Watch: Jason's mashup of Taiwanese pop-star Wang Lee Hom's songs earned him a following in China.
Fans and Haters
The price of fame is inevitably another group of people who just want to get you down - and the You Tube Stars say they are no exception.
"You Tube is honest but anonymous - they'll just tell you, you're good, or you suck." said Jason, who started out just using a laptop and singing to his guitar in 2007 but today produces music videos for his original songs.
"Haters can make someone feel really vulnerable. You need a good base, family, and friends. Comments can get terribly insulting." said Ana.
The solution? A thick skin and "high threshold for verbal abuse."
"You can't dwell on it. If you get angry over the comments they hold power over you, so what you do is you focus on the good ones." said Joseph.
"You get lots of views from haters and fans quarreling." laughed Ana. "It may be a hater view, but its still a view."
Watch: Ana Free's cover of Demi Lovato's Skyscraper
All agree that the fans make everything better.
"I had one fan, he made a portrait of me and made me look way buffer than I am. I framed it and put it above my bed." said Joseph, laughing.
The others have received gifts ranging from a pink guitar (Ana), and stuffed owl (Jason), to tickets to the Grammys (Tiffany) and even a fan writing to say that listening to David's songs stopped him from killing himself.
"That was just like oh my gosh, how can a song I did do that to someone?" said David.
Fans turning up for the festival on Saturday can expect "lots of energy" and even a rendition of the six stars favourite party song - "Sexy and I know it" by LMFAO.
In the meantime, you might catch the Stars pigging out around Singapore - so far, they have tried chicken rice, Sze Chuan Hot Pot (without the spice), durian, and can't wait to have a taste of chilli crab.
You Tube Stars Music Festival
Tickets at $70 and available from all Sistic outlets and www.sistic.com.sg
May 5th 2012, Saturday, 7:00pm
The Coliseum™, Hard Rock Hotel® Singapore
