Journalist of the Day: Shobha Janardanan
Let’s Get This Party Started! The familiar YouTube palate of 3 coloured visuals in red, white and black, beckoned guests into the YouTube Festival 2019, at MITEC’s Auditorium. Along a warmly lit walkway, a burst of neon lights on a black backdrop elegantly displayed the hashtag #MYYTFESTIVAL.
The thematic displays of the evening alone, promised a brand of enjoyment in store, characteristic of only the world’s most popular video-sharing website, YouTube!
Visitors reaching the end of the walkway were met with a small intersection cleverly labelled Jalan YouTube. A street-sign pointed at nooks dedicated to Music, Games and Foodporn activity spaces.
Sights, sounds and attentive usherers guided guests to explore physical experiences from the virtual worlds we see on YouTube. All this, was complemented with real food stalls and a bar to quench the thirst of both, the social drinker as well as the teetotaller.
Needless to say, it was a playground and party hall, rolled into one.
Three Crooning Creators Mic Up!
Soon, sweet melodies emanated from a private section of the auditorium – the voices were those of 3 creators from Generasi YouTube!
Generasi YouTube explored one of its most popular categories with 3 musically talented YouTubers, who performed their own take on music, as well as shared their YouTube journeys. Cassidy La Creme, Amrita Soon and Lost Spaces revealed what inspired them, the processes they go through to create their content and how YouTube has helped them in their efforts.
Originating from the Land Down Under, Cassidy Anderson, better known as Cassidy La Creme, made a splash in the local YouTube scene with her cover renditions of Malay songs such as ‘Ombak Rindu’ and ‘Nobody Versi Malay’, showcasing her vocal prowess.
Amrita Soon reflected on how the YouTube experience helped develop her musical direction. She commented, “YouTube became an integral part of my journey as a musician, from learning how to play the guitar to composing songs as well as discovering my favourite genre of music from YouTube’s suggested videos section, which were Country-folk and Americana music. It certainly helped me develop my style and musical direction.”
Lost Spaces started out as a project for lead vocalist Sam Lopez, who came to Kuala Lumpur to pursue music seriously, and eventually brought together his brother and cousin as well as two friends to perform as a band. The band’s brand of music is a cumulation of multiple styles and genres, differing from one song to the other, properly conveying the story being told – resulting in groovy bops.
Generasi YouTube, previously known as Generation YouTube, is a quarterly YouTube Malaysia initiative to showcase talented, up-and-coming local creators handpicked based on the mark they are making on the popular video platform. Previous creator showcases have highlighted life-skills educators, local geek culture, the Malaysian fashionista community, millennial vloggers and stereotype-breaking female YouTubers.
The night concluded with the Awards event, which celebrated 2019’s most outstanding ad creatives on Malaysia’s most popular video platform and daily destination for entertainment, information and education.
Presented by YouTube Malaysia, the event honoured brands, agencies and creators whose creative work went beyond marketing to capture the hearts and minds of viewers through excellence in execution and compelling, emotive storytelling.
Photos by Norafida Ramlee
