You Should Have Made Me Listen

I’ve been warned about it and you’d think with my raging addiction and obviously susceptible personality, I would reframe from partaking but I told myself just one time. One minute. That turned into an hour. So in the name of recovery and nipping this thing in the bud, I have to admit something. Dammit! I started watching YouTube this weekend.

My blogging mentor Tere warned me of the dangers but I’m week. It started Friday night with boredom. Damn J and his having to work late. He left me alone with the computer and way too much time on my hands. It started with a Lily Allen video them went to the boozy Amy Winehouse. Then AW in live TV performances. I heard about these girls on other blogs. Loved Lily the minute I saw her video for Smile.

Then a funny thing happened. After watching the John Legend video for Save Room, I noticed that people post their covers of songs. I must have watched five versions of Save Room without blinking. I was riveted. Truly. Then I went on to original songs. I saw a young woman with a pure voice singing her original tune, which I promptly closed. I’m not much on original songs by amateurs; they always sound like melodramatic high school break up songs. I went to her version of Missing You. Amazing. Why hasn’t this girl been signed?

Then I saw her sing Nelly Furtado’s Say It Right complete with affected head movements and half-eye closed concentration in what looked like a hotel room. Slightly strange. By the time I clicked on Shania Twain’s You’re Still the One, I was howling out loud. She was seriously putting on a concert in her bedroom with full conviction. Not for nothing but I thought that was hilariously bizarre. This peculiar trend won’t prevent me from viewing the website but it has turned me off the musicians.

It wasn’t until last night that my NYC correspondent O explained people have been using YouTube as a scouting tool. Clever. I imagine there’s an urban legend brewing that the next great talent will be discovered on the website. After all, Rosie O’Donnell just brought someone on the view for this exact reason. He’s a curiosity but hardly a true artist. The caliber of talent will soon diminish as all of the American Idol rejects begin posting their own videos.

While it might not be the most direct way to start a career, YouTube is a great invention that allows everyday people to showcase their unique talent and other odd quirks. Outstanding.

What are your YouTube favorites?