Vivid LIVE from Sydney Opera House puts you in the FRONTROW

Some of the biggest musicians from around the world will gather over the coming week as part of Vivid LIVE, the annual music event held at Sydney Opera House as part of Vivid Sydney, the city’s annual festival of light, music and ideas.

For the first time, audiences around the globe will be able to watch select performances live on YouTube, and share the experience through a custom camera application called FRONTROW.

During the livestream, not only can you sit back and enjoy the tunes of some renowned musicians, you can also participate right from your desktop! In a world first, you can take photos of the event through the FRONTROW camera app: zoom in and out to change your view, take photos during the live stream, apply filters and immediately share on your social networks.



Oh, and what will you be watching? The line-up of performances includes:

• We kicked off today with German design collective URBANSCREEN lighting the sails of Sydney Opera House
• Tuesday, May 29, from 6:00pm AEST / 1:00am PST: Grammy award-winning English singer Imogen Heap, in an intimate recital with a spectacular Sydney Harbour backdrop
• Thursday, May 31, from 9:50pm AEST / 4:50am PST: Our very own The Temper Trap, debuting their new album in the Concert Hall, with footage from the event available on YouTube following the performance
• Saturday, June 2, from 9:00pm AEST / 4:00am PST: Brazilian electronica mastermind Amon Tobin in an audiovisual spectacle taking projection mapping and electronic performance to new heights

For the full schedule of events and to experience Vivid LIVE on YouTube, visit youtube.com/sohfestival.

Ernesto Soriano, YouTube Australia, recently watched “Seekae 3.”

A new human rights channel on YouTube

From its inception, YouTube has been a platform for free expression. Activists around the world use YouTube to document causes they care about and make them known to the world. In the case of human rights, video plays a particularly important role in illuminating what occurs when governments and individuals in power abuse their positions. We’ve seen this play out on a global stage during the Arab Spring, for example: during the height of the activity, 100,000 videos were uploaded from Egypt, a 70% increase on the preceding three months. And we’ve seen it play out in specific, local cases with issues like police brutality, discrimination, elder abuse, gender-based violence, socio-economic justice, access to basic resources, and bullying.

That’s why our non-profit partner WITNESS, a global leader in the use of video for human rights, and Storyful, a social newsgathering operation, are joining forces to launch a new Human Rights channel on YouTube, dedicated to curating hours of raw citizen-video documenting human rights stories that are uploaded daily and distributing that to audiences hungry to learn and take action. The channel, which will also feature content from a slate of human rights organizations already sharing their work on YouTube, aims to shed light on and contextualize under-reported stories, to record otherwise undocumented abuses, and to amplify previously unheard voices. The project was announced today at the Internet at Liberty conference, and will live at youtube.com/humanrights. Storyful will source and verify the videos, and WITNESS will ensure the channel features a balanced breadth of issues with the context viewers need to understand the rights issue involved.

We hope this project can not only be a catalyst to awareness, but offer people new avenues for action and impact. The channel is committed to providing new citizen creators as well as viewers with the tools and information necessary so that every citizen can become a more effective human rights defender. It will also be available on Google+, where the broader human rights community can take part in discussions, share material, and find collaborators.

We welcome your feedback and thoughts on the channel, and if you want to suggest a video for inclusion, email the YouTube URL to witness@storyful.com. Please include any and all details around the time, place, and context of the video. Also, be sure to take the time to learn how to protect yourself and your subjects if you’re the one behind the camera.

Sam Gregory, WITNESS Program Director, and Olivia Ma, YouTube news manager, recently watched “Citizen Watch May 2012."

Music Tuesday: Garbage, Kimbra and the Gossip

It seems appropriate, in the wake of Donna Summer’s untimely death last week at the age of 63, that we are devoting an entire Music Tuesday today to behind-kicking female musicians. Summer herself was a force to be reckoned with. She was at the forefront of disco’s transformation from fringe movement to global phenomenon, all on the strength of her groundbreaking collaboration with Italian producer Giorgio Moroder. Many of her biggest hits sound as vital and provocative today as they did 30+ years ago, and though she always seemed too down-to-earth to be called a diva, she undeniably was one. Check out some of her best moments, and check out three contemporary musicians who also follow their own muses -- with inspiring results.

Garbage’s Favorite New Tracks
The alt-rock band best known for their late-‘90s work returns to recording after a seven-year hiatus. Lead singer Shirley Manson is still acerbic, and the band still knows to marry snarling guitars and danceable beats. (Hurray!) But just as enjoyable is Manson’s playlist of her favorite videos. From the frayed, strange Dirty Beaches to gloriously over-the-top offerings from MIA and Jack White, she hits the sweet spot with videos that rock and unsettle you simultaneously. And which video do you think she had on repeat until she started to freak out her husband? Watch her introduction to find out.


Introducing Kimbra
The New Zealand-based singer Kimbra set the blogosphere afire late last year. Though her debut album Vows only released down under in 2011, her videos gave her global reach, and people were quickly entranced by her precise, crystalline voice and striking aesthetic. (That was before her duet with Gotye claimed a parking spot on top of U.S. charts.) Vows releases today in the U.S., and to celebrate, the singer drops a little science about the music videos she loves.



Watch Gossip Live Tonight!
Today, Gossip release A Joyful Noise, the next step on their evolution from underground alt-dance stars to bona fide members of the dance pop elite. Check them out live tonight on Bowery Presents’ channel at 9:45 ET/6:45 PT. And in the meantime, let Beth Ditto school you in the ways of Gossip.



Sarah Bardeen, Music Community Manager, recently watched “Ceu - Retrovisor.”

It's YouTube's 7th birthday... and you’ve outdone yourselves, again

In May 2005 we first shared YouTube with the world. Seven years later, you’re the ones doing the sharing! We’re so honored that you’ve used YouTube to share how-to tips, political moments, home videos, comedy, music, and so much more.

Last year to celebrate our birthday, we wrote you, the YouTube Community, a thank you note for making our first 6 years so special. And on that birthday you gave us a great present by reaching a record rate of 48 hours of video uploaded to the site every minute. Well Community, this year, on our 7th birthday, you’ve outdone yourselves once again.

Today 72 hours of video are uploaded to the site every minute. Like many 7 year olds around the world, we’re growing up so fast! In other words, every single minute you now upload three whole days worth of video instead of two. That's 61 Royal Wedding Ceremonies, 841 Bad Romances, and 1,194 Nyan Cats.

We’ve come along way in the past 7 years. What started as a handful of videos shared among friends has transformed into a global platform delivering the next generation of channels to anyone, anywhere, and on any device. This last year was especially big for us. We helped bring more great channels to YouTube and we redesigned the site, making it easier for you to discover, watch and subscribe to the videos you love. And all 800 million of you all over the world have shown us we’re on the right track by increasing subscriptions 50% and watching over 3 billion hours a month.

Behind the tens of millions of channels on YouTube featuring talented filmmakers, home videos, skateboarding tricks, music, and car enthusiasts there has always been one consistent voice: you. Throughout our seven years you’ve made the YouTube community what it is. Thank you!



The YouTube Team, recently watched “"How to" throw the PERFECT *Princess Birthday Party*”

Khan Sheikhoun attack, Wildfires rage across Arizona, NATO Protests

Everyday on the CitizenTube channel (and @CitizenTube on Twitter), along with our curation partners @storyful, we look at how the top news stories are covered on YouTube. Each week we post a weekly recap of the top news stories of the week, as seen through the lens of both citizen-reported footage and professional news coverage.

• We witnessed Syrian activists claim the government was responsible for the deaths of at least 21 people in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun after attacks on a funeral procession and on UN vehicles.
• We viewed wildfires raging across parts of Arizona, increasing in size due to strong winds and continuing dry weather.
• We watched protests against the upcoming NATO summit lead to arrests outside buildings in the downtown Chicago area.
• We saw newly-elected French president François Hollande's inauguration take place in Paris.
• We followed the presidential candidates on the US campaign trail, as Mitt Romney stuck to his guns over marriage equality.
• We saw two Russians and an American board the International Space Station from a Soyuz spacecraft.
• We heard boos and mocking remarks towards Mexican presidential race front-runner, Enrique Pena Nieto, during campaign events in Mexico City.
• We monitored the deepening crisis in Greece where there were repeated attempts to form a coalition government in an effort to avoid a new election and a possible exit from the euro. 
• We bade a sad farewell to 'Queen of Disco' Donna Summer, who passed away this week in Florida after a battle with cancer.

Come back next week to watch the news unfold on YouTube. 

Olivia Ma, YouTube News & Politics, recently watched "Drinking Coffee for Longer Life".

YouTube creators can help make Mother's Day a piece of cake

Remember the days when you could give your mom a macaroni necklace, a crayon drawing of her face, or a clay imprint of your hand and her Mother’s Day was complete? Well, those days are over, but that doesn’t mean Mother’s Day can’t still be simple. Great YouTube creators are here to help make this special day as easy as possible with wonderful ideas for food, gifts, and entertainment for moms. Treat your mom’s taste buds to some home cooked grub this holiday with great tips and recipe ideas. Channels like Food. Farmer. Earth. and Kin Community are offering recipes that moms everywhere will love.

 

Forgot to get a card or a gift? Or are you looking to make something memorable, but higher quality than a pipe cleaner tiara? Look no further. Channels like ClevverStyle have great last minute gifts ideas you can go out and buy, while other channels like Digs will teach you how to whip up a DIY gift, like an indoor herb garden.

 

Finally, they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well then a video must be worth about a trillion. Show your mom how much you love her a trillion times over by building her entertaining video playlists that she will love. There are great videos for moms all over YouTube. Check out channels like CafeMom Studios, ModernMom, or The Mom’s View. Or turn to ForMom, our online survival guide for moms, with Tide and Downy that curates videos on a wide range of topics your mom might be interested in. There's everything from styling tutorials by CuteGirlsHairstyles, to budget-conscious gourmet recipes from the wcfoodies channel, to provocative conversation starters from momversation.

 

Happy Mother’s Day!

Jessica Mason, communications associate, recently watched "HELP! MOM'S MAKING A MESS!"

Obama supports marriage equality, Double explosion in Damascus, Supermoon occurs worldwide

Everyday on the CitizenTube channel (and @CitizenTube on Twitter), along with our curation partners @storyful, we look at how the top news stories are covered on YouTube. Each week we post a weekly recap of the top news stories of the week, as seen through the lens of both citizen-reported footage and professional news coverage.

• We saw marriage equality activists celebrate as Barack Obama became the first sitting US President to announce his support for same-sex marriage.
• We witnessed a double bombing at rush hour in Damascus just days after Syria held its first parliamentary election for half a century.
• We watched people worldwide turning their eyes to the sky for the supermoon phenomenon.
• We viewed a political shift in France as socialist candidate Francois Hollande emerged the victor of France's presidential election.
• We followed the presidential candidates on the US campaign trail, with the divisive Barack Obama choosing this week to officially launch his bid for re-election.
• We monitored clashes between anti-Putin protesters and police in Moscow in the hours leading up to Vladimir Putin's inauguration as president.
• We saw the Olympics torch lighting ceremony and over 175,000 people visit London's Olympic park to mark 2012 hours to go until the Games.
• We observed scenes that looked to come straight from a science fiction movie as twisters were spotted in different locations all over the world.
• We said a sad goodbye to author and illustrator Maurice Sendak, creator of children's favorite 'Where the Wild Things Are'.

Olivia Ma, YouTube News & Politics Manager, recently watched "President Obama - Gay Marriage".