Shontelle/YouTube Streamys Performance Celebrates Big Voices

Vanilla Ice isn’t the only Streamys performer who will collaborate with YouTube stars. When up-and-coming singer-songwriter Shontelle takes the stage at the Hollywood Palladium, she will be joined by four big-voiced YouTubers, all of them bursting with talent. On paper, the fivesome of Shontelle, Sam Tsui, Kurt Hugo Schneider, Savannah Outen, and Lisa Lavie seem to have a lot in common. They are all in their twenties, they all have millions of YouTube views, and each one can really belt it out. What’s fascinating is the different paths each musician took to stardom.

Shontelle has used her summer hit “Impossible” to gain mainstream success, which later translated to YouTube; Schneider‘s MysteryGuitarMan-esque combination of musical talent and production skills made his channel an instant hit; Tsui was able to use his association with Schneider to gain an audience for his skilled vocal performances; Outen used cover songs and collaborations with artists like Boyce Avenue

to build her fanbase; Lavie first got noticed in her teens and has long used YouTube to promote her music.

Though they come from disparate backgrounds, these five performers have been brought together by the great equalizer that is the Internet, a place where any talented individual with a video camera has a chance to succeed. Their combined performance at the Streamys will be a testament to that doctrine.

As with Ice, it’s also neat to see YouTubers meeting up with their mainstream idols. Lisa Lavie gained fame thanks to covers of songs like “Impossible”, and now she’ll join the artist who inspired her. The Internet has become a powerful place, indeed.

To see these five musicians show off their pipes, tune in to the Streamys starting at 3 PM PT/6 PM ET on February 17th.