On December 15th, Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show YouTube channel bought into the current Star Wars hype by posting a medley of the franchise’s most famous musical numbers. Together with The Roots and several members of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens cast, Fallon used a split-screen approach to create a choral feel, and viewers loved it–the video already has more than 10 million views.
With his Star Wars medley, Fallon didn’t just find YouTube success. He also unwittingly threw down the gauntlet to an entire category of content creators. Split-screen harmony videos are a popular subgenre on YouTube, and one of the most prominent musicians within that world viewed Fallon’s video as an open challenge. Peter Hollens, whose a cappella videos have earned him more than 1.1 million subscribers, teamed up with notable Minecraft gamer SkyDoesMinecraft for his own multi-voiced Star Wars medley.
The Tonight Show medley featured dozens of voices across four of Star Wars’ most iconic tracks, but Hollens and Sky’s version ups the ante by featuring 135 different vocal lines. Hollens’ arrangements, as per usual, are terrific, and Sky surprises everyone by showing off a very capable singing voice.
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Hollens’ medley hasn’t yet gained the same viral attention garnered by Fallon’s version, but the YouTube star is still proud of what he accomplished. “I would say vocally and audio-wise, I think it definitely holds its own,” Hollens said of his video, “but if I’m being honest, I don’t believe you can ever beat having the original cast in a video…but I think they are both really fun and worth watching by any Star Wars fan.”
Despite his reverence toward the Tonight Show video, Hollens is also curious to see which version viewers like more. “I would still love to put it to a vote,” he said. Which version do you prefer? Feel free to let us know below.
