December 19, 2008

The Power of YouTube

Friday, December 19, 2008 Posted by Mary , , , No comments
It looks like I've been hiding under a rock for the past few months, and pardon me for that, but I only found out about Arnel Pineda today. I was watching Eat Bulaga (Philippine lunchtime tv show) with my mom when they asked who the lead singer was of the band who sang "Open Arms" on one of their segments. When the answer turned out to be Arnel, I was shocked. I knew Journey originally sang Open Arms, but who was this Arnel person? Was there a new band who covered this song? My mom mentioned him a few days earlier telling me that he was an internationally known singer and that he won 1 million pesos on Deal or No Deal (Philippine version). But aside from that, I didn't know anything else. So I Wikied (searched Wikipedia, that is) him, and I was pleasantly surprised by what I found out.


Arnel is the new lead vocalist of the band Journey! That is amazing indeed, but what's interesting is how he was discovered--through YouTube. The band's guitarist, Neal Schon, found videos of Arnel and his band, The Zoo, covering old Journey songs and said, "he's the one". Arnel sounds remarkably like Steve Perry, and I think he's really, really talented, so I hope Journey will rise again. With Arnel as their frontman, that is very much possible. They have a new album out, Revelation, which topped at #1 on the Billboard charts and has already hit Platinum. Classic Rock magazine nominated this album for Album of the Year, and you can show your support to Arnel and the band by voting here.

Arnel's quick rise to fame because of YouTube reminds me of another Filipino, Charice Pempengco, the "international teen singing sensation" who was also discovered on the same site by Ellen DeGeneres, and later Oprah, who introduced her to David Foster. In the year that she's been discovered, Charice has been singing with the likes of Celine Dion, Michael Buble, Josh Groban, Alicia Keys, and Andrea Bocelli.




Truly talented and hardworking people deserve breaks, and I think it's wonderful that YouTube makes that possible. If not for that, these people would never have had this opportunity to make it really big because of their nationality and location. Another thing Arnel and Charice share is a sad past. Because of poverty, they had to strive hard in order to survive (read more on their Wikipedia profiles). I can imagine what this new life must be for them. What a wonderful blessing; truly amazing!

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