The Utube Blog

News:  29,000 people flock to see Oprah and Barack Obama in South Carolina.  18,500 in Iowa.  Over 100,000 views now on YouTube in 2 days.  Is this the perfect storm for Hillary Clinton?

News: Barack Obama is now in a statistical tie with Hillary Clinton in Iowa.

Analysis: Oprah is an excellent campaigner. The Clinton camp should be hitting the panic button right now. This will be their toughest challenge for the Democratic nomination.

News:  So a day after Oprah featured YouTubers on her show, who do you think was the most popular?  Well, it looks like Tyson, the skateboarding dog, stole the show.  The video view count on Oprah’s channel looks like this:

Tyson, the skateboarding dog - 608,662 views

Esmee Denters - 189,202

Paul Potts - 96,805

Chad Hurley & Steve Chen - 49,209, 29,917

Mr. Evolution of Dance - 40,012

Analysis:   Of course, Oprah beat everyone, with over 1 million views for her big announcement on YouTube.

News: Oprah started out the show today on YouTube with this pronouncement:

“You know, there are a few inventions that I think kind of rock the world. Wouldn’t you agree? The telephone would be in there, right? I think about that every time I dial. There’s just 7 digits, and then you’re talking to somebody. The light bulb would have to be there. And the airplane, of course, because most of you got here by airplane. Of course, the computer, look at how our world has changed since the computer.

“And then there are a couple guys in their twenties who launched YOUTUBE! … [APPPLAUSE] And then it just exploded, virtually exploded. This website allows anybody to post a video and become world famous instantly. Over 200 million–MILLION!–videos are watched on YouTube every single day.”

Analysis: The show today was pretty amazing, as was Oprah. Oprah definitely gets it. She really gets the incredible power of YouTube. She’s not a techie, but she is perhaps the most astute media celebrity/mogul around. As I’ve been saying to anyone who will listen, YouTube is, hands down, the most important website in the 21st century. It is revolutionary. And now Oprah is a part of the revolution.

For all of my posts so far on Oprah, visit here.

Esmee Denters

Julia and James “Dirty Dancing” wedding dance

P Diddy

Juddson Laipply

Paul Potts

Tyson, the skateboarding dance

Video click here.  Oprah interviewed Judson Laiiply, whose “Evolution of Dance” is the Most Watched Video (all-time) on YouTube, with over 63 million views.   To put that number into perspective, the last episode of Seinfeld received 75 million views.  So Judson’s video is not too shabby.

Video click here.  Oprah conducts an excellent interview of co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen.  Oprah even has her own flip video camera. 

The best line by Oprah:  “The genius of [YouTube] is how simple it is, and the fact that it includes everybody.”  I couldn’t have put it better myself. 

Video click here.  Esmee was very nervous, but there’s no doubt she will be a star.

(Sorry, Oprah’s disabled the embedding of videos, so you need to click the link above.)

News: Today is the day. Oprah officially becomes a YouTuber, hosting Steve Chen and Chad Hurley on her show, along with other YouTubers like Esmee Denters. YouTube will get the “Oprah treatment,” which is not bad for a company nearing 3 years old. If you’re free this afternoon, you can catch Oprah at 4 p.m. (at least in my area). I will blog much more about the show afterwards. Can’t wait.

For more, visit my last post.

News: One of my readers commented that I should have noted that Esmee Denters will be donating all of her royalties from sales of her new song, “Crazy Place” (featured on this video) to charity. The song will be available next week on her website, www.esmeeworld.com. Justin Timberlake and his label Tennman Records will match the amount with a donation of their own.

Analysis: It was almost a year ago when I first began writing about Esmee. Back then, she was an 18-year-old Dutch girl singing to her karaoke machine from her bedroom in her parents’ house. Now, a year later, she’s signed with Justin Timberlake’s new label and will be appearing on Oprah on Tuesday. Wow, now that’s incredible.

As I said when Esmee first announced getting signed to a music contract, I feel so happy for all the success Esmee is experiencing. It couldn’t have happened to a sweeter person. Although Esmee did once have a desire to become a social worker, my guess is that she will be able to achieve much more good through her music. What musician donates all her royalties for her first single to charity? Esmee is something special.

It’s official: Oprah today has launched her own YouTube channel.

Chad Hurley and Steve Chen welcomed Oprah to YouTube in the video below:

But it appears that Tyson, the skateboarding dog, stole the show on Oprah and YouTube:

Analysis:  I have so much to say about the importance of Oprah to YouTube that I don’t know even where to begin.  After I watch Tuesday’s Oprah show, I will be back with some further thoughts.  This may well be the biggest coup for YouTube, even bigger than’s Google’s acquisition last year.

News: How do you know you’ve finally arrived? Oprah Winfrey invites you to be on her show. This Tuesday, Oprah is devoting an entire show to YouTube and its celebrities, including Dutch singing sensation Esmee Denters. Oprah will eventually interview co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen (although I’m not sure it’s on the Tuesday show or not). Hands down, this is the single biggest moment for YouTube as a cultural phenomenon. As I’ve often said to those who ask me about YouTube, YouTube is, without a doubt, the most important website to come along in the 21st century. It has transformed entertainment, music, politics, and the way in which we disseminate information. No wonder that Oprah Winfrey — a phenomenon herself and whose No.1 talk show is seen by 49 million viewers a week — is featuring an entire show on YouTube.

Here’s Esmee’s announcement about being on Oprah:

Analysis: Being on the Oprah show will give YouTube incredible exposure to millions of people, especially women, who probably know next to nothing about YouTube. I wonder how Oprah became interested in YouTube. I can’t wait to watch the show! I love Esmee, but my favorite probably will be Tyson, the skateboarding dog.