The inaugural YouTube U.S. NextUp class gives their commencement address

Editor’s note: We just wrapped up the first ever Creator Camp as part of the YouTube NextUp program in the U.S., and we felt like we should hand it over to the class itself to tell you all how the week went - in (mostly) their own words. The class filled in the blanks for this blog post - you can follow each link to see who contributed that phrase. Huge congratulations to the first ever YouTube NextUp class!

We’re a group of 25 YouTube Partners who were bodacious enough to be selected for the first ever YouTube NextUp program. We received $35,000 from YouTube to take our career to the next level, and were invited to attend a special Creator Camp in New York to perfect our skills.

That first ever YouTube Creator Camp wrapped up last Friday, and it can best be described as stinkin awesome. The week started with a group of alien individuals getting to know each other, and by the end of it, we were our own YouTube wolf pack.

New York city provided a frenetic backdrop to our experience. For some of us, it was our first trip to the Big Apple, and it was common to hear people saying “this isn’t anything like Dallas”. Or sometimes “do you smell that?”

It’s hard to pick out highlights in a week that was so overwhelmingly intense, but they have to include the time when Luke Conard wore a full face of makeup and also the moment when I held back tears after being handed the biggest check I have ever received as an independent filmmaker.

We worked hard during the week and learned a lot. One of the most important lessons we came away with was to bring along Chescaleigh if you want someone to eat a fish eye at a Chinese restuarant, and also that it's a marathon, not a sprint. And we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out that humping the air on occasion was really important too.  (Ok, ok, the main thing we all learned was the importance of collaboration!)

During the final presentation, we learned that our videos have collectively been viewed more than 30 million times this year alone - which made us feel like rock stars.

Shooting the collaborative videos was a crazy and amazing experience. You can see some a sneak preview of our projects below - we think you’ll agree it’s pretty epic, with dashes of sentimental mushiness.

What will the future hold for us, as the first YouTube NextUp class? We’re sure it’s going to involve tons of amazing video collaborations and probably a little bit of sweet sweet YouTube money. (Editor’s note: Each of our YouTube NextUp participants received $35,000 to take their YouTube channel to the next level).

So tune in - watch our videos as they progress towards respectability, and we’ll do our best to keep producing the same genuine, creative and fun-filled videos that you’ve grown used to. The YouTube community is full of awesome and creative people, and we really want to make sure we continue to rock it out in future. Here’s to ever-growing view counts and a happy YouTube future.

YouTube NextUp Class of 2011, recently watched “25 winners, 25 videos, countless memories - YouTube NextUp NYC 2011 Recap.”

The +1 Button on YouTube

Today, as announced on the Google Blog, we're excited to roll out the Google +1 button on YouTube. The +1 button will be available to everyone on the YouTube watch page under the Share feature. If you're signed in, you'll also be able to see +1 annotations from your Google contacts on YouTube search results. We believe letting users see videos recommended by people they are connected to will be incredibly valuable in helping you find and watch the videos that matter to you.

Rick Klau, YouTube Product Manager, recently watched “NBA Finals: Karmin ‘Take it Away.”

Music Tuesday: Death Cab for Cutie, Cibo Matto and more

What’s happening on youtube.com/music? If you’re a fan of one of indie rock’s most influential bands, a lot. Check out our picks for what's happening in music this week.

Death Cab for Cutie curation
Death Cab for Cutie’s intelligent, heart-restrained-by-head songs have always vibrated with barely-contained desire. They’re also innovative video-makers -- earlier this year they released a pretty stunning one-take video for “You Are A Tourist.” They followed it up by asking Shepard Fairey to tag L.A. with the lyrics to “Home Is A Fire.” So we were pretty psyched when Ben Gibbard and Nick Harmer agreed to sit down and choose some of their favorite videos for us on the eve of the release of their new album Codes and Keys. Like the band itself, their videos are diverse, thoughtful, surprising and sometimes cute: you’ll find indie rock videos, sure, but also French bulldogs, exploding volcanoes, and a starry sky. Prepare to swoon.



Cibo Matto reunites
Everybody’s favorite quirky Japanese alterna-pop duo, Cibo Matto grabbed a devoted following back in the ‘90s for their deceptively simple, sly and silly songs. They weren’t rockstars, but they were cool and goofy and hard to ignore. They recently announced they’re getting back together for a tour and a new album. Here’s why you care:



Lavalier "Santa Claus Ain't Comin'"
When even Nylon Magazine is trying to remind us that there’s music being made outside of Brooklyn, it feels a bit perverse to hype yet another Brooklyn band. But Lavalier -- a slightly psychedelic, slightly melancholic indie band -- have something else going for them: their new video from the art collective Everything Is Terrible. The collective scours junk sales and thrift stores for discarded VHS tapes and turns them into hilarious videos. They hit the jackpot with this one, sending up ‘80s culture by using detritus from the decade itself. This is cultural archeology at its best -- and the song’s not bad, either.



Sarah Bardeen, Music Community Manager, recently watched “Go - Santogold & Karen O."

John Legend takes your education questions in next World View interview

In the past five months, YouTube World View has challenged leaders to talk about some of the most pressing issues facing the world today. Until today, these leaders have resided squarely in the government space, however, our next World View subject has a slightly different background.

Starting today, you can ask questions of philanthropist and soulful crooner John Legend. In addition to being a nine-time Grammy Award winner (!) and one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People, John is the founder of the Show Me Campaign, an effort to use education to break the cycle of poverty.

John wants to hear your questions about education, whether they’re about raising the standard of education around the world, improving the quality of teachers, or the work he is doing with the Show Me Campaign. You can head over to www.youtube.com/worldview to submit your questions now. He’ll answer the top-voted questions in a special interview that will be released on June 8.

Ramya Raghavan, News and Politics Manager, recently watched “John Legend in Ghana”

Watch My Morning Jacket’s perform live tonight

Tonight at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, indie rock darlings My Morning Jacket will debut their new album Circuital in style: with a performance in Louisville, Kentucky’s historic Palace Theatre. No ticket? No problem. Watch the performance live on youtube.com/mymorningjacketvevo.

The show marks the next installment of the original music series UNSTAGED, in partnership with American Express and VEVO. UNSTAGED pairs bands with iconic film directors to create one-of-a-kind live performances.

Director Todd Haynes (Velvet Goldmine, I’m Not There) will conduct the show. Haynes has been engaged with pop music throughout his career, crafting films that have frequently looked at music icons through an unusual lens: in Velvet Goldmine, he approached glam rock through the guise of a fictional, Bowie-like rock star named Brian Slade. In I’m Not There, six different actors inhabit or embody Bob Dylan’s many-faceted career. A subtle provocateur, Haynes has always looked to transgress social norms in his work.

As an indie band that often flirts with experimental elements, My Morning Jacket are a natural match for Haynes. The group burst onto the scene in 2001 with the release of their sophomore album At Dawn. Alt country had become the fashion among many northern rock bands, but as native southerners, these Kentucky boys came by their twang honestly. When they drenched it in oceans of reverb, what could have been relatively straightforward country rock verged on otherworldly.



Over the years, the band has evolved, experimenting with neo-psychedelia, reggae and progressive rock and even emulating Prince. Circuital sees the band returning to its early influences -- and returning home to Louisville to perform in the Palace Theatre, an ornate Spanish Baroque-style theater built in 1924. The theater oozes with atmosphere: the trompe l’oeil ceiling looks like an open sky, and a “hall of faces” features over a hundred sculptures of Socrates, Beethoven, Dante and more. The venue also has amazing acoustics -- and, according to some reports, a ghost.

Anything could happen tonight! Tune in early for an exclusive Q&A before the show, and keep an eye out for interesting components of the webcast: vote for their encore song, choose your camera angle, watch for user-submitted eyeball photos (yes, eyeballs) on stage, and potentially unlock some exclusive photo content during the performance!

Sarah Bardeen, Music Community Manager, recently watched “LOUDER|DUBSTEP.”

This week's Trends: trailer proposals, commencement time-lapses, and pets

Each weekday, we at YouTube Trends take a look at the most interesting videos and cultural phenomena on YouTube as they develop. We want take a moment to highlight some of what we've come across this week:

• We tracked the trend of creative movie trailer proposals.
  
  
• We enjoyed a Canuck's parody/anthem that was very popular in Canada.
  
  
• We followed some of the coolest and most popular commencement and graduation trends.
  
  
• We saw a collection of first-person disaster videos as well as footage of the volcano in Iceland.
  
  
• We listed Keenan Cahill's most popular collaborations.
  
  
• And, in what was a big week for pet videos, we helped this now world famous cat from Japan celebrate his third birthday:

Check back every day for the latest about what's trending on YouTube at: www.YouTube.com/Trends

Kevin Allocca, YouTube Trends Manager, recently watched "Cee Lo Green - I Want You (Hold On To Love)."

CuteGirlsHairstyles wins May’s “On The Rise”

Congratulations to Mindy of CuteGirlsHairstyles, the YouTube Partner that won May’s edition of On The Rise with a record number of votes on the YouTube blog. On The Rise is your chance to decide which growing partner will get a day in the spotlight on the YouTube homepage, and based on your votes, CuteGirlsHairstyles is featured on our homepage today.

CuteGirlsHairstyles began years ago when Mindy’s eldest daughters were 18 months old. She started experimenting with new hairstyles to avoid standard pigtails, keeping a photo collection to keep track of the styles. She then created a blog to share the techniques and expanded her network to YouTube, where her video hairstyle tutorials like “Waterfall French Braid,” “Twists into Side Flip,” and “Side Ponytail Combo” quickly caught on.



Here’s a word from Mindy:

“I am a wife, a mom to six children (five of them girls), a hairblogger, a school board member, passionate about adoption, and full-time CEO and Logistics Director of our "organized chaos!” YouTube has become a major driver for our hairstyles, with thousands of subscribers coming from all over the world. For me, providing these tutorials brings satisfaction in knowing that girls worldwide are receiving a boost to their self esteems from all the daily compliments. It is also nice knowing that my daughters and I are helping moms and daughters find bonding time together each day. We sincerely want to thank our YouTube subscribers and fans for voting CuteGirlsHairstyles as May 2011's YouTube 'On The Rise' winner!"

If you’re enjoying our monthly blog series and want to see more rising YouTube stars, head over to our “On The Rise” channel and check out our playlists on the browse page. Check back next month, as your channel may be the next one featured!

Devon Storbeck, Partner Support, recently watched “Beachy Combo | Beautiful Hairstyles.”