Broadcasted live on YouTube for over 50 hours, the YouTube FanFest broke digital barriers between YouTube stars and fans while bringing millions together.

As part of the Digital & Music Matters in Singapore, the YouTube FanFest with HP is a 2-day showcase that brought fans closer to 20 of their favourite YouTube sensations. The first of its kind, the Fanfest saw popular YouTubers convening at the ballroom of the Ritz Carlton Milennia  to perform and be a part of a week-long array of events.

Day 1 saw David Choi, Mighty Car Mods and Mychonny take to the stage among other YouTube sensations. Opening the showcase was Singapore’s Steph Micayle (Stephanie Koh) singing a medley of covers ranging from Ke$ha to Adele and sharing personal stories about her success with fans and E! News Asia host Dominic Lau.

Afterwards, John Luc, better known as Mychonny, explained more about the concepts behind some of his most popular videos such as “My Crazy Sister” and “Driving In Cars With Asians”.  Riotous laughter filled the air as the Australian-based Mychonny did impressions of his family and talked about where he got the idea to helm 5 YouTube channels that range from his rants and parodies to videos of him gaming.

Owning the stage next was Malaysian-Chinese rapper Namewee who not only performed but premiered his music video for his song, “Learn Cantonese”. Namewee was shy until he got on stage to perform a song in Thai. That’s when the audience found out the showman in the singer. From the way he mimicked the inflections of the Thai language to his flashy clothes, the performance was a memorable one despite Namewee not being the most popular YouTuber next to the likes of David Choi or Ryan Higa, who has 8.4 million subscribers to his YouTube channel.

Midway through the 2-hour showcase, television personality Paula Malai Ali introduced the ever charming, David Choi. With his Ash Ketchum-like hair, Choi was one with his guitar. Despite how loudly fans were cheering, the Asian American singer was able to control the crowd as he calmly sat on the stool and started to serenade them with his self-composed songs such as “That Girl”, “Missing Piece” and “By My Side”. Choi even flirted with Ali as he sang “Thinking Of You” and the crowd loved it!

Finishing off the show was American YouTuber sensation, Chester See. Having worked with fellow YouTube stars Kina Grannis and Tiffany Alvord, See has built a name for himself after 6 years in the YouTube scene as a singer-songwriter, actor, host and most notably a member of the YOMYOMF (You Offend Me You Offend My Family) family. The mostly female crowd was in ecstasy the moment a video introducing the attractive American-Filipino singer was played. In fact, some of them even rushed forward to get a closer look. Singing original tracks like “Goddamn You’re Beautiful” and “Who Am I To Stand In Your Way”, See set hearts melting as he sat behind the keyboard.

Besides Choi and See, Hikakin was another highlight of the evening. Said to be Japan’s top beatboxer, the shy and polite individual sent jaws dropping as he covered Beethoven and some of his own original creations. He even unveiled his latest video of a cover of Psy’s “Gentleman”. Day 1 certainly set the benchmark high for Day 2.

Before you go, here is a special shout-out, or should I say sing-out from Chester See and David Choi to The UrbanWire.

Photos and video by Denise Kang