YouTubr killed the video star?

It’s probably safe to say U2 have always had a bit of a rep as pioneers, and their recent YouTube venture is no exception.
The Irish super-group have just become the first band ever to stream an entire stadium concert in real time online.
Awesome multimedia concept, right? But should we believe the hype?

I wonder how many artists will follow suit. Could online shows see a plummet in ticket sales? And how valued will DVDs be if the events have already been aired? With software available to download from YouTube, why fork out the funds for ‘official’ releases, when you can nab ‘em online and vibe out in front of the plasma and Bose at home?

Most artists have their own channels, but they’re usually just money-spinners. Certainly nothing like what U2 have done by making their latest gig globally accessible. I wouldn’t hold my breath, for example, for Madge to jump on such a financially precarious wagon any time soon.

But I’m such a Tube-head. If I can’t watch three fat chicks on crack shuffling around their trailer park to Single Ladies, I don’t know what I’d do.

It’s courted its fair share of controversy too, with uploads of suicides, pretty crims filming themselves and facilitating their own capture, not to mention those notorious moments like the camp ‘Leave Britney alone’ nut-job or Miss Teen South Carolina’s painful prattle about “maps, and everywhere, like, such as, and”.

It’s comedy gold. And there’s a lot of stuff you can’t find anywhere else.

Footage of MADTV, Fast Forward, and sneak peeks of performances have seen me lost for hours in the cyber-chasms of the YouTube cosmos. But when it comes to proletarian crapola uploaded by idiots, I like my rubbish bad.

Most queens love an audience, and it’s all there. So why go out, when you can be part of it all from the comfort of your crib? In fact, despite my current hiatus out in the burbs, I’ve been to PINK, U2, Sleaze, 46 events over the October long weekend, and a slew of other shindigs — all vicariously care of Facebook and YouTube.

Yup, thanks to the WWW, seems I can indeed be the only gay in the village.