The Internet can be a wonderful, magical place that presents new talent to the public and gives some of the most creative people a way to share their art with the world. Admittedly, I'm a huge YouTube fan. Actually, fan is putting it lightly. Let's just say, I know more about YouTube than someone who isn't actually employed by YouTube should. YouTube is quickly growing into a multi-media powerhouse whose biggest names are making millions of dollars a year posting videos for the enjoyment of their devoted fans. As a Media Arts and Design major and someone who likes to consider themself a creative person, seeing YouTubers that take real pride in what they produce is so inspiring. One of the most creatively inspirational people on YouTube right now, and just generally one of the most talented and hardworking humans in the whole entertainment business, is Todrick Hall.
Todrick is a 30-year-old actor, singer, dancer, and director from Arlington, Texas. His talents were first showcased to the world when he auditioned for season nine of "American Idol" and made it to the semi-finals. Shortly thereafter, he launched his YouTube channel in May 2006 and started posting videos of him singing in McDonald's drive thru windows, covering songs, and dancing. One of his most popular videos, a Beyoncé flash mob in a Target, has accumulated over 13 million views and was posted in June 2011. Beyoncé herself saw the flash mob and congratulated him on the video's success. Basically everything Toddy touches turns to beautiful YouTube gold. Try to watch one of his videos and not get goosebumps. It's impossible.
Besides just getting personally recognized by the queen herself, Todrick has also made a name for himself on YouTube through his song mashups, Disney videos, and popular movie recreations. Recently, Todrick has made headlines with his "4" videos. The first one he posted is "4 Beyoncé," in which he mashes up all five Beyoncé albums in four minutes in four separate screens, all in sync, complete with choreography. He's pretty much a wizard. "4 Beyoncé" has received over 6 million views since it as published in April, 2015. Since posting that mash-up, he's also published "4 Taylor," "4 Gaga," and "4 Rihanna," all in the same style as the Beyoncé video.
Today, Todrick has his own show on MTV called "Todrick," in which he and his crew of singers, dancers, actors, makeup artists, and friends come up with and complete a project every week. He's had the opportunity to work with the likes of Joseph Gordon Levitt, Taylor Swift, Maddie Ziegler and the cast of "Dance Moms," and Jillian Rose Reed from MTV's "Awkward." He also just released his first single in June called "Low," which is a Wizard of Oz-themed dance song that is my jam 24/7. The music video was filmed in the Abby Lee Miller dance studio in California and features all the beloved Wizard of Oz characters like Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, and Todrick himself as both the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda. I dare you to listen to this song and not to get your dance on. I dare you.
How does so much fierceness exist in one person? It's inexplicable.
If I haven't convinced you that Todricks channel is worth checking out and worshipping, here are five other videos of his that are beyond amazing:
1. "The Spell Block Tango"
A Disney spin on the popular song "The Cell Block Tango" from the Broadway musical, Chicago. The video features "American Idol" alum Adam Lambert as Captain Hook, former Wicked cast member Shoshana Bean as Cruella De Ville, and "Glee" cast member Amber Riley as Ursula.
2. "Grown Woman"
Another Disney-themed masterpiece. This time, Todrick took Beyoncé's popular song "Grown Woman" and added a Disney princess spin to it. The video features everyone's favorite Disney princesses as powerful, grown women.
3. "Mean Gurlz"
One of Todrick's funniest videos in my opinion! It's Lindsay Lohan's "Mean Girls," but with a few differences.
4. "Pentatrodrix"
Pentatonix, the highly successful acapella group, is also an Arlington, Texas, success story like Todrick. Todrick produced a video starring the group called "The Wizard of Ahhhs" back in 2013, which has over 12 million views. "Pentatodrix" is a video that he made that parodies a Pentatonix music video.
5. "Epic Love"
This is one of the videos Todrick made on his MTV show and it showcases all the classic Hollywood blockbuster films and pays tribute to their beautiful love stories. All in all, 10/10 would listen to every day for the rest of my life.
I don't know what a girl has to do to get a little bit of this boy's talent, but come on Todrick, don't hog all the good talent! Thanks for sharing your beautifully creative mind and unimaginable talent with the world; the entertainment business has been made better because of it!
