YouTube Greenlights Best.Cover.Ever. Talent Show

Ryan Seacrest Productions and Endemol Shine North America have unveiled Best.Cover.Ever., a musical talent competition series hosted by Grammy winner Ludacris that is set to premiere exclusively on YouTube later this year.

Best.Cover.Ever. will feature Demi Lovato, Backstreet Boys and Jason Derulo. The series will see aspiring musicians around the globe compete to cover one of their favorite songs for the chance to perform a duet with the artist that will debut on YouTube. During the first submission phase, which runs until May 19, fans can upload a video to YouTube of them performing a cover of Backstreet Boys’ “As Long As You Love Me,” Lovato’s “Confident” and Derulo’s “Trumpets.” Additional musical artists will be revealed in the near future.

“YouTube is the best place for emerging musicians to be discovered, and Best.Cover.Ever. will encourage these artists to go for their dreams alongside the best in the business,” said Susanne Daniels, the global head of original content at YouTube. “We’re thrilled that Ryan Seacrest will give new talent the opportunity to shine in front of over 1 billion fans around the world.”

Seacrest, executive producer on the show and CEO of Ryan Seacrest Productions, noted: “We couldn’t be more excited to premiere this new talent music competition series exclusively on YouTube. Cover songs are a terrific vehicle to help discover fresh talent and YouTube is the perfect platform to do it. These new young artists will also have the chance to work alongside some of the most renowned musicians in the world, which we hope will generate some great experiences for the artists and contestants alike and, in turn, produce some memorable performances.”

“YouTube is the ideal home for Best.Cover.Ever., a groundbreaking competition format that will feature many of the top names in the music industry paired with emerging artists, all under the direction of Ryan Seacrest, Ludacris and our two experienced production teams,” added Eden Gaha, the president of unscripted television at Endemol Shine North America.