You Tube Orders ‘Best.Cover.Ever.’

YouTube has greenlit a competition series called from Ryan Seacrest Productions and Endemol Shine North America called “Best.Cover.Ever.” that will shine a spotlight on up-and-coming musicians. Hosted and executive produced by Ludacris, the series will give musicians the opportunity to record covers of popular songs from recording artists including the Backstreet Boys, Demi Lovato and Jason Derulo, culminating in a duet between the winner and each recording artist.

“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 YouTube global head of original content Susanne Daniels. “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 added, “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.”

The competition kicks off Wednesday with calls for submissions from the Backstreet Boys, Lovato and Derulo. They will ask emerging musicians to upload covers of their hits — “As Long As You Love Me,” “Confident” and “Trumpets” — to YouTube through May 19. Other musicians including will add their songs to the mix at a later date.
More details about the competition, including rules for submitting videos, visit TheBestCoverEver.com.