What do Jay-Z

Pharrell Williams, Russell Simmons and Alya Sherman all have in common?
Give up?
We were all at the YouTube “Brandcast” presented by Google at the Beacon Theatre in NYC on Wednesday night!

That’s right!  Yours truly was rubbing elbows with a star-studded crowd while getting the scoop on how YouTube plans to crush TV as we know it.
Neon Trees kicked off the night…

 Pharreell Williams got the crowd pumped…

 and Grammy Award Winner Miri Ben Ari accompanied the DJ throughout the night… 

 Flo Rida rapped his heart out to a bevy of high-waisted lycra wearin dancas…

and the crowd went nuts when Jay-Z finally took the stage…

One song and $$$ later, he went home to Beyonce and Baby Blue Ivy as we were left to wonder what’s next?
The first-ever Google and YouTube Upfront unveiled new original channels and opportunities for brands to reach diverse audiences like women, teens, young men and the multicultural market.  Among the projects: “Wigs,” featuring Virginia Madsen, Julia Stiles and Jennifer Beals …

100 new channels of original programming in total not to mention a partnership with filmmakers Jon Avnet and Rodrigo Garcia, the U.S. Olympic Committee, collaborations between Tribeca Enterprises and Maker Studios, and a new show from Machinima and Halo Waypoint.

As online video consumption continues to grow, with 3 billion hours of video a month watched on YouTube by more than 800 million viewers around the world who better than YouTube to listen up and take action!?