Best.Cover.Ever. from Ryan Seacrest Productions & Endemol Shine North America to Premiere Exclusively on YouTube

Competition Series Hosted by Grammy Award-Winner Ludacris Features Demi Lovato, Backstreet Boys, Jason Derulo and Emerging Musicians Performing The Biggest Hits In Front of Superstar Artists

Winner to Get a Chance to Perform a Duet with Superstar Artist and Premiere it on YouTube

LOS ANGELES, April 26, 2017 /CNW/ - Ryan Seacrest Productions and Endemol Shine North America today announced Best.Cover.Ever., a cutting-edge talent competition series hosted by Grammy Award-winning artist Ludacris and featuring Demi Lovato, Backstreet Boys and Jason Derulo that will premiere exclusively on YouTube later this year. Additional top artists to be announced in coming weeks.

Best.Cover.Ever. gives emerging musicians from around the world a chance for international fame. Throughout the series, a new superstar artist will challenge competing musicians to perform a cover of one of their favorite songs. The musicians can perform the song in their own unique style as they battle for the ultimate prize: the opportunity to perform a duet with the superstar artist that will premiere on YouTube!

Demi Lovato, The Backstreet Boys and Jason Derulo will kickoff the first submission phase, which begins today through May 19th, where fans are encouraged to upload a video to YouTube performing their creative cover of these superstar artists' biggest hits: As Long As You Love Me (Backstreet Boys, video here), Confident (Demi Lovato, video here) and Trumpets (Jason Derulo, video here). Other superstar artists will encourage fans to record covers of  their songs on future dates. Fans can upload their video, follow submissions, and watch the series by subscribing to the Best.Cover.Ever. channel on YouTube, and can learn more by going to TheBestCoverEver.com.

"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, Global Head of Original Content, 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."

"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," said Ryan Seacrest, series Executive Producer and CEO of Ryan Seacrest Productions. "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 ground-breaking 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," says Eden Gaha, President, Unscripted Television, Endemol Shine North America.

In the upcoming weeks, each superstar artist will be sending out a call to action to the YouTube community, asking emerging musicians to record and upload a version of a specific hit song of theirs. Once he or she views the submissions, the list will be whittled down to a select few. Of these few, two will be selected to appear in the series and put to the test by the superstar artist to see how they might be as a collaborator on another hit song.

The superstar artist will then pick the one lucky cover artist for a chance to perform a whole new song together. Viewers will witness every part of the planning, behind-the-scenes process as they mount this uniquely special music performance.

Visit thebestcoverever.com to learn how to submit. Follow and subscribe to Best.Cover.Ever. on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for all future updates.

The series is executive produced by Ryan Seacrest and hosted by Grammy Award-winner Ludacris, who will also serve as an executive producer. Best.Cover.Ever. is produced by Ryan Seacrest Productions and Endemol Shine North America. In addition to Seacrest and  Ludacris, Teri Kennedy (RSP), Rob Smith (ESNA), Georgie Hurford-Jones (ESNA) and Marilyn Wilson will also serve as executive producers.

Fun Facts:

Backstreet Boys Fun Fact:
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki came across a video of two guys in China lipsynching to As Long As You Love Me by the Backstreet Boys in 2006. It was in that moment Wojcicki realized that through YouTube, "people all over the world can create content" and encouraged Google to acquire the video service. The world famous video with over 1M views can be watched here. Reference source.

Demi Lovato Fun Fact:
While known for her own hits, Demi Lovato tunes have been a boon for other artists as well - a popular cover of "Heart Attack" by Sam Tsui & Chrissy Costanza has earned an impressive 77 million views while Boyce Avenue and Megan Nicole's rendition of "Skyscraper" has been watched over 18.4 million times.

Jason Derulo Fun Fact:
While best known for his own chart-toppers -- his recent video "Swalla" has garnered 108+ million views since dropping last month, setting a new personal best for the crooner -- Jason Derulo is hardly a stranger to the covers world, having notably teamed up with A capella heavyweight Pentatonix for an all-vocal rendition of Shai's soulful 90s hit "If I Ever Fall in Love." Pentatonix's 2016 video for the cover has earned Derulo and the quintet over 15 million views.

ABOUT YOUTUBE

Launched in May 2005, YouTube allows billions of people to discover, watch, and share originally-created videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform, and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers large and small. YouTube is a Google company.

ABOUT RYAN SEACREST PRODUCTIONS

Ryan Seacrest Productions (RSP) is an Emmy-winning entertainment production company creating unscripted, scripted and digital programming. RSP produces the E! hit cable series "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" and its spin-offs, as well as "E! Live from the Red Carpet" award shows, Bravo's "Shahs of Sunset" and CMT's "I Love Kellie Pickler." Additionally, RSP produces "Shades of Blue," a NBC drama series starring Jennifer Lopez. The company produced the Emmy Award-winning reality series "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution."

ABOUT ENDEMOL SHINE NORTH AMERICA

Endemol Shine North America delivers world-class content and compelling storytelling to multiple platforms in the U.S. and across the globe. Endemol Shine North America is part of Endemol Shine Group, the global content creator, producer and distributor with a diverse portfolio of companies that are behind some of the most prominent hit television formats and series in the world.

Its Endemol Shine Studios division develops and produces original scripted television programming in the U.S. for global exploitation and Endemol Shine Latino oversees all Spanish-language format sales and development in both the U.S. and Mexico, as well as all of Latin America. Subsidiary production companies include Authentic Entertainment, Truly Original and 51 Minds Entertainment. In addition, Endemol Shine North America has a  strategic partnership with Ryan Seacrest  Productions.

Bio: Chris "Ludacris" Bridges

As a recording artist, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges has sold more than 15 million albums domestically, thanks to the blockbuster success of such singles as "Stand Up," "Get Back," "Southern Hospitality," "Number One Spot," "Money Maker" and "My Chick Bad." Most recently, Ludacris dropped his 8th studio album, Ludaversal. Ludacris also starred in the highly anticipated The Fate of the Furious, which broke records at the box office, becoming the highest grossing film opening worldwide. Bridge's philanthropic efforts rival his entertainment accomplishments; he started The Ludacris Foundation in 2001 which focuses on helping the youth in his hometown of Atlanta.

SOURCE YouTube Canada

MEDIA CONTACTS: For YouTube: Lauren Verrusio, [email protected], 914-419-5881; For Ryan Seacrest Productions: Kelly Mullens Brown, [email protected], 323-634-6910; For Endemol Shine: Joe Schlosser, [email protected], 747-529-8015; Julie Holland, [email protected], 747-529-8097