With the end of the year just around the corner, YouTube does not give up in its attempt to create special content that makes us forget about the nefarious – and now defunct – Rewind. The video platform announced a new year-end event called ESCAPE2021 ; It is a live and interactive proposal that will offer various features.
Unlike what happened with YouTube Rewind, ESCAPE2021 will be a kind of game in which the public must actively participate . The initiative will star Lofi Girl , the young woman who occupies the screen in the videos of the eponymous channel, whose content accompanies the hours of study and rest of millions of people around the world. According to The Verge, the objective of the proposal will be to free her from her permanent confinement.
In fact, YouTube has shared a trailer showing one of the traditional backgrounds of Lofi Girl's videos; with the difference that we do not see said character, but only his cat. Another interesting point to keep in mind is that ESCAPE2021 will be divided into three chapters , and users will be able to connect to the live broadcasts of each of them.
It is not yet very clear what this proposal consists of. What YouTube has confirmed is that there will be trivia, challenges and other activities that will require the interaction of the public. The closing of the event will be with musical numbers by renowned artists such as Doja Cat and BTS.
The first YouTube chapter ESCAPE2021 will air next Thursday, December 16 starting at midnight (Eastern time). The second will be available twelve hours later, while the third will be the same day from 19:00. The service belonging to Google has made available links for the streams in eight languages, including Spanish.
ESCAPE2021, YouTube's bet so that we forget about Rewind
With ESCAPE2021, YouTube intends to turn the page and generate attractive content for the public, and to take off as much as possible from the Rewind fiasco . Let us remember that this proposal was born in 2010 in order to promote the highlights of the platform as an annual review. However, it quickly became a way for the platform to grossly promote in favor of sponsors.
In this sense, the most important controversies were unleashed with the 2018 edition; to the point that YouTube's own managers acknowledged that it had been “shameful.” While the proposal continued in 2019, it was canceled in 2020 for logical reasons associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. While this year the company decided to terminate it permanently.
Can ESCAPE2021 succeed where YouTube Rewind failed? For now, at least, it seems that the platform is thinking about adopting a format that is not simply a nonsensical parade of celebrities. We will be attentive to the news.
