Season summary Season One (2012) The first season of
Internet Icon debuted on the
YOMYOMF YouTube channel on June 12, 2012. It was hosted by
Chester See, and judged by YouTube
personality Ryan Higa and television star
Christine Lakin. To audition, contestants who lived in America had to send videos in to the YOMYOMF crew, who then narrowed them down to the top 100. At the
Los Angeles Center Studios, Higa and Lakin then eliminated many of those contestants to get a top ten. Those ten contestants were then due to make a new specific type of video every day until there was only two contestants left. Throughout the judging in the competition, there were various guest judges, many of which were popular YouTube personalities, including
Andrew Garcia,
Dominic Sandoval,
Joe Penna,
Dave Days,
Kassem G,
Jenna Marbles,
Brice Beckham and David Fickas. The final showdown was between Lana McKissack, a solo female contestant, and the Brothers Riedell, consisting of Chris and Nick Riedell, who had consistently been a favourite contestant with the judges. The Brothers Riedell ultimately won the competition, becoming the first "Internet icon".
Season Two (2013) The second season of
Internet Icon debuted on the YOMYOMF YouTube channel on May 21, 2013. Chester See was replaced as host by Chris Riedell, winner of the first season with his brother Nick Riedell, who returned as mentor to the contestants. The judging panel saw the return of Higa and Lakin, with the addition of
Timothy DeLaGhetto. For the second season, contestants from America and Canada sent their videos into the YOMYOMF crew, who again narrowed it down to the top 100. However, unlike the first season, the contestants had to show an original video in front of the judges, who then immediately determined whether they would continue in the competition or would be eliminated. It was noted, that during this preliminary round of 100 contestants, the judges' comments were mostly positive, with inter-judge occurring infrequently. After many eliminations, the judges finally narrowed the contestants down to the top 10. Like the first season, these ten contestants then went on to create different types of videos until they were narrowed down to the top three. Like the first season, there were many guest judges throughout the competition, including
Wong Fu Productions,
Philip DeFranco,
Kassem G, the
Fine Brothers,
Shane Dawson,
Justine Ezarik,
Smosh,
Jenna Marbles and
PewDiePie.
Justin Lin and
Kevin Wu also appeared as guest mentors to the contestants. The final showdown of the second season was between the Kloons, who had consistently impressed the judges with their humorous videos, Bad Weather Films, who had impressed the judges with their use of characters in their videos, and Matthias, who had also previously impressed the judges with his musical talent. The winner was ultimately revealed in a live finale as Matthias.
GigaOM called Matthias' video "
MTV-worthy." ==References==