Let's Take a Ride: Justin Timberlake Signs YouTube Star

by Jordan Yerman | June 6, 2007 at 01:20 pm

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YouTube isn't jsut for cute kitties and copyright-dodgy film clips anymore: it's a bona fide breeding ground for popstar audition tapes. Bypassing Pop Idol/American Idol and its ilk, a Dutch teen has built up her own buzz via viral video, catching the eye of pop superstar Justin Timberlake, who signed the young singer to his brand-new record label.

Former boy band sensation and current pop star du jour Justin Timberlake has signed Esmee Denters, an 18-year-old Dutch singer who got her start by building up buzz on the ubiquitous video-sharing site, to his new record label.

Timberlake, 26, founded Tennman Records in a joint venture with Interscope Records last month; Denters is the first artist signed.

But despite her karaoke-like start, Denters is no "Numa Numa" kid--she can actually sing. She's been performing in several European countries already after gaining a fan base through videos where she sang along to a number of pop music hits, and over the past nine months, over 21 million people have watched her YouTube clips. (The fact that she's cute probably doesn't hurt.) Now, she'll be the opening act at some of Timberlake's European concerts this year, and is aiming to release an album later in 2007.