Virtual to Reality

Marie Digby

| Posted on 24 April 2008 by julian

From the virtual village of YouTube, star resident Marié Digby catapulted to fame of gargantuan proportions against all odds. Although the 25-year-old singer songwriter has been performing and writing her songs for several years, Digby first achieved public recognition with her acoustic cover of Rihanna's hit single "Umbrella", garnering over six million views and a whole load of fans along the way.

It's not hard to see why Digby has managed to appeal to so many people. Photogenic and talented, her simple, unadorned and well-recorded videos reach out to the virtual community on many levels, with fans proclaiming their admiration for her half Japanese, half Irish-American looks, cool confidence, and musicality. Somehow, it seemed all too perfect for some, who accused her of deliberately coming across as an amateur performer when in fact she was a seasoned performer signed to Hollywood Records, which is owned by Disney, and had already recorded an album. Digby maintains however that she put up the YouTube videos as a desperate attempt to promote her music, which she couldn't get via radio.

Minor controversy aside, Digby's YouTube viewers are not slowing down with their praises for their newfound muse. And it's not just online fans who love the girl with the porcelain skin and jet black hair. In conjunction with the launch of its Spring collection, Gap handpicked five emerging artistes and commissioned them to write original songs to the theme of "the sound of colour." Assigned with yellow hue, Digby wrote "Paint Me In Your Sunshine" which has proven to be a success among music listeners. In addition to being part of the ad campaign, Digby has been making in-store appearances at Gap outlets and on 14 May, local Digby fans can see the Internet sensation for themselves when she appears at the Gap at 1-Utama at 8pm. Admission is free, by the way.