Awesome Talents

Multitalented musician Kawehi reminds us why we love her so much, as she turns in an awesome one-woman performance of the Muse track Time is Running Out during a live performance. We’re looking forward to her recently crowdfunded new album EVE.

Luna Lee is back with another awesome and unusual cover played on the Gayageum – Nirvana’s 1991 hit Lithium. Though we’re curious to know what the track would sound like “unplugged.”

Mike Boyd made a name for himself this year by documenting himself picking up some new skills. Here he shows off some of his new favorite activities one after the other. He didn’t turn into da Vinci, but how many Mike Boyds do you know?

YouTuber Anuja de silva shared this friendly competition between sculptors and professors Sarath Chandrajeewa and Cao Chang Xu. They stood side-by-side and tried to make a portrait sculpture of each other in just 10 minutes.

Greg Johnson of Acoustic Labs performs a fantastic fingerstyle medley of some of John Williams’ music from the Star Wars saga. We’d pay good money to see a whole performance of this done live with the films on screen. Check out more great music over on Alvarez Live.

Master of balance Rocky Byun yet again shows off his incredible ability to take everyday objects of all shapes, sizes, and weights, and precisely stack them so they don’t fall over. We were convinced that all the noise in the room would knock the bottles over.

Viral challenges are too easy for popping phenom Marquese “Nonstop” Scott. So he took on one that lives up to the meaning of the word. Watch Nonstop and his friends Bam Morales and Julius “iGlide” Chisolm turn into an animatronic puppet band. Another one here.

Bas John has been posting some nifty video loops of cardistry experts on his Instagram channel. He recently gathered them up into a single clip, packing a bunch of mesmerizing card manipulations into a 45-second video. The track is The Anthem by Onra.

BRIC TV introduces us to Fred Nelson, an elderly man who found his true love late in life, bringing a much needed sliver of joy and happiness into the world using his feet, shoes, and an old piece of wood.

Chinese beatbox champion Zhang Ze shows off his mad skills, which include the ability to create some crazy zipper-like noises, along with more crazy mouth sounds than the guy from the Police Academy flicks.

Competitive eater Matt “Megatoad” Stonie sees how fast he can devour all five of KFC’s $5 Fill Up Meals: 9 fried chicken pieces, 3 mashed potatoes, a chicken pot pie, a famous bowl, 3 biscuits, 5 cookies and 5 medium cups of Diet Coke. Finger lickin’ bad.

Musician Luna Lee knocks another hit out of the park, this time covering Lynyrd Skynyrd’s classic Free Bird on her gayageum, an ancient Korean string instrument, not typically associated with rock and roll.

The light and lilting voice of Daniela Andrade powers this welcome addition to the long list of cover versions we’ve heard of The Pixies 1988 classic, and is a wonderful introduction to this young woman’s incredible talent.

It’s been over a year since musician Hanbyul Kang last posted a song to his YouTube channel, but his back catalog of smooth and soulful covers is too good not to share. Here’s hoping we hear more from Hanbyul down the road.

Nissan Japan presents a brief compilation of their nation’s dedicated laborers, from craftspeople, to industrial workers, each performing their jobs with a sense of pride, regardless of how small or large of a task.

Musician Jake Shimabukuro delivers a soul-stirring track from his new album Nashville Sessions, as he yet again demonstrates how he’s one of the world’s greatest ukulele players. (Thanks Tim!)

While traveling through Berlin, vocalist EllandM spotted rapper INFIDELIX performing in the subway. She decided to join in and sing along with this awesome improv jam, backed by the beats of Phantogram’s When I’m Small.

When we saw the title of Kuma Films‘ latest video we thought we’d be watching some kids playing Chopsticks on a piano, but instead, we got to hear some truly wonderful music by Sami Elu, made with a cool stringed instrument that’s played with chopsticks as the hammers.

A wonderful unplugged cover version of The Cranberries’ 1994 classic Zombie, as performed by musician Vedran Djurasovic, who brings a warmer approach to the track than the grunge sounds of the original.

On a good day, we can solve a Rubik’s Cube in about a half hour, but Anthony Brooks can do it in just a few seconds. Here, he proves his speed by taking on Olympic gold-medal winner Usain Bolt’s incredible speed.

It’s ironic that the performer in this video goes by the moniker “Bonetics,” given the fact that it appears he is completely boneless. Watch as he performs insane and seemingly impossible moves which combine breakdancing with contortion. (Thanks Dan!)

Kuma Films captured this footage of performer Li Wei Yang as she demonstrates her ability to spin and juggle objects like a table and umbrellas using her feet. Apparently, she also offers amusement park rides in her spare time.

Beyond Slow Motion follows up on their previous video of yo-yo fanatic Ben Conde as he continues to turn a simple piece of string and a butterfly wheel into a living work of art. We love the water shot at 2:46.