On the Rise: Help these users get on the homepage!

Check it out, people! This month’s “On the Rise” nominees are in -- and we need your help to choose a winner.

Just to remind you how this works: we identify a handful of channels who’ve rapidly increased their subscriber base in the last 30 days but haven’t yet hit the 100,000 mark. You watch their videos, and then vote for your favorite in the top right-hand corner of this blog. You have until noon PT on January 14, 2011, to make your choice. Once we have a winner, we’ll give them a big leg up with a feature on the YouTube homepage and videos page, as well as love on Facebook and Twitter. Past winners emilynoel83 and justjesse197 more than doubled the number of subscribers gained during the month of their spotlight versus the previous month, and Emily is close to hitting the 100,000 subscriber milestone herself.

And now, in alphabetical order, here are the nominees for the homepage spotlight on January 22:

Michael Aranda
You never quite know what you’re going to get with a Michael Aranda video: one minute he’s dropping knowledge, the next he’s freak-dancing -- or turning his car into an art project.



Luke Conard
Catchy pop songs. A sense of humor. Adorably goofy videos....What’s not to like about Luke Conard?



Tori Kelly
Tori Kelly’s just 18 years old, but she plays piano and guitar and sings like nobody’s business. Check out one of her original songs.



Josh Sundquist
Josh Sundquist has quite a personal story: overcoming childhood cancer and a leg amputation to become an athlete, inspirational speaker and author. Check out his sweet and affecting animations.



Mia Quagliarello, Community Manager, recently watched “Taylor Momsen escapes paparazzi.”