Stream team Instant Influencer: James Charles's beauty vlogging competition is as absorbing as it is transparent

Instant Influencer, a new competition to find YouTube's next viral make-up vlogger, might be 2020's most transparent reality show.

Even for those completely horrified by every second word in that sentence, it's a fascinating insight into a billion-dollar industry – both a completely vapid and endlessly interesting watch, bingeable in a night. Forget MasterChef: who knew video editing to a time limit could be so suspenseful? For once, contestants don't have to feign interest in finding love and can be honest about the end goal: selling #spon on social media. Again and again across its four episodes and without any hint of self-awareness, the six contestants say they need to prove their talents as an influencer and an artist, always in that order. It would be depressing if it wasn't so absorbing. Created by YouTube and filmed in its shiny LA studios, Instant Influencer very much is made within the machine, served with little snark. If anything, it's a bold new frontier for beauty vlogging – a meta, high-budget series packed with product placement and uploaded for free to the page of host and vlogger James Charles. Facebook Twitter Pinterest A meta, high-budget series served with little snark. Even if you consider yourself influencer illiterate, chances are Charles will have seeped his way into your world. With an estimated net worth of US$12-22 million, he's one of the beauty world's premier influencers, either most famous for becoming CoverGirl's first male spokesperson at age 17 or his feud with fellow YouTuber Tati Westbrook last year. The petty back-and-forth of 40-minute "exposé" videos about minor grievances saw him lose 4m followers in a week, and was covered across otherwise influencer-averse mastheads. Instant Influencer is as much a branding exercise for the contestants as it is a post-cancellation rebranding for Charles, who moves into a mentor role at 21. As per the awkward eliminations where Charles asks crying contestants to "sign off", "as if it was a regular video", it isn't the most natural fit. The Comeback: Lisa Kudrow is perfect in hilarious, biting and deeply meta satire Read more Judges – Charles and a series of rotating beauty and influencer figures, including drag queen Trixie Mattel, cosmetics company Anastasia Beverly Hills president Norvina and "original influencer" Paris Hilton – evaluate a video's clickability off its title, thumbnail and potential for virality. The genuine make-up artistry on display is an aside: instead, it's about how they sell the look rather than the look itself, a completely new set of skills to test on reality TV. Across the season, the contestants are put through challenges that loosely recreate Charles's career, similar to RuPaul's Drag Race or America's Next Top Model. They manufacture the next big viral makeup challenge, collaborate with famous influencers and make sponsored videos for products, even if they've never used them – a fact that lingers but is never directly confronted. The stand-out, though, is the apology video challenge, something Charles is well-versed in. It's bone-chilling to hear Charles applaud how the "honesty and message came through'' in an apology for something the contestants haven't done, like using overtly clickbait titles or monetising their previous apology video. The fact that this is a performance of accountability is never addressed. Neither are the contestants' archetypal personalities.  Facebook Twitter Pinterest Instant Influencer contestants in their first look. Photograph: YouTube Charles's catchphrase on the show is "blend but don't blend in", but aside from their personal traumas, which are readily revealed as we meet them, most contestants are fairly indistinguishable. The makeup speaks far more to their creativity than their personas, which have been squished into YouTube catchphrases and slang ripped straight from other influencers, who ripped it from ballroom culture. They've eroded their personalities for the algorithm. Some break through for "genuine moments", but others, like the 18-year-old contestant who has clearly grown up watching Charles and co, are stuck in a "yas queen" loop. Technique Critique: indulgently addictive web series dissects your favourite performances Read more Still, it's a perverse joy to watch the best influencers effortlessly master the game, as they nail the balance between banal banter, "raw" moments and "individuality" that's still relatable to as many as possible. There's officially only one winner, but everyone walks away with an experience to make content from and grow their audience: nobody loses. You could say it's a sad reality that these artists feel like YouTube celebrity is their only path forward. But Instant Influencer is merely a bizarre microcosm of what most musicians or creatives face without a stable industry, as they regrettably have to build up their brand before their art. • Instant Influencer is available to stream on YouTube Topics Culture Stream team Beauty Instagram reviews Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Reuse this content