- Cristiano Ronaldo's YouTube Presence: Equally Genuine as His Lifelike Wax Statue
The first video on Cristiano Ronaldo's new YouTube channel lasts a minute and starts with an announcement. "This is what everybody has seen," it says, and you might think, why should I continue watching if it's something everyone already knows? But since the clip is so short, you keep watching and see Ronaldo greeting fans from a video wall in Times Square.
A countdown, with Ronaldo on the screen counting down with the waiting fans, then his iconic "Siuuu" call, and a Ronaldo wax figure is unveiled. So far, so ordinary, but the video then says, "And this is what nobody has seen." For a moment, you wonder if it was worth not clicking away, but then you see Ronaldo standing next to his double in a photo studio, mimicking the celebration pose and patting his wax version on the cheek. That's it, nothing more happens in the video, which sums up the first week on the currently fastest-growing YouTube channel quite well.
As manufactured as the backdrop, everything on the channel seems
Cristiano Ronaldo, now 39, under contract with Saudi Arabia's Al Nassar FC, has long since ceased to be one of the best players. But he is still the biggest brand in football. He has 636 million followers on Instagram, more than any other person. Ronaldo markets himself as CR7, his goal celebration can be imitated by every child, yet he hardly scores any goals of great sporting significance anymore. How far his superstar status and his sporting ability have diverged was also illustrated by the European Championship, where Ronaldo was mainly in the spotlight when fans stormed the field to take selfies with him.
Ronaldo has been fighting against his own aging process with impressive persistence for years. He seems like someone who wants to remain important at all costs. But Ronaldo will also know that he can hardly still increase his fame with sport at the age of 39. And that's where YouTube comes in.
"My channel will give me an even greater platform to give insights into my life, my family, and my views on many different topics," says Ronaldo. He promises closeness, the videos are supposed to be spontaneous and unscripted. And in theory, that sounds interesting: one of the greatest footballers of all time opens up, maybe shows his daily life, looks back on his career, explains how he became the figure he is today.
It's just that Ronaldo on his new channel seems about as genuine as the wax figure he unveils in the first clip.
In many videos, Ronaldo sits on a leather couch, with jerseys and gold-framed photos of his playing scenes hanging behind him, and the logo of the new project flickers over a TV. Not a real living room, a production studio, Ronaldo himself even calls it the "set". And just as manufactured as the backdrop, almost everything on the channel seems. Everything seems staged, every game and every Q&A session seems planned.
"If you're talking about Cristiano Ronaldo, you're on the front page," says Cristiano Ronaldo
The 15 clips from the first week, in which more than 50 million users subscribed to the channel, rarely last longer than a minute. They promise a lot and deliver little. For example, there's a video titled "This is how I overcome adversity." One might think, now we'll find out how the Portuguese superstar ticks.
Then, a snippet of an old press conference follows, where Ronaldo says he experienced a weaker phase in his career, for which he is grateful, because "at the peak of the mountain, you can't see what's below". Even more mysterious is that the sentence is accompanied by a scene from the Euros, where Ronaldo is gently bumped by a French defender, falls, and clutches his head in pain. After 45 seconds, the video ends, and one wonders: Is this foul the great adversity in the life of Cristiano Ronaldo?
If it's true that the first sign of unreality loss is when people speak about themselves in the third person, Ronaldo's YouTube channel is cause for concern. One video is titled: "This is how I manage the pressure of being Cristiano", "This is how I manage the pressure of being Cristiano". "If you talk about Cristiano Ronaldo, you'll make the front page", says Cristiano Ronaldo in another video.
It's also about Saudi Arabia
Not surprisingly, Cristiano Ronaldo's channel is mainly about Cristiano Ronaldo. Occasionally, members of his family also appear in the videos. He competes with his son Cristiano Ronaldo Junior in padel tennis and free-kick shooting, and doesn't let the 13-year-old win, perhaps the moment that seems least staged in these seven days.
Ronaldo's girlfriend, Georgina Rodriguez, also makes an appearance. In a video whose title promises to reveal "EVERYTHING" about the two of them, it turns out that Ronaldo doesn't have a favorite song, while Rodriguez thought her partner's favorite song changed every summer. In another clip, she critiques Ronaldo's past outfits, which he finds difficult to laugh at. But his girlfriend has also prepared lines that Ronaldo likes. "I think it's a promising project with guaranteed success, like everything you do," she says on his YouTube channel about his YouTube channel. "With your commitment, your charisma, the curiosity you awaken in fans around the world, success is guaranteed, I have no doubt."
Those who think the YouTube channel is only about how great Cristiano Ronaldo is are mistaken. It's also about how great Saudi Arabia is. One video is titled: "This is how I felt when I discovered paradise", "This is how I felt when I discovered paradise".
Cristiano Ronaldo and his partner wander down a pristine beach, the ocean glistening in vibrant blues. There are sequences showing underwater coral reefs, desolate desert oases, and high-end vacation spots. Ronaldo admits that he remains incognito in no corner of the globe, it's almost impossible. Yet, on the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia, he finds tranquility. He can relax there with his family, away from the limelight. He relishes this privacy and that's why he encourages the world to explore this region. Ronaldo offers a lopsided grin, perhaps acknowledging the inherent illogic in his words.
The video on his YouTube channel doesn't have an advertising label. Therefore, it's assumed to be a sincere endorsement.
The 'open-door' policy Ronaldo promises on his YouTube channel appears to be just that – a promise, in its initial phase. Similar to other influencers, he's selling the illusion of intimacy. However, his ability to convincingly portray authenticity leaves room for improvement. But then again, Ronaldo is relatively new to the YouTube scene, as his illustrious football career starts to wind down.
In the description of his YouTube channel, Cristiano Ronaldo mentions his goal to provide insights into his life and views, but the channel often feels more like a production studio than a genuine living room.
Despite the promise of spontaneity and unscripted videos, many clips on Ronaldo's channel seem staged and planned, starting from the short videos that rarely last longer than a minute.
