Fortunately, the teenager, like so many others over the two-day event, had her dream fulfilled as the full group of invited international and Singaporean YouTubers came down en masse to take selfies with fans, sign autographs, receive homemade gifts and say hello. "I want to meet my fans too," says the 25-year-old Oakley. "It's amazing to see who is watching you on YouTube, halfway around the world."

Once inside SCAPE, ticket holders for the second annual "YouTube FanFest" get to see Higa face off in a hairstyling contest with Mota. Superwoman tells her life story and talks about how everyone in the audience should feel empowered. Vsauce (aka Michael Stevens) wows the crowd with his seemingly endless scientific facts. Audience members ask questions, the YouTubers answer; any lulls in the sessions are filled with banter from emcees Dominic Lau and Singaporean DJ celeb Dee Kosh.

"The biggest eye-opener and wake-up call for me is the relationship that is built between the YouTube stars and their fans," says YouTube FanFest co-creator Jasper Donat, CEO of Hong Kong-based company Branded. "That bond is so powerful. They have armies of followers who will listen to any word they say."

Donat calls them the new Hollywood "A-listers" and his discovery came last year when he launched the inaugural YouTube FanFest as a new addition to his company's well-established annual week-long "All That Matters" music, social and digital conference.

Before the event even started, Eat Your Kimchi, a male/female duo from Seoul who give Western insights into Korean culture via YouTube, tweeted followers that they were about to get on their flight to Singapore. By the time they arrived, hundreds of fans were waiting for them at the airport and security had to restore order.

"Asia's got some of the best and biggest YouTube fans, and they're all passionate," says Donat.

Nobody, not even the YouTube celebrities themselves, seems to have a definitive answer as to why some personalities who post videos on the site become so super popular (Oakley's offhanded theory is that the most popular YouTubers started around 2007). Unlike other creative industries, a promotional marketing machine isn't forcing these artists on viewers.

Yet like other popular actors or singers, they seem to either have a particular voice, fill a niche or have the indescribable "it" factor. "My friends started talking about Ryan Higa one day so I just started watching his videos and liked him" is how one Singaporean fan explains the attraction.

Higa, a Hawaiian, is probably YouTube's biggest superstar, and fans can't get enough of the 24-year-old's daily skits, video spoofs and pranks with friends. Whether starring as himself or his alter ego, "Nigahiga", he now has more than seven YouTube channels with two billion views and 15 million subscribers. "We're always trying to up our game and expand and do bigger projects or features," he says.

Mota, 18, is another YouTube veteran who has become her own brand. At the age of 13, she started making videos in her bedroom as a way of expressing herself and what she likes in terms of clothes and make-up. The California teenager caught on, gaining six million followers. With the fans came the brands, which started sending her free products in the hope that she would mention them on her videos. Today, Mota has her own clothing line and will appear in this autumn's edition of the US television series .

"I want to do things that I enjoy, but at the same time all this is helping my viewers, so you have to find that balance," she says, adding that it's "surreal" to meet her fans in real life and that many are "amazing" artists in their own right.

Other popular YouTubers also defy the traditional tastemaking conventions. Jenna Mourey, aka Jenna Marbles, is the most subscribed woman on the channel. Mourey, 28, has one and a half billion video views largely due to her candid, uncensored and at times vulgar riffs on everyday modern life.

Lilly Singh, aka 26-year-old Superwoman, started making videos in Ontario, Canada, as a way of combatting racial and female stereotypes in the South Asian community. And 25-year-old Michigan native Oakley began uploading videos to update his friends and gradually became popular due to his outspoken views on lesbian and gay issues.

"In many ways, what sets YouTube apart is the unique connection the platform forges between fans and creators," says Marek Dawidowicz, head of partner marketing for YouTube Asia-Pacific. "We don't just host music videos online. We help fans and artists together to build truly interactive communities."

Today, YouTube and its parent company, Google, encourage these relationships by paying the most popular artists on the site to make videos full-time. Although reports vary, anecdotal conversations suggest YouTubers start receiving payments once they have more than 6,000 subscribers. While the personalities are coy about the financing, to cite one example, Marbles makes an estimated US$350,000 a year in return for producing a video a week which she can upload out of her Los Angeles home. That does, however, come with its own pressures. "Even when it's scripted, after over 300 videos, there are times when the camera's on and I have literally no idea what I'm going to say next," Higa says in a moment of candour.

With such a rabid fanbase though, live YouTube events seemed like a logical next step. To date, VidCon in the US and Britain's "Summer In The City" are live Western platforms for video content creators. But last year's Singapore event was a testing ground, which showed the event did have potential in Asia.

As Donat explains: "It worked on a variety of levels. The fans felt like the YouTubers were their best friends, because they are. And among parents I received comments of 'thank you for making me a cool dad'. If parents get tickets and take their teenage kids, they are cool."

Since then, the YouTube FanFest has gone around the region, with multiple sellout shows in Mumbai and Sydney. Popular YouTube artists in each of those cities feature prominently alongside some of the superstars.

At each stop on the tour, Hong Kong-based creative production partner Siren Films ensures the show is on the cutting edge by creating hi-tech visuals and is responsible for the overall look and feel of the show. "When you see artists like Superwoman interact so well with the audience, it's absolutely amazing," says Siren CEO Edward Bean. "It's definitely the live event of the future."

The YouTube FanFest made its debut in Seoul last Friday; local guitar prodigy Sungha Jung and singer Megan Lee performed alongside South Korean make-up artists, gamers, rappers and returnees Eat Your Kimchi and David Choi.

The tour goes to Tokyo for the first time on October 19. At the Ex Theatre in the capital's Roppongi district, dance acts Wrecking Crew Orchestra and World Order will perform alongside singer Ryoji Takarabe and human beatboxer Hikakin, who so impressed US rock group Aerosmith at last year's event that they invited him onstage during their Singapore show to perform the pivotal backbeat to their classic hit .

"These will be very unique events, each tailored to the local markets, outfitted with excellent production values, and driven by the engagement of our local creator communities," says YouTube's Dawidowicz.

Branded says the FanFests are more than just mere shows: they are events boasting "meet and greets" and special "creativity" sessions with fans. The company is taking tentative steps towards bringing the event to Hong Kong by having young special effects whiz Zach King, best known for his six-second Vine videos, appear at the business networking forum Social Matters on October 15.

"Zach's equally as astute as Bethany [Mota] and Hong Kong is a developing market for YouTube," says Donat. "It's a very exciting market, a very connected market. We'll do something here in due time."

For now, nobody seems too concerned about whether Mota's make-up tips are yesterday's news or if Higa's popularity will wane. But with such a wealth of talent around the world and the YouTube stars enjoying the "five-star experience" the FanFest provides, big things are expected.