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Justin Bieber: How the Internet Fueled His Stardom

Mon, 10 May 2010 01:00:20 +0000

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Justin Bieber is a hugger. The 16-year-old musician, whose album My World 2.0 debuted at No. 1 on Billboard and has sold nearly 850,000 copies in just five weeks, doesn’t shake hands–he goes straight for the full embrace. But Bieber is so small that unless you are a preteen girl (which you very well might be; most of his fans aren’t old enough to drive), you’ll have to bend down to greet him. Bieber has a warm smile and overgrown hair that he brushes forward into his face. His giant high-tops are always untied. He seems at first like nothing more than the latest in a line of manufactured teen idols–the Britneys, Justins, Mileys and Jonases that have dominated teenage hearts for the past decade. But beyond his looks and talent, Bieber is something else entirely: the first real teen idol of the digital age, a star whose fame can be attributed entirely to the Internet.

Bieber didn’t arrive through the normal channels: he wasn’t a child model; he was never on Star Search or the Disney Channel; his parents didn’t audition him for commercials. In 2007 he was 12 years old and living in Stratford, Ont., with his single mother, Pattie Mallette. Mallette began posting videos of her son’s musical performances on YouTube so that relatives could see him in action: Bieber participating in a local talent show or singing and playing guitar at home. He covered pop and R&B songs: Matchbox twenty, Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys. And he was good. Really good. So good that strangers started watching his videos. within months, his Internet following numbered in the thousands. Not bad for a middle-school student. (See YouTube’s 50 Best Videos.)

Late one night in 2007, Scooter Braun, an Atlanta-based promoter and music manager, was in bed surfing the Internet when he stumbled upon a grainy home video of Bieber belting out Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.” “It was such raw talent, my gut just went wild,” Braun says, and then pauses. “Maybe I shouldn’t tell people I watched videos of Justin Bieber in the middle of the night.” two weeks later, he flew Bieber and his mother to Atlanta and became his manager.

Braun and Bieber spent the next six months strategically building a fan base. Bieber would post new songs on YouTube, respond to messages from fans and interact with them. He was accessible; he addressed his fans by name and talked to them as if they were friends. Even now, with 2.2 million Twitter followers, he frequently responds to fans’ questions and retweets their greetings. “I also try to read all of my fan mail,” he says. “A lot of them send me candy, which I’m not allowed to eat ’cause my mom says it might be poisonous.”

Record labels don’t like to take chances, and none wanted to touch an untested teenage act. “They kept telling me, He’s not backed by Disney. He doesn’t have a TV show. He’s a nobody,” says Braun. But among other artists, word of Bieber’s talent quickly spread. Justin Timberlake wanted to work with him. So did Usher. “He sang and played the guitar for me, and I was like, Wow, this kid has even more talent than I did at that age,” he says. The R&B star struck a business deal with Braun; a Def Jam record contract soon followed.

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Justin Bieber show’s a speedy sellout

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:30:12 +0000

Tickets for teen heart throb Justin Bieber’s Sept. 4 concert at the Allentown Fair sold out Saturday about as fast as the 16-year-old’s R&B/pop songs have risen on the charts — arguably setting a record for the fastest fair grandstand sell-out.

The ”arguably” part is that, while 8,500 of the 9,000 tickets the fair had to sell were gone in 28 minutes, it took more than an hour to sell the last 500 — pushing the total sales time past the one hour in which country star Tim McGraw sold out in 2005.

Fair Marketing Director Bonnie Brosious said those final 500 tickets were single seats, and while country music fans may not mind sitting alone in a crowd, that’s not an option for many of Bieber’s target audience of ‘tween and young teen girls. Brosious said Bieber reached the single-seats mark far faster than McGraw.

Fastest or not, Bieber gave Allentown fair its first sellout of the year. last year, ventriloquist Jeff Dunham was the only sell-out, and another act with the initials J.B. — the Jonas Brothers — did it in 2008.

”Bieber Nation was out in force in the Lehigh Valley today and everywhere else in the online universe,” Brosious said. ”It was unbelievable, just unbelievable.”

The fair is catching Bieber at perhaps the height of his popularity. his sophomore disc, ”My World 2.0,” hit stores Tuesday and is expected to top Billboard’s album chart this week. the album’s first single, ”Baby” (featuring Ludacris), was Bieber’s first top 10 hit and is at No. 10 this week. Another single, ”U Smile,” is this week’s highest chart debut at No. 27, as the single ”Never let You Go” was two weeks ago at No. 21.

The fair show is the final date in Bieber’s first tour and comes four days after he plays Madison Square Garden.

That popularity wasn’t lost on 160 people — some wrapped in blankets — who braved nippy temperatures to wait in line at the fair box office Saturday. the crush for tickets resulted in a minor dust-up when Michele Gubish, 43, of Hellertown — who had waited in line since Thursday night — said a couple from Phillipsburg who declined to give their names stepped in front of her at the fair gate’s opening.

The couple got three first-row tickets while Gubish settled for four second-row seats. the couple said they called to confirm the fair’s no-overnight-waiting policy, and were unaware Gubish — who slept in her car and moved to the fairgrounds at 10:30 p.m. Friday — was in line when they queued up to buy tickets for their daughters, 13 and 16. Brosious said the fair has had a no-overnight rule for years.

Gubish bought tickets for her daughter, Kristen, 11. ”She just loves Justin Bieber,” Gubish said. after she got the tickets, Kristen asked, ”Can I hold them?”

It was the same for Gubish’s friend Jen German of Hellertown, who bought tickets for her daughters Emma, 9, and Hannah, 12, who said she likes Bieber ”’cause he’s cute and we love his music.”

Rich Bennock of Weissport traveled almost 30 miles to wait with his daughter Danielle and her friend Ismar Villafave, both 14. Bennock said he waited three days in the middle of winter in Pittsburgh 20 years ago for Grateful Dead tickets.

”This is nothing,” he said.

Bennock wasn’t unusual. ”We’re getting a lot of dads calling,” Brosious said. ”They want to be a hero.”

Helping the quick sell-out was the show’s relatively low ticket prices — $39 and $49 — Brosious said. Using five sales windows, the fair handled all 160 people in 20 minutes, before only the single seats were left, though people continued to trickle in afterward.

Cynthia Delgado of Allentown, who was 150th in line, and her daughter Andrea, 11, got sixth-row grandstand seats after waiting less than a half hour.

After securing the tickets, mothers hugged and congratulated each other.

”Judging by the shrieks we heard, they were all happy and excited,” Brosious said. ”It was fun, and that’s really great.”

TMZ Live: Jesse James, Conrad Murray & Bieber

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 08:30:09 +0000

Posted Mar 24th 2010 1:30PM by TMZ Staff

***TMZ Live is in three parts — to check out parts 2 and 3 go to the Videos page.***

Harvey and Mike took your questions on everything today — including Joe Jackson’s lawsuit against Dr. Murray, episodes canceled on “Two and Half Men,” and Jesse James‘ sexual harassment settlement.

Plus: Justin Bieber’s manager turning himself in … and did Tiger Woods‘ inner circle really know about his affairs?

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Justin Bieber: I Don't Like Mariah Carey's Music

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 06:00:18 +0000

Mariah Carey’s new music in her latest album is compared to Michael Jordan attemping to come back and play in NBA.

In a recent interview, Justin Bieber talked about his senior Mariah Carey and ruled out a duet project with the R&B singer. the 16-year-old singer explained her new music in “Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel” is the reason why he doesn’t want to collaborate with her.

“I don’t love her new music, it’s not the same,” the Canadian pop singing sensation told the Sun. “It’s like Michael Jordan coming back out to play in the NBA. She is past her best.”

While he is not interested to team up with Mariah Carey, the young pop star said he would love to hook up with British songbird Corinne Bailey Rae. “She’s a talented artist and seems like a nice person,” he reasoned.

Another thing that he discussed was his life as an ordinary kid despite the fact that he is a big star now. “I’m a grounded person. I don’t need security when I’m home as they know who I am. I live with my mum and tour with my dad,” he stated. “I’m just a regular 16 year old kid. I make good grilled cheese and I like girls. I have to do my homework which is a chore. English is my best subject but I’m bad at chemistry.”

“I could finish this year but I want to continue at school until I’m 18 in case I decide to go to college. I don’t want to limit my options. you never know how things are going to work out.”

Beside doing an interview, Justin Bieber also did an acoustic set, singing a cover version of Usher’s “You got it Bad” and his own songs “Baby” and “Never Let you Go”.

“You got it Bad”:

“Never Let you Go”:

“Trending: Justin Bieber?” WHAT THE (insert cuss word here)?

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 10:30:10 +0000

Seriously, look at the top of your page. does it say “Trending: Justin Bieber”?

Justin Bieber Wants ‘A Girl Who Is Funny’

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 02:00:12 +0000

Justin Bieber participated in a live MySpace Ustream chat on Thursday in London, where he dished all about girlfriends, inspiration, his favorite things and, of course, his new album, My World 2.0, out next Tuesday. Bieber even got fans’ hopes up by saying he wouldn’t rule out dating one of them.

“I’m really excited about [my album], but I didn’t change my style. I’m still pop, R&B — that’s always been what I love,” he said about the new album’s vibe compared to My World. “My fans inspire me, as well as my mom inspires me and my dad and God inspires me. I’ve looked up to a lot of musicians, like Michael Jackson and Boyz II Men. … I met Boyz II Men. I didn’t get to meet Michal Jackson.”

Bieber cited Boyz II Men’s “Down on one Knee” as his favorite song and “Smallville” as his favorite show. Asked what his three wishes of all time would be, he answered, “Well, the first wish would be for unlimited wishes because that just makes sense. and then the second wish would be for, I don’t know … to be able to fly … just fly everywhere. and then the third would be to get rid of poverty.”

As for his love life, the 16-year-old said that he’s been in a relationship before, but has yet to fall in love. “I’ve had, like, three girlfriends,” he said. and when one viewer asked if he’d ever date a fan, he replied, “I think that it’s whatever the situation is. if that happens, it happens.”

So, what does he look for in potential ladies? “I look for a girl who is funny,” he shared. “A girl who has a nice smile.”

Justin Bieber: ‘I’m Having a Blast!’

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:30:08 +0000

Thursday March 11, 2010

TEEN star Justin Bieber says he’s having a “blast” now that he’s famous and successful.

The singer — who recently celebrated his 16th birthday — has become a global sensation since signing a lucrative record deal with music superstar Usher.

Bieber signed with the Burn hitmaker after a bidding war broke between the R&B superstar and SexyBack singer Justin Timberlake.

“I entered a competition in Canada, and things just escalated,” Justin said. “Then I kept putting videos up on YouTube — I was just getting my music out there and I got something like one million hits.

“Then it went crazy with Usher and Justin Timberlake both wanting to sign me. I’m having a blast.”

Justin recently revealed that he had his first crush at the age of 13.

“My first crush was when I was 13, in my little town in Canada,” he said last month.

“You know, it was one of those little crushes you have when you’re younger. I asked her out and she said no.”

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At 16, Justin Bieber Looks to Get in the Driver's Seat

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:00:09 +0000

Justin Bieber turned 16 on Monday, and like many kids his age, he’s looking at cars. the difference is, Bieber is going high-end right away.

The pop singer, who was seen driving around Miami in Sean Kingston’s Ferrari F430 sportscar last month, tells PEOPLE he’s leaning toward something a little bigger for himself. “I think I want a Range Rover,” he says.

He may have a third option, too, as another famous friend, Diddy, recently made a generous offer involving some pricey wheels. “He said when I turn 16 he was going to give me his Lamborghini,” Bieber says. “But we all know Diddy’s not gonna give me his Lamborghini. He’s all talk.”

Bieber’s 16th birthday celebration took place in L.a. where he spent time with “friends and family,” he tweeted. he even took in a Lakers game, and got a photo snapped with Kobe Bryant.

Reporting by JOEY BARTOLOMEO

Justin Bieber Meets Crying 3-Year-Old Fan For ‘Jimmy Kimmel’

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:00:12 +0000

Monday (March 1) is Justin Bieber’s 16th birthday, but before he opened his own presents, he gave a huge gift to one of his youngest, but most enthusiastic, fans.

Last week, 3-year-old Cody became an Internet sensation when her sister posted a video of her crying over the teen heartthrob on YouTube. In a pretaped segment for Monday night’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Bieber came face to face with the toddler. And in a fortunate turn of events, the encounter didn’t make Cody cry at all.

Bieber posted a photo of their meeting and wrote, “Makin faces with Cody, Ciera, and @chynanny325 !! Awesome family and Cody isn’t crying..haha. happy to surprise them.”

He later tweeted about how much he loved meeting his little fan. “I met Cody. she is even cuter in person,” he wrote in response to Perez Hilton. And he wrote to Joe Jonas that the meeting occurred last Thursday. “Yep, Cody rules. Actually met her yesterday.”

Cody’s older sister, Cheyenne, also wrote about the meeting on the Twitter account she started in response to Cody’s fame. “Hey guys watch us meet Justin on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ on Monday night…At midnight… He kissed me BTW… ahhh.”