LEAVE IT TO BIEBER

October 19, 2010

As the second leg of the My World Tour kicked off, Bieber Fever advanced to epidemic status, sweeping through Vancouver Tuesday night.

The area surrounding Rogers Arena was surprisingly quiet and non-chaotic at 7pm. Shocking, considering the scene that usually greets Canadian pop and R&B star Justin Bieber.

It was the calm before the storm.

The mobs of screaming tweens you'd expect to be lining the streets were already in the building. The stadium was bursting at the seams during the second opening act, breaking into ear-drum-splitting shrieks when Jasmine V, named dropped the main attraction.

The packed house was in a frenzy by the time Sean Kingston swaggered on stage, met by a sea of waving arms. The charismatic artist had fans dancing and singing for the duration of his set, which included “Beautiful Girls” and “Fire Burning”.

Anticipation came to a head when the countdown to the main act hit two minutes. Bieber Nation erupted. The decibel level only rose as the feathered haired heartthrob took to the stage for his opening number "Love Me" — probably. It was kind of hard to hear Bieber over the crowd.

Since releasing his debut studio effort My World, featuring hits “Favourite Girl” and “Love Me”, which propelled Bieber to stardom, the singer has been hard at work. He quickly followed up with My World 2.0, a multi-platinum album that found its way to #1 in 16 countries and spawned the hit singles “Baby” and “Eenie Meenie” with Sean Kingston.

Charming the sea of shrieking teen girls, Bieber sang his cover of Boyz II Men’s “U Smile”, before picking up the guitar for “Never Let You Go” and “Favourite Girl” as he soared over the floor crowd in a metal heart contraption.

The very definition of an internet sensation, the 16 year old sparked his career through YouTube videos of him singing Usher, Ne-Yo, and Stevie Wonder songs. Discovered and signed by Usher and Scooter Braun, the budding star earned a contract with Island Records and set to work with a team of talented musicians and producers.

Returning to the tour grind, Bieber spent the night singing and dancing up and down the stage, making all his female fans swoon. One lucky girl was serenaded on stage — practically hyperventilating at her good fortune — during “One Less Lonely Girl”, and gifted with flowers and a hug from Bieber.

A tribute to his start as an internet star followed, the three giant screens playing a montage of home videos featuring a young Justin playing guitar and drums, singing, hamming it up, and even a little ice skating, because at the end of the day isn’t he just a good Canadian kid? One with millions of adoring fans around the world.

From a grass roots beginning to international super-stardom, it’s hard to dismiss the singer as a pop fad when you factor in his musical prowess. But tonight wasn't about proving anything. The venue was already full of Beliebers.