As a 23-year-old guy, I would not be considered in the core demographic of Justin Bieber's fanbase. And to be clear, I am not necessarily a fan. But neither am I a hater and dislike him either (I am neutral). As the Bieber Guy, I will explore the Justin Bieber phenomenon and understand why he may have lasting power in the biz.
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There's been a lot of news lately surrounding Justin Bieber's upcoming holiday album. Justin confirmed that both Boyz II Men and Usher will duet with him. Then we got a release date of November 1, only a month away.
Now, we have two more news items. First, the album will be called Under The Mistletoe!
And even better, the cover art has been released. It shows Justin facing slightly to the side, while looking straight into the camera. He's wearing a black leather jacket, and snowflakes are all around him. And his name is very sparkly, don't you think?
Check out the cover art below:
Under The Mistletoe is now available to pre-order online. There will be two versions: a standard version, and a CD/DVD Deluxe Edition. To pre-order a copy (or two or three) for yourself, below are the Amazon product links, or pre-order them directly from the Bieber Guy STORE.
The other night, Bieber Guy posted a video of 14-year-old Drew Ryniewicz performing Justin Bieber's hit "Baby" during Wednesday's audition episode of FOX's The X Factor. Click HERE to check out that video and to read my positive thoughts on her audition.
Yesterday, Entertainment Weekly had the chance to talk with Drew about her audition and about Bieber:
Who came up with that arrangement of "Baby"?
I came up with that all by myself. My mom and my dad are not musically inclined and I don't have a vocal teacher currently. So I came up with that arrangement all on my own in 20 minutes or so.
Did the producers play up your love for Justin Bieber or are you really that much of a fan?
I do think that he is cute, the way he flips his hair -- all the things that I said about him. But I also really appreciate the way he puts his music together and the way he performs. I really look up to that. I didn't quite say that on here. I wouldn't call myself an obsessed girl. Obsession is kind of a strong word and I'm not like [that] about anything except Jesus Christ.
I went on Justin's Twitter page today and he hasn't mentioned your audition. Do you wonder if he's seen it?
Yeah, I was waiting to see if he was going to say anything about me and he hasn't. But he's a busy kid. I hope that someday he'll see it and want to sing with me!
Read the entire article HERE to find out what it was like going to school the day after her audition aired and more about her audition.
Last week, as part of my ongoing Bieber Guy Project, where I explore the Justin Bieber phenomenon by reviewing all of his music and other entertainment outlets, I reviewed "Baby." Click HERE to check out that review!
The X Factor airs on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8pm on FOX; next week is Boot Camp week. And good luck to Drew; we hope you go far!
This is the news Bieber fans have all been waiting for. Just has confirmed via Twitter when his much-anticipated Christmas album will be in stores, saying simply: "#nov1st". The as yet untitled album will be released November 1! That's only a month away!
And that's not all. Justin also tweeted that he's collaborating with Usher on one of the songs!
"just finished a late nt in the studio for the christmas album...it is OFFICIAL...my big bro @UsherRaymondIV is on the album with me! #EPIC"
We already know that he's collaborating with Boyz II Men on the album (and possible Taylor Swift, though we don't know if that's for this album or a future one). Now we've got confirmation on Usher, his mentor. And we also know all the songs will be originals.
I wonder how many duets there will be? Every song, or just a few? I guess we'll have to wait for the tracklist to come out.
The past couple of weeks have seen the audition episodes of the American version of Simon Cowell's The X Factor air on FOX. During tonight's Chicago/Seattle audition episode (Sept. 28), one of the auditioners took on a song that we all are familiar with.
Check it out right here: 14-year-old Drew Ryniewicz is a huge, huge, huge Justin Bieber fan. She would love to meet him and perform with him someday. And she was nervous about performing in front of L.A. Reid, since L.A. is the one who signed Justin to a recording contract. Talk about pressure, right?
But that's not necessarily why I'm talking about her. I wouldn't normally post a video here on Bieber Guy of someone doing a cover of one of Justin's songs. But I watch and am a fan of The X Factor (& Simon Cowell). And what I love on any of these singing shows, whether it's American Idol (see Chris Daughtry and David Cook, among others), The X Factor (Caitlin Koch and Drew, during these auditions), or others, is when a singer will get up there and blow us away not just with the voice, but by putting a new spin and arrangement on a song we all know and love.
Out of the better singers during these X Factor auditions so far, we've had two already change up the arrangement. Drew Ryniewicz took Justin Bieber's "Baby" and breathed new life into an already great song. And what's interesting is that I love both Justin and Drew's versions. The original is teen pop, whereas Drew's strips it down and gives an acoustic rendition that's great as well. She's got an interesting tone to her voice. When she gets to the chorus, we all expect the music to ramp up. Instead, it stays slow. And on the words "baby," instead of the vocal emphasis being on the start of the word, Drew has done the opposite; she emphasizes the latter part of the word.
Oh, and by the way, the judges sent her to the next round: Boot Camp.
For comparison, here's the original. I know I don't need to, 'cause you all know it already. But here it is anyway: Last week, as part of my ongoing Bieber Guy Project, where I explore the Justin Bieber phenomenon by reviewing all of his music and other entertainment outlets, I reviewed "Baby." Click HERE to check out that review!
The final audition episode of The X Factor airs Thursday, September 29, from 8-10pm on FOX.
Lil Wayne celebrated his 29th birthday yesterday, on September 27. And to honor his birthday, Justin Bieber sang a cover of Lil Wayne's hit, "How To Love." He tweeted a link to the YouTube clip in the middle of the night, saying he couldn't get to sleep:
And here's the original version of the song by Lil Wayne, in his music video:
I'm not generally a fan of rap. And I'm definitely not a fan of Lil Wayne overusing Auto-Tune in his version. But Justin did a fairly good job. No Auto-Tune. Just simply done.
The nominations were announced today for MTV's O Music Awards. And Justin Bieber has been nominated for 2 awards!
Here's the categories he's nominated in:
Fan Army FTW:
Tokio Hotel (Aliens)
Lady Gaga (Little Monsters)
Adam Lambert (Glamberts) Justin Bieber (Beliebers)
Insane Clown Posse (Juggalos)
Iron Maiden (Troopers)
Demi Lovato (Lovatics) Taylor Swift (Taylor Nation)
Nicki Minaj (Barbiez)
Lil Wayne (Team Weezy)
And just like at the MTV Europe Music Awards, Bieber's once again up against Lady Gaga. And again, it's in a category that has to do with the fanbase. He's also up against his friend Taylor Swift.
Best Artist With A Cameraphone:
Demi Lovato Justin Bieber
Deftones
Portugal. The Man
Young the Giant
Shiny Toy Guns
The National
Katy Perry
Amanda Palmer
Ben Folds
Click HERE to check out the full list of nominations.
MTV's O Music Awards will announce the winners on October 31.
Song: "Never Let You Go" (Promo Single #1) From Album: My World 2.0 Release Date: March 2, 2010
After last week's review of the extremely catchy and uber successful "Baby," let's keep the My World 2.0 train moving along. Today, it's time for the first promotional single from the full-length album, "Never Let You Go."
Even though it technically wasn't an official single, it was still a promotional single, meaning the song was used to promote the album. And it does have importance, because it was the song released closest to the album release date; only 17 days before.
Justin Bieber came off a successful EP with My World the previous fall, and his biggest single to date just a month and a half before "Never Let You Go." So really, in a way, it didn't really matter what song he put out to promote the album with; he had already solidified himself as a bonafide star. Tween and teen girls everywhere were already on board and willing to listen to whatever he had to put out. And I'm sure the record execs wanted to make sure that the absolute best songs were saved for official singles later on (i.e. "Somebody to Love" and "U Smile"). So what does that leave us with? Granted, I've only heard about four of the songs on the album. So as of right now, I'm sure if there would have been a better song or not to promote with.
But having said that, "Never Let You Go" is a pretty good song. The main reason is in the lyrics, yet again. The continuous pattern here of songs about girls just keeps going on and on, doesn't it? A coincidence, perhaps? Kidding.
The best lyric in terms of the beat of the song is here: "It's like an angel came by and took me to heaven." Out of the whole song, that part really stands out; the mix of the words with how it's interpreted is great. Another standout part is this: "Let the music blast, we gon' do our dance." I focus on this one as well because this particular lyric does remind me a little of the beat of some of Justin's upbeat teen pop songs, where you have the vocal emphasis on the start of "music" and on "do." I've mentioned in previous reviews how doing those bounces, as I like to call them, catch my attention.
Even though the song isn't about this, what I took note of was, "Bring the doubters on, they don't matter at all," because it's almost like he's calling out his critics here. The "doubters" are his critics, but they don't matter. What does matter is the girl referred to in the song, and the girl is a metaphor for his fans. The critics don't matter, but the fans do. Am I going out on a limb here with this metaphor? Anybody?...
The music video for "Never Let You Go" reflects the slowness of the song (and I don't mean slowness in a bad way). There's no fast pumping beats or anything like that, and the video mirrors that, taking on that ballad-y nature. It's a love song, pure and simple, and video successfully brings that to life.
Exactly 17 days after "Never Let You Go," My World 2.0 was released. And so, that means next week's review will be Part 1 of Bieber Guy's My World 2.0 Review.
If you are a Bieber fan and would like to share your story of why you're a fan of Justin Bieber, your thoughts on his music, have you ever met him in person or been to a concert?, etc., I want to hear from you. And you just might have your story featured here on Bieber Guy. Also, I particularly want to hear from male Bieber fans, aka other Bieber Guys. Click HERE to contact me (and put 'Bieber' somewhere in the subject line so I know what it's about).
To stay updated on everything related to Bieber Guy and when the next blog and/or review will be online, follow me on Twitter @Bieber_Guy.
As we all know, Justin Bieber's not just a huge star here in the United States of America. To put it simply, he's a worldwide phenomenon. And it shows at this year's MTV Europe Music Awards, where the Biebs received 3 nominations!
Here's the categories he's nominated in:
Best Pop:
Britney Spears Justin Bieber
Katy Perry
Lady Gaga
Rihanna
He's got some tough competition here, especially with Lady Gaga.
Best Male:
Bruno Mars
David Guetta
Eminem Justin Bieber
Kanye West
Biggest Fans: Justin Bieber
Lady Gaga
Paramore
Selena Gomez
Thirty Seconds To Mars
Lady Gaga's got a mega huge and extremely devoted following, so this is another tough category.
Congrats to Justin and all the nominees! The MTV Europe Music Awards will air November 6.
Song: "Baby" (Single #1) From Album: My World 2.0 Release Date: January 18, 2010
During these past several weeks, I have been reviewing songs from Justin's My World EP. Last week, I capped it off with an overall review of the entire EP. Now it's time to venture into My World 2.0, his full-length album. And it's only fitting to start with the first single from the album - "Baby."
"Baby" is the song that put him on the scene. It's his signature song, his highest charting song to date, and the song that got people to pay attention to him. This is when he really hit it big. Before "Baby," he certainly had a huge following already. But "Baby," in a way, introduced Justin to the masses, a wider audience. If you didn't know about Justin Bieber before this song, you certainly did after. And I would include myself in that statement. I didn't know who he was. But all of a sudden, "Baby" was playing everywhere on TV, and I got introduced to him as an artist that way.
And of his three official singles so far ("OneTime," "One Less Lonely Girl," and "Baby"), "Baby" is by far the best. The storyline of the song is that a girl has left him. And Ludacris makes a cameo near the end with some rapping.
Is the song catchy? Oh sure, you betcha! It's extremely memorable, can get stuck in your head, and has a catchy hook: "baby, baby, baby, ohhhh (I thought you'd always be mine)." It's not just the repetition of the word "baby," but in the way it's repeated, the beat, the tone, and the addition of his voice going into a high register for "ohhhh." On a related note, I read that when Justin's voice began changing, he had to start singing these parts of the song in a lower register. Yeah, I can imagine he would have to, considering how high his voice would have to go there.
Whenever I have heard this song on TV or wherever, I don't think I've ever heard the Ludacris interlude. And I hate to say this, but I wish I hadn't now. So hear me out first. When it comes to rapping, I'm not the biggest fan. But having said that, I'm not always against it, depending on how it's included in a song. And Ludacris' rapping in "Baby" wasn't the best use of it, in my opinion. But I can certainly see why it's included. In fact, they were smart by putting it in the song. And why is that, you might ask? Well, it's because the inclusion of this R&B/Hip Hop gives the song more "street cred," for lack of a better term. It's not that the song was bad before the rapping, but people might take Justin more seriously after listening to a song like this, that it's not just teen pop; there's R&B and Hip Hop influences in his music.
"Baby" received great reviews from the critics, saying it surpasses his previous work. And they also said that having Ludacris featured props the song up to a new level.
In the UK, "Baby" was released as a remix featuring Chipmunk (That's Chipmunk the rapper, not to be confused with the animated animal characters). Check out the remix here...
...Actually, on second thought, I think I prefer the Ludacris cameo. But, hey, that's just me.
The music video for "Baby," released February 19, 2010, plays out the storyline in the lyrics of the song. Justin is trying to get the girl back after they split up. It takes place at a bowling alley. The girl and her friends are bowling. Justin and his friends show up and are bowling a few lanes down from them. They notice each other, and try to one up each other by bowling strikes. Did they eventually get back together? You'll have to watch the video to find out; as if you haven't already, right? And I'm sure teen girls everywhere were thinking, "how could she leave him? Who would ever want to break up with Justin Bieber?" Am I right? Well, am I?
Speaking of this vid, the Guinness World Records 2012 book was recently released, and Justin Bieber's "Baby" music video broke the world record for the most popular online video. Bieber Guy reported on the news last week.
I've said in previous reviews that singles are important, because they should be an indicator of what the album as a whole will sound like. And just as important are lead singles, because it's our first ever taste of the new music. Now, I may have only heard a few of the songs from My World 2.0 over the past year or so, but even so, "Baby" is a perfect single to lead the album off with for promotion.
The next review will be for the first promotional single from My World 2.0, "Never Let You Go." So stay tuned for that next week.
On a final, closing note: If you are a Bieber fan and would like to share your story of why you're a fan of Justin Bieber, your thoughts on his music, have you ever met him in person or been to a concert?, etc., I want to hear from you. And you just might have your story featured here on Bieber Guy. Also, I particularly want to hear from male Bieber fans, aka other Bieber Guys. Click HERE to contact me (and put Bieber somewhere in the subject line so I know what it's about).
To stay updated on everything related to Bieber Guy and when the next blog will be online, follow me on Twitter @Bieber_Guy.
I previously reported here on Bieber Guy that Justin Bieber was in the studio working on a Christmas album. Then, a couple of weeks ago, Bieber's manager Scooter Braun tweeted that said album would feature all original songs: "this christmas album is amazing. might be the best album yet. all originals...soon 2 b classics. every1 i play it 4 is blown away."
Now we've discovered that there will be a very special collaboration on the Christmas album. And no, it's not Taylor Swift. Or, at least, a collaboration like that hasn't been confirmed just yet. No, this particular duet is none other than Boyz II Men! Bieber looked up to this group growing up, and now they're making music together.
Bieber announced the collaboration via Twitter: "2day i woke up and realised that the group that made me want to sing @BoyzIIMen are now on the christmas album singing with me (sic),i used 2 listen to their music and practice the runs. that is how i learned how to sing. now im in the studio with them making music 2gether."
Is this the only guest artist or band that will be featured on the holiday release? We'll just have to wait and see. And by the way, some of the proceeds from the album will go to charity.
To follow the latest Justin Bieber news and updates on the Bieber Guy reviews, follow me on Twitter @Bieber_Guy. And to read up on all the latest TV, movie and entertainment news, visit Bieber Guy's partner sites TV Watch Online and T.W.O. BLOG (& follow T.W.O. on Twitter @TVWatchOnline).
The Guinness World Records 2012 book was released in stores today. And with it, we found out that some pretty high-profile people are featured in the book, having earned world records themselves.
One of them is none other than Justin Bieber himself. According to MSN Music, "Bieber's 'Baby' was the Most Popular Video of Any Kind Online, with 463,820,304 views asof Feb. 16, 2011." Considering how "Baby" is considered to be his most well-known song from his catalog, it's no surprise that the video for said song reached such epic proportions. And we all know by now that Beliebers know how to come out in full force for their idol, right?
Lady Gaga's also featured in the 2012 edition. She's got the most followers on Twitter with over 11.2 million. J.K. Rowling's the first billionaire author. Other celebs included in the compilation are Willow Smith, Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding, Adele, and Bieber's friend Taylor Swift.
Congrats to everyone who shattered world records in the past year!
Since this world record is for the "Baby" music video, here's the YouTube video below:
After reviewing his first two singles, plus the two iTunes promotional singles, it's now time to look at Justin Bieber's debut release, My World EP. Since I've already reviewed four of the seven songs on the album, I already had a pretty good sense of what the album as a whole was going to be like.
My World starts out with his debut single, "One Time." Click HERE for my initial thoughts on the song (and HERE for the updated review). It's a great start to the EP. Even though each individual song should be able to stand on its own, especially in the digital age of downloading individual songs instead of entire albums, the order of the tracks is extremely important. There should be some sort of a progression as you're making your way through the album. And just as important is track #1 - the very first song you'll hear upon hitting play.
After having listened to "One Time" many times now, it really has grown on me over time. I mean, just look at my comments in the initial review vs. my updated review. The song is definitely catchy, and that's what makes it successful. Listeners will want to keep listening to the album after hearing this one.
Next up is "Favorite Girl" (HERE's my track review). "Favorite Girl" keeps up the momentum carried over from "One Time" and ramps it up even more. I would think that, to tween and teen girls, if "One Time" brings the Beliebers on board, then "Favorite Girl" keeps them aboard. I'm not a songwriter, nor could I ever be. But when a songwriter can do things to a song, whether that's in the phrasing, the tempo, melody, notes or range, that make it stand above other songs, that's a success. And FG does that when it comes to the melody in the chorus. I call them the bounces in the song: "My prized possession, one and only." His voice goes up on such words as "possession" and "only." That's what hooked me in. That's what kept me wanting to listen to the song again.
"Down to Earth" is by far the most poignant and heartfelt song on the whole album. Read the lyrics as he's singing them: Whenever I've reviewed each of the songs, I always like to do a little research and read up on the background, what the songs are about, how Justin interprets them, etc. Justin co-wrote three of the songs on My World, including this one. "Down to Earth" is about his parent's divorcing, and having to grow up in the aftermath of it all. Knowing this, it really does bring a whole new meaning to the song. My World started off with fun, upbeat, catchy songs. Then we slow it down quite a bit on this one. It doesn't feel out of place at all, though. Since I came into the song knowing the background on it, I really payed attention to the words, what was being said. I paid attention to how he projected his voice to convey that meaning. I can't really compare it to the upbeat songs, since they're completely different types of songs. But "Down to Earth" is by far one of the best songs to come out of My World. There's no denying the power of words. And really, no matter who's singing them, we hope that the message is still conveyed. On a song like Miley Cyrus' "The Climb," I'm not a fan of Miley's voice, but I love that song and the theme within it. Same with Demi Lovato and "Skyscraper." Even for those who are not Justin Bieber fans, I hope they would be able to listen to "Down to Earth" and react in a similar way that I did.
I found this video on YouTube of Justin singing "Down to Earth" in concert. At times, it seems like he's a little uncomfortable singing it. Just pay attention to his facial expressions, his mannerisms, the way he moves around, and especially the way he completely embodies the song while singing it. The song does mean a lot to him, and you can tell in this video: "Bigger" is up next. Is anyone else tired of hearing these "Mafia" tags? It's not just with Justin's (Mafia is heard both on "Down to Earth" and Bigger"), but many other artists. I have all of Fantasia's albums (Fantasia of American Idol fame), and I hear it on there too. Does Midi Mafia have to include it on every song they're a part of?
Anyways...sorry about that mini-rant there. I just had to get that off my chest. But "Bigger" is a decent-enough song to include, giving My World an R&B flavor with this one. The bounces I referred to with "Favorite Girl" are back again.
"One Less Lonely World," while not has catchy as some of the other songs, has lyrics that his female fans can connect to. In my review of this song, I didn't give it the highest rating. But I found out that there's a French Adaptation only on the Canadian release of My World. Justin goes back and forth between singing some lines in English and some in French. And I have to say, I prefer this French Adaptation over the original by far. What is is about certain foreign languages, like French, that can do that? I had no idea that he could speak French. Even though he's from Canada, I don't know if it's required for students to learn French or what percentage do. So I didn't know that he could. But I loved the French parts of the song. Celine Dion is my favorite singer of all time. And she does have some songs on her American albums sung in French. And I love them. And I really want to get her French releases. So really, the French language seems to make things even better, doesn't it?
Regardless of what I said about "Bigger" and "One Less Lonely Girl," "First Dance" may be the weakest song on the EP. With similarities in tempo Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone," this one is mainly teen pop, and features Usher. But the R&B flavor infused near the end seems out of place. And in terms of the overall feeling I got from the song as a whole, I found it a little forgettable. The catchiness that I keep talking about in the other songs seems lost here. But since the song is about prom, it caters extremely well to his female fans. I mentioned earlier that the first track of an album is critical because it sets the tone for the rest of the album. "One Time" succeeded on that front. And now that we're at the end, I will say that the final track is also important. You want to go out with a bang, if you will. Sometimes on albums, the best tracks are at the start and/or middle, and not much energy is taken into the ending. But My World again succeeds here with this. "Love Me" is a great way to end the album (read my review HERE). It brings the tempo back up, it's catchy, upbeat, and fun. And it's one of my favorites of all the songs.
My World received generally positive reviews from critics. I've given it a mostly positive review as well, and this is coming from a non-fan, though someone who isn't a hater either. And the album was a smash on the charts as well, having the best-selling debut of a new artist in 2009.
My absolute favorite tracks on the EP are "Down to Earth,""Love Me,""Favorite Girl," and "One Time." After those four, I would order these songs (starting with the best) as "One Less Lonely Girl," "Bigger," and "First Dance." There's was also another track included on this release, but only on iTunes, which was "Common Denominator." In terms of tempo and pacing, I would compare it to "First Dance." I graded each of the seven tracks based on the GPA grading system (i.e. A=4.0, A-=3.7, B+=3.3, etc). After averaging it out, the final grade was between 3.5 and 3.7. I'm going to round it up, and give Justin Bieber's debut EP, My World, an A-. The songs cater to his core demographic of teen and tween girls. The R&B infusion into some of the songs gives it more credibility with other people. And with a song like "Down to Earth," Justin has shown that there can be deep layers to some of his songs and his music beyond just catering to girls.
This isn't an album I would normally buy. If you look at my CD collection, I don't have any teen/tween-type albums; the one that comes closest is Taylor Swift, but her music has transcended beyond just that fan base and into mainstream critical acclaim by people of all ages and backgrounds. As Justin becomes an adult and has to make that transition with his music as well, can he do the same? I can't wait to find out.
To find out the latest TV, movie and entertainment news, visit Bieber Guy's partner sites, TV Watch Online and the TV Watch Online BLOG (follow T.W.O. on Twitter HERE).
The next music review will be the kick-off of the My World 2.0 reviews, with "Baby." I might do a non-music review before then; I'm still trying to finalize the order of these next couple of reviews. So pay attention to Twitter for the latest on that.
To stay updated on everything related to Bieber Guy and when the next blog will be online, follow me on Twitter @Bieber_Guy.
As Bieber Guy previously reported, Justin Bieber is currently in the studio working on his Christmas album, due to be released at the end of the year in time for the holidays.
It looks like we won't be hearing him sing "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)," or even "Silver Bells." We've received word today that the holiday album will consist of all new original songs. That's right Beliebers! Every single song will be brand-new. And I'm sure they'll have the Bieber touch to them, for sure.
Bieber's manager Scooter Braun first revealed this bit of scoop on Twitter: "this christmas album is amazing. might be the best album yet. all originals...soon 2 b classics. every1 i play it 4 is blown away."
Is anyone disappointed that he won't be covering any traditional holiday songs? Or excited that it'll be brand-new material? Should it be a mix of old and new?
Also, according to EW, Bieber has been in the studio with Taylor Swift. We know that those two have written a song together. Could this song possibly be for the Christmas album? And are you excited that Swift might be featured on the CD?
