MANILA, Philippines--Though only 17 years old, Canadian singer Justin Bieber insists his music not only caters to people his age but to anyone who can relate to love.
“Love is a universal thing and not just for young people,” he pointed out during his press conference in Manila held May 10 inside a tent just behind the stage at SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds. “I’m not an adult yet…but my music will grow with me.”
If people really can’t---shouldn’t--- argue with success then Bieber need just brush aside the doubters. As the MCA Music release puts it, his music has proven to be an anthology of constant breakthrough hits, garnering a record-high 7x platinum award for combined sales of his albums “My World,” “My World 2.0,” “My Worlds,” “My Worlds-The Collection” and “Never Say Never: The Remixes.”
He’s had several charttoppers, too, either solo or in collaboration with such acts as Kanye West, Sean Kingston and, just recently, Rascal Flatts. Among these were “Never Say Never,” “That Should Be Me,” “One Less Lonely Girl,” “Pray” and his biggest smash so far, “Baby.”
Still, Bieber finds it “amazing” that his presence in a city can actually cause traffic jams or have people camp outside wherever just to see him whenever. To him, his success will always be “a rollercoaster ride…crazy” but one that he enjoys so much.
“Because if you’re not having fun, it’s not worth it,” he quipped.
He doesn’t take any country he visits for granted.
“I perform every night or every other night…and each one is very special to me. It’s like I love the Philippines but I also love Japan. I need to focus on giving my fans the best every time I’m out there because that might be their only time to watch me perform.”
Bieber admits that the demands of his success get to him sometimes. These past days, the teenager revealed he’s been having “throat congestion” despite his schedule easing up “just a bit.” Prior to Manila, Bieber was in Singapore where he had time to visit the Night Safari and swim with friends.
“I’m kinda keeping things with people I’m constantly with like a family relationship,” he said, pertaining especially to R&B artists Usher and Drake. “Usher is amazing. He has contributed a lot to my music and career, guiding me in the right direction. Drake…I look up to him. I like the way he handles himself and he’s like a big brother to me.”
Any chance of him collaborating with Charice or Manny Pacquiao?
“I met Charice briefly on ‘Oprah.’ She’s sweet. Manny? I’d love to go inside the ring with him!” he answered indirectly. Then prompted for a straight answer, he said, “Maybe.”
To aspiring singers like he once was, Bieber gave three suggestions.
“If you’ve already found what works, don’t change it. Second, be relatable to fans. And like I said, have fun in whatever you do because if you don’t, then it’s not worth it.”
Some Bieber trivia: His all-time favorite songs are Michael Jackson’s “Man In The Mirror” and “Dirty Diana,” as well as Boyz II Men’s “On Bended Knees.” One of his most embarrassing moments was breaking his foot onstage while performing as front act for Taylor Swift a couple of years ago. His favorite video game these days is NBA 2K11. He once visited a girl stricken with cancer who told him that his music helps her get through tough days.
To the delight of his Pinoy fans, Bieber confirmed that his back-up singers, Legaci, are all kababayans. The members taught him some Filipino words though he refused to say them aloud during the press conference because these were “bad” words.
“What’s a good word to say? Mahal kita? What does it mean? Oh, okay: Mahal kita,” he said.
And the fans started swooning, melting.
MANILA, Philippines – While the Justin Bieber concert was going on, #justinbieber entered the top trending topics on Twitter in the Philippines, only to drop out within the hour. By the time the concert ended, roughly just over an hour after it started at around 9 p.m., the other topics trending locally were One Less Lonely Girl (title of Bieber’s song), OLLG (its abbreviation), and Kathleen Kaye Pesante, apparently the name of the girl to whom Bieber sang the aforementioned song during the concert, according to Twitter users.
Here are some of the Twitter updates at the concert's end until midnight of the same night:
From Bieber himself, he posted this message: “the streets of Manila are filled...this is crazy. great energy. sick or not that show went hard!! #myworldtour” and half an hour later, followed with: “that show was great but tough. real sick. time to rest. #muchlove #wegohard”
Poreotics, meanwhile, tweeted Bieber: “Just freestyled with @justinbieber at his concert on Manila! Crowd was amazing!!! Thank you PHILIPPINES...MABUHAY!!!!!”
At show’s end, the first few celebrity tweets came from Tim Yap, Agot Isidro and Karen Davila.
Yap posted: “When Justin Bieber sang ‘Baby,’ I looked at the front row, and there they were, babies. #BieberinManila.” He soon followed this with a shout-out: “So proud of all Pinoy vocal group Legaci &dance group Poreotics,half of them Pinoy, part of #justinbieber's crew.Reprezent! #BieberinManila”
Isidro, on the other hand, seemed more concerned. “8k peso-tickets for an hour's worth of shrieking mayhem? Kalokohan. Feeling bad for shortchanged Bieber fans,” she tweeted, which was re-tweeted by Karen Davila. She also followed it with, as posted on pinoyentertainmentnews.com: “Oh wait! May php 13k tickets pala! Aawww... Pang-tuition nyo din yan, mga ining!”
Davila, who admitted she didn’t watch the concert but got her updates from fellow Twitter users, then asked via her account, “To those who watched Bieber concert: Was it worth your money?”
Soon enough, fans also exchanged messages on Twitter asking if the reason for the apparent short concert was Bieber not feeling well. Although Bieber himself had noted this in his tweet, no official statement has been given regarding this matter.
Nevertheless, Filipino fans of the young pop superstar were just elated, proven by some of the Twitter messages they posted just after the show.
By midnight, actress Camille Prats posted: “Craziest concert ever!!! I am now a certified belieber!!!:) worth every scent! Performance to the highest level! WOW!!!” She followed it shortly with, “I didnt notice @justinbieber's concert was cut short. He gave an all out performance eventhough they said he wasn't feeling well. One of the best performances i've seen in Manila by a foreign artist!:) so many costume changes, videos and other surprises!:) it was really worth it.”
Bigbadbawang also followed suit: “The deafening sound of thousands of TWEENS! Unforgettable at the @justinbieber concert! Manila loves U!”
An early reply to Isidro’s tweet, meanwhile, was posted by 11RamilKenneth: “@agot_isidro but you cant take the truth miss agot that @justinbieber is #JUSTINBIEBER... hehe”
User ayoitsred said, “Any price was worth the 1hr concert. The show went on though you were sick. #justinbieber was awesome. @justinbieber hope you come back.”
Another read: “finally i saw #JUSTINBIEBER in person OMG i had so much fun:)”
User genzsephperez tweeted: “so awesome the concert of #justinbieber tonight ...there so many people...”
One user, on the other hand, had a kick not just out of the show but her luck that night. “Highlight of my night was being able to sit next to the Younghusbands of the Azkals at the #JustinBieber concert!!”
A different user also noted that Elmo Magalona, son of late master rapper Francis M, was also in the same area at the concert.
User nikkaharo tweeted, “Naiimagine ko na ang traffic sa MOA. #justinbieber LIVE in Manila has officially ended. Estimated crowd is around 40,000-50,000.”
Actress Jennica Garcia also tweeted: “Nakatuwa si Bieber meron siyang isang dancer na Pinoy. Binigyan niya ng spot. Nagsayaw siya ng solo at in all fairness magaling siya! :)” and also added, “Hindi mawala ngiti ko... :D hanggang tenga pa rin hanggang ngayon. I'm so high.... So high on Bieber!!!! ;)”
But amid the good vibes, there are those who expressed disappointment, clearly clueless about the reason for the seemingly shorter-than-expected show.
User @imsofialicios said: “#JUSTINBIEBER what have you done.....a waste of money for the kids cuz you CUT the concert after an hour....i understand that you're tired but....STILL you should've warned the beliebs!”
Another one posted, “affected much ako sa 1 hour concert ni #JUSTINBIEBER,, kawawang parents at fans..tsk tsk.”
“#justinbieber should have inform the fans that his show will only run for 1 hr no matter what will happen, pra di madissapoint ang mga bata,” wrote another.
Another one who tweeted didn’t complain about the length of the show but said, “Grabe....kaantok ang #JustinBieber mas okay pa ang Gary V. Concert!”
User ronnievinn tweeted to raise another concern: “#justinbieber too crowded ... organizers kawawa mga kids :( shorter than 3ft older tweenies standing... the performance were cute though.”
Biebier flies out of Manila today, May 11, via PAL flight at 10 a.m.
MANILA, Philippines – Canadian singing sensation Justin Bieber never fails to amaze his fans---including Pinoys, who are likely more enamored with him after he tweeted in Filipino recently.
On May 7, Bieber tweeted, “Next stop.. Manila, Philippines.. #MyWorldTour?! Mahal Kita.”
This was followed by a retweet of his Pinoy fans. Itsjasaransay posted this message, which was then retweeted by justinbieber: @justinbieber can't wait 'till you come here in Manila :) I love you.”
Another retweet from the singer was this post from Im_saaam: “I can't believe that @justinbieber is coming to Manila in less than a day! And on may 10 I'll be in the same room as him! So excited!”
Bieber is definitely a crowd pleaser but along the way, he has also committed minor booboos. During his concert in Malaysia, for example, an unnamed blogger, who claimed his friend was able to view the singer’s error when it allegedly happened, was quoted in a report.
“Justin Bieber staged a very successful jampacked concert in Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last night April 21… But one funny ‘boo-boo’ happened when he showed up on stage and greeted his Malaysian fans ‘Hello Manila!’”
The incident had Twitterworld in unimaginable frenzy as fans and detractors had a day voicing out their comments. While some messages are pro-Bieber, there are those who criticized the young Canadian singer.
The Bieber craze continues as the singer reportedly did not arrive as scheduled for his Justin Bieber My World Tour in Manila set on May 10 at the SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds.
A report by DZMM said that Bieber is expected to come on May 8. “Hindi natuloy ang nakatakda sanang pagdating ng sikat na singer na si Justin Bieber alas onse trenta y singko kagabi. Ayon kay Cathy Liven ng NAIA Media Affairs department, hindi natuloy ang pagdating ni Bieber sakay ng Philippine Airlines dahil sa sama ng panahon. Hindi pa matiyak kung kailan pa ito darating para sa kanyang concert. Bukas bago ang concert (ay) may naka-schedule na presson si Bieber sa Philippine media,” the radio anchor of DZMM reported on May 9.
On the same day, lifestyle columnist of Manila Standard Today Harold Geronimo made an erratum on his earlier posted messages on Twitter insinuating that Bieber is already in the country.
“Got a call from the major sponsor: Justin Bieber isn't in Manila yet. He's arriving tomorrow morning. Postponed flight due to bad weather,” Geronimo tweeted at around 11:45 p.m.
Geronimo also tweeted at almost the same minute, “Justin Bieber and team went on a Night Safari in Singapore tonight. Nice!”
Six hours earlier, Geronimo tweeted these messages suggesting the Canadian singer has already arrived in Manila.
“Source: EDSA Shangrila received hundreds of calls from people asking about Justin Bieber.”
“Wear purple in @justinbieber's concert tomorrow. It's his favorite color!”
“Justin Bieber is now relaxing at the poolside with his production team trying some wakeboarding - Filipino-style!”
He even posted a photo of Bieber’s supposed arrival at the airport. “Justin Bieber's arrival at NAIA yesterday. Quiet, no media frenzy. http://twitpic.com/4vfwmu.”
But later, he tweeted this, “I deleted the photo of Justin Bieber at the airport because I also questioned its authenticity from a source.”
Before retiring to bed, Geronimo seemingly took a swipe at his detractors for criticizing his false report about Bieber.
“Good night friends! Always remember: Kung ang hayop nga nagkakamali, tao pa kaya?” he said.
To probably end all speculations about Bieber, TV5 posted on May 9 an official announcement on its Facebook account that said: “The Justin Bieber concert will push through tomorrow. There is no truth to the rumors going around social networking sites that it's cancelled.”
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