|
|
Post by Admin on Oct 17, 2020 21:08:24 GMT
Justin Bieber shows the dark side of childhood stardom in the new music video for "Lonely." The video was released at midnight on Friday. As of Saturday, it's already racked up over 8 million views. A 14-year-old Jacob Tremblay, who plays Bieber, dons the signature purple hoodie and side swept bangs of Bieber's "My World" era. Bieber, who is now 26, was discovered at age 13 by manager Scooter Braun.  In the video, Tremblay is seen by himself in a dressing room before producer Benny Blanco, who collaborated with Bieber and producer Finneas on the track, lets Tremblay know it's time to get on stage. Tremblay sings the song's melancholy lyrics to a seemingly empty audience before it's revealed in the last 10 seconds that the real Bieber has been listening. "And maybe that's the price you pay / for the money and the fame at an early age/ And everybody saw me sick/ And it felt like no one gave a s*** / They criticized the things I did as an idiot kid," Bieber sings. The lyrics and video have a much more somber tone than the music video for rapper DJ Khaled and Drake's "Popstar," released last month. In that video, Bieber struts around a house party at a mansion, and lip synchs lyrics about promiscuity, alcohol use and the decadence of fame. But in "Lonely," Bieber doesn't lionize fame -- instead, the song paints a much more realistic image of what it means to be world famous as a teenager. Back in September 2019, Bieber posted on social media about mental health, reflecting on the mistakes he had made in his past. "I was 18, with no skills in the real world, with millions of dollars and access to whatever I wanted," Bieber writes. "This is a very scary concept for anyone." |
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Oct 19, 2020 6:44:35 GMT
Justin Bieber’s appearance on “Saturday Night Live” was intended as a shot of Adrenalin into his projects. It worked a little, and not at all.
Flying to New York, Bieber accomplished pushing his woe-is-me single, “Lonely,” to number 1 on iTunes and his duet with Chance the Rapper, called “Holy,” back to number 4. (I objected to the big neon cross hanging behind him on the first number. “SNL” isn’t religious programming. NBC could have a problem with that.)
But Bieber’s bigger problem isn’t solved. His 2021 tour, which was supposed to replace his cancelled 2020 dates, isn’t selling. Let’s not forget that pre-pandemic, the 2020 tour wasn’t selling either. It was systematically downgraded from stadiums to arenas, dates were cancelled, moved, it was a mess. The pandemic gave Bieber an excuse for dumping the whole thing, right in the nick of time.
Now the new dates seem like they’ve been on sale since around August 6th. A look at Ticketmaster shows that almost all the dates have sold lightly, with the floor seats doing well, not great. But the balance of each venue is unsold, with blue dots everywhere indicating lots of available tickets.
The tour begins in June 2021, maybe, who knows? Depending on COVID, it’s unclear if it will really happen, and if it does, will fans take the chance of moshing together, standing, screaming, and breathing on each other?
The two singles now will help get attention for the tour. But Bieber will have to release another album, including them, in early spring so he has something to cross promote the tour. His album from last winter, “Changes,” has sold just 187,000 downloads and CDs. With streaming, the number bulks up to 873,000 but a lot of that includes sales of his only hit off the album. “Intentions,” his single featuring Quavo.
|
|
