How old is he? I thought he was about 12 or 14, and since that’s how old he looks, the fact that I thought he was that old didn’t bother me.
Of course, I don’t care enough about him to have an opinion, so I’m not sure that’s a worthwhile data point.
Plus, he’s Canadian.
If YouTube had been around in 1956, I’d wager that all the old Glenn Miller videos would have had comments like “I can’t believe kids listen to that fag Elvis Presley instead of this!!! G-Mil was the SHIT!!!1!!!1!!!”
Not that I think Justin Bieber compares to Elvis (See, even I’m doing it! ;)), but every generation is convinced that their music is the best, and whatever the kids are listening to today is crap. It’s nothing new, and Bieber is just the current icon of “what the kids are listening to today.”
What is new is that any idiot can instantly transmit any over-the-top, bandwagon-hopping insincere comments to the entire world with a few keystrokes. And the anonymity of the internet has a way of disabling people’s bile filters.
That’s not the part I’m jealous of. It’s the overnight success for doing fuck all… not that I strictly want that either, but I’m a little envious.
I had no idea who this kid was at all until he appeared on Letterman. Never even heard the name. So my first exposure was completely without any prejudice.
It was awful. They have bad stuff on Letterman all the time, but this one took the cake. Here was this little guy surrounded by a bunch of dancers (maybe 12 or so). He obviously wasn’t as good as the dancers. And he just flat out couldn’t sing. A completely terrible performance.
He was clearly a “packaged” performer. Some record execs took some random kid and decided to make him a star. Talent not required.
Afterwards, I found out that that he was actually popular and people were buying his records in large numbers. I am baffled.
So, people making posts on his awfulness is to be expected. And he is not going to last. As in “the kids buying his records today are going to be embarrassed about it later.” type of not lasting. Some teen sensations last, some don’t.
He’s not really any worse than any of history’s talentless boy bands, but despite his asexual non-threatening 12 year-old boy persona, he does try to be all “urban” by teaming up with Ludacris (and shit) which is cringe-inducing to the highest degree. Just be what you are, bro.
But yeah… people, move on.
I have been wondering this too. I see hate for him EVERYWHERE and I am hardly aware of him beyond the hate. It’s too much!
Kinda hard for me to feel much ire towards some kid who’s career could be destroyed by a haircut.
I have no strong opinion about him one way or the other. He did OK in the SNL appearance I saw.
From Wiki: Born March 1, 1994 (age 16)
He’s 16, almost 17 (born March 94).
Overexposure maybe. I remember early Britney getting annoying, but this kid is overexposed and… well, there’s something sillier about him. Saying: “I feel like this generation’s Kurt Cobain” is just :rolleyes:
But really, it feels as if he’s getting more forced overexposure than I remember Britney Spears getting. Like there is some crazy corporate machine that figures he’s going to last a very short time so they are inflating a manufactured popularity and cramming him into every possible media opportunity they can, to squeeze every last earning potential out of him.
Like putting him on a CSI episode? Really? Pushing a teeny-bopper’s star onto a more mature audience who really doesn’t care about him?
I’m pretty ambivalent about him. He seems on par with Donny Osmond and the like - inoffensively “meh”. But they are building more backlash potential.
One possible reason for the YouTube hate (aside from the fact that the YouTube comment section is a wasteland of stupidity in general ) is that Bieber was* really* heavily promoted on YouTube for a while. So, you’d be watching your Slayer video or whatever and there would be a picture of Bieber on the side of the screen. It was a constant reminder no matter what you were watching. That seems to have been dialed back now, but the meme has taken hold.
I sort of know who Bieber is. I mean, I guess I know the name. I might be able to pick him out of a lineup, but only if Zac Ephron isn’t also in it. I’ve never heard any of his music - I don’t listen to the right sorts of stations, obviously.
Another teen sensation passing me by - I just can’t be bothered.
Well, one reason I dislike (not HATE, exactly, just dislike) him and some other pop stars is that I think there are some very talented and gifted bands and singers out there that can’t even fill up a coffee house, while he gets posters and magazines and videos and red carpet events. I know, it’s all about supply and demand, but I admit some resentment whenever a pop act with overproduced music comes out and hits it big while musicians that I consider very talented have enjoyed continue to linger in obscurity, at least in America.
Tangent: I’ll also go on record as saying that whoever invented autotune needs to be tasered. Repeatedly. Preferably in very sensitive areas. Even artists who can actually SING are using that crap! Seriously??
Are you trying to say that my hatred of Justin Bieber is a put on? Because I assure you, it’s 100% genuine.
Because we live in a binary mindset. We can’t say, “he’s a successful teen idol like David Cassidy” and think of him in those terms. Musical acts (and any form of art) is always either, “I love it” or “I hate it.” Voices with a more balanced view are ignored.
BTW, the rise of Bieber and acts like him was the obvious end result of file sharing. I predicted this would happen once Napster took off – acts whose main appeal was their stage personas, not their music. Even the teen acts of the past were just part of the music world, but, due to file sharing, they become front and center in all media.
I don’t really get the hate either. I think it just has something to do with overexposure (as in cramming down every parents throat). Also the hair.
I never heard a song of his until this past Tuesday when his cover of “Just a Girl” by No Doubt was playing at the gym. I wanted to tear my ears off. It was Auto-Tuned to death. Also, “Just a Girl” was played in constant rotation during the late 90s and I would love to go the rest of my life never hearing it again. * Especially* not an Auto-Tune version.
I believe you. But it’s also, as has been metioned above, currently trendy to trash Bieber on the interwebs. And you know how people do love to jump on those interweb trends, genuine or not.
Instead of being limited to taping a page from Tiger Beat to a dartboard, nowadays folks can tell the whole world how much they dislike the current “teen heartthrob.”
I really couldn’t be bothered to hate him but he was everywhere and that was really annoying. Seeing him with rap stars was laughable but then he showed up in an episode of CSI and sucked so bad I lost all interest in the show. Then another day I was watching tv and every commercial break had him singing happy birthday in a cancer commercial and then I really started wishing harm on someone. But the worse thing the kid did to me was make me laugh at something Will Ferrell said and that is unforgivable.
I don’t really want a violent death for a young kid but I’m sure wishing that his promotors and the people who go along with them and put him everywhere would meet some horrible fate … it doesn’t have to be a grisly death or maiming perhaps they just get accidentally duct taped to a chair with their eyes taped open and are forced to watch Bieber’s videos and other appearances for days on end while they soil themselves. Please note, I do not wish this on the child, I just want him to go back to being a normal child who does not appear on my tv or radio every single day and all his previous recordings spontaneously combust.
Oh yeah, I do hate his hair.