Can’t. I don’t own the rights, since I’m north of the border too.
Or, in Ashlee Simpson’s case, a fronting track…
And the bonus of Miley Cyrus is she looks like she is heading for a nice long booze and drug filled future like Lohan and Brittany, so that is always fun to watch.
The reason I mentioned Bieber being able to sing is due to those very early youtube videos where he just sings a song to camera in his living room. I know there was some cynicism behind the way they were promoted too, but, all the same, he is still singing in tune with a decent voice with no autotuning or anything.
So far all the criticisms of him have basically been descriptions of every other manufactured pop star out there (stupid hair included), but he gets way more hate than them.
It’s also really weird to hate someone for looking young. It’s hardly his fault, and he is young! I’m sure he’d be happy to grow a few inches taller if it were in his power to do so.
Any man/boy admired by women/girls, any singer marketed to women/girls, whether talented or not, is automatically despised BECAUSE he has mostly women/girl fans. (See: the career of Barry Manilow). This is because women and girls are considered a lower species, anything they like is inferior, and they obviously don’t know what true musical talent is. A cute young crush-worthy boy singing pop songs? Kill him! A droning drugged up old moron vomiting up angsty poetry? A true genius! …Also, there’s a jealousy factor among the immature, who really do suffer by comparison, and they know it, and it just makes them more immature and inclined to blat out mindless hate. So it has been, so it is, so it will ever be. Barry Manilow’s career rolled on nicely. Don’t know about JB, but I hope it goes well for him, too.
I pretty much disagree with all of that, and especially your assessment of Barry’s career. Manilow fell into public disdain not because women liked him but because he represented a style of soft pop that went out of fashion in the post-disco era. He has succeeded because despite the vagaries of public taste he remains a talented singer, songwriter* and pianist who proved he could both write very catchy tunes and perform in other genres - Paradise Cafe, which was light jazz/blues, sold very well and he’s subsequently done albums of big band and showtunes. You may recall that ABBA were derided for a while too due to being too “1970s”; with the passing of time their talent as songwriters and performers is now more honestly recognized.
Justin Bieber is a modestly talented teenager with a HUGE marketing and production machine behind him . If he can escape from that when he gets older he may have a longer career. If he can’t move beyond “manufactured teen heartthrob” he’s doomed.
*although ironically he didn’t write “I Write the Songs”. He did however write the “You Deserve a Break Today” jingle for McDonalds.
The “they’re just jealous” defense. No. I have no interest in attracting 11 year old girls. Bieber can have them.
Barry Manilow’s music was derided (though I don’t think people felt any real animosity towards Barry himself) because it was saccharine and soft, bordering on a self-parody of easy listening pablum.
People aren’t responding well to being force fed this Bieber kid because he hasn’t earned any of the hype, his product sucks and his entire brand is really based on litle girls liking his picture in Tiger Beat magazine, not on any legitimate output or talent.
Incidentally, I think that, with time, Barry Manilow has earned some respect from rock snobs like me. It’s partly because, in retrospect, he clearly had an ability to write melodic hooks. (one of the things that looks like it should be the easiest, yet is really one of the most difficult and elusive things for a songwriter to do is write a catchy hook), and it’s partly because he has shown a sense of humor about himself. I remember him once telling a joke years ago about why he didn’t play at Live Aid. He said the Ethiopians had called Bob Geldolf and said, “we’re not THAT hungry.” It’s hard not to like a guy who can tell a joke like that about himself. I still would never buy any of his CD’s, though.
Look, I’m no Bieber fan, but: you’re sort of talking out of your ass here. The kid became a bit of an underground sensation on Youtube long before any record executives got their hands on him. As was previously mentioned, he’d record himself in his living room and got quite the following of little horny teen aged girls. I remember seeing this video way before the kid was famous, because someone forwarded it to me for some inexplicable reason. I mean, sure-he’s not the world’s most epic singer, but I don’t really see anything wrong with his voice here.
After he made a bit of a name for himself on the net, that’s when a record exec stumbled on him.
Oh and his hair now, while douchey, is certainly a marked improvement from this.
There’s nothing special about him either, though. He’s completely average as a singer.
He’s actually not that young; he’s 16 but he intentionally makes himself look younger. it is actually his fault - he looks young, not because he’s short but because of how he’s styled, and that’s fully under his control. IMHO its weird and slightly creepy for someone who sings love songs to de-pubescify himself down to 12 or 13. He is so emasculated that he almost looks like a somewhat tomboyish girl.
By comparison, Brittany Spears was 17 when the video for “Baby One More Time” made, and could not have been mistaken for anything but a sexually mature human female.
These videos only confirm my opinion that he has all the singing talent of Ashlee Simpson.
I just read that he is going to host the new season of punked. That seems like reason enough.
Justin Bieber writes his own songs.
I suspect it is simply another recreational item that certain people enjoy: you can go read a book, play a golf game, listen to some music you like, or spend some time claiming to hate Justin Bieber. Maybe you actually enjoy hating Justin Bieber, or maybe you are in a peer group that hates Justin Bieber and you just want to fit in. Who knows? People have many different reasons for choosing their particular recreational activity.
Outside of a recreational activity, I don’t understand why anyone would spend time hating Justin Bieber. Personally, I don’t know what he looks like and have never heard his music. It was incredibly easy to do this, yet I live in a reasonably sized metropolitan area and am by no means hermit-like. I enjoy lots of music, movies, books, while managing not to listen to music that I don’t like. I have enough information to conclude that I am not in the Justin Bieber target market and that I will most likely not enjoy his music. Armed with that knowledge, and no particularly strong effort on my part, I have avoided Justin Bieber, and outside of this post he has no measurable effect on my life whatsoever. Justin Bieber has not murdered my grandmother, nor damaged my car, nor caused me even the mildest inconvenience. Why would I hate him? Why would anyone hate him? It is recreational, pure and simple.
Hmm, I am bored. Should I watch that recorded episode of Big Bang Theory? Or should I spend half an hour posting about how I hate Justin Bieber? Decisions, decisions!
Missed the edit window - Ashlee wrote her own songs too.
Never heard of him before this thread. I guess I’ve been living under a rock.
Exhibit A:
“I feel like the Kurt Cobain of my generation, but people just don’t understand me.”
No. I only know of him because he is a regular punch line on FARK.
I do not hate Justin Beiber. I do not care at all about him.
I have seen pictures of him. They make me feel old because the same line enters my head everytime.* “He’s a CHILD”.*