Performing hits from his six albums two nights in a row, 19-year-old Justin Bieber made sure his fans in Dubai do not forget him and may have made it a little hard for them to forgive him.
Justin Bieber gave his Dubai fans two things to keep in mind after his LIVE IN DUBAI “Believe World Tour” concerts: one, he’s a teenage boy who rose to fame because he “never said never;” second, it doesn’t really matter if he’s late to his own show (twice), the kid has talent.
Bieber, on his first night in concert, showed up two hours late, which left thousands of fans a bit disappointed. His second night was no different. But as soon as he showed up on stage, the crowd started singing along to his tunes, forgetting they hated him minutes before.
I was lucky enough to have seen him perform live on his second night. For two hours, thousands of fans patiently waited for Bieber to come out on stage. At 10 p.m., a crowd started “booing.”
“#BelieveDubai #justinbieber was disappointed with you being so late on stage AGAIN - why? Very disrespectful [to] your fans!,” tweeted one person.
Bieber’s 10-minute countdown appeared on the big screen, signaling that everyone need not wait any longer, get ready - the star is about to come out.
Boos turned into high-pitched cheers of “Justin! Justin Justin!” while some fans started pushing everyone forward to get closer to the stage. At the end of the 10-minute countdown, an introductory video of his “Believe” tour was played on screen, and still no Bieber.
The crowd grew restless asking for the superstar. Bieber’s second night in concert started with his back up dancers coming out one by one, positioning themselves on stage, ready for whenever Beiber decides to show up.
When he came out from center stage, fans cheered his name and started screaming on the top of their lungs. The teen star ended the long wait of thousands of Beliebers by singing and dancing to the song, “All around the World”.
From an audience’s point of view, it was obvious that Beiber was struggling to keep up with the high notes. Clearly, it was not a good idea to stage back-to-back shows.
Beiber’s stage set-up was nothing special. But it is important to note that the venue managed to hold 15,000 of Beliebers on the first night. However, there was not as many people the second night; after all, it was a school night.
For almost two hours, Bieber sang 16 of his hit singles that included “Baby”, “Boyfriend”, “Take you”, “Believe”, “Never say never”, “Beauty and a Beat”. The ‘un-beliebing’ incident In a strange turn of events, a fan – who shocked some but was the envy of others – managed to climb up the stage without being noticed by security and hug the superstar.
Videos of the incident surfaced on YouTube showing a struggling Bieber. Security swooped in to release Bieber from the hands of the “attacker” when the piano, on which the star was playing, was toppled.
One tweep said: “It wasn’t a prank. Someone ran on stage during [the song] Believe and the piano got knocked off its platform. Everyone is fine. No need to worry!”
In an interview with Gulf News Monday, Thomas Ovesen, COO of Done Events said: “I think it was more a matter of a crazy fan trying to find his way to meet Justin.”
Done Events, the official organizer of Bieber’s two-night concert in Dubai, also said that “nothing untoward happened. [Bieber] doesn’t think there was an incident. He lives in a world where crazy fan admiration happens and he almost expects it.”
Bieber himself tweeted, “Dubai. Nothing stops the show. 2 more to go. #BELIEVEtour”
By Noelle Manalastas
