A 15-year-old girl is screaming with tears flowing down her cheeks.
Her friends crowd around her jumping up and down outside Brisbane’s Entertainment Centre at Boondall on Tuesday night. They’re there for Justin Bieber’s first Australian concert and the crying girl, Casey Jewell, of Brisbane, is already going hysterical before the concert has even begun.
I soon realise what the commotion is about. She’s managed to scalp a ticket for only $50.
‘I’ve been here since 2pm trying to get a ticket,’ she tells me.
‘I’ll be sitting by myself but I don’t care.’
Everywhere I turn there’s a group of ecstatic pre-teen and teenage girls with parents standing not far behind.
I asked more than a dozen girls to explain the Bieber fever.
‘He’s so hot,’ and ‘he’s very talented,’ is what most said. Trent Bell, 20, and brother Jonathan, of Townsville, are among the few boys there. Jonathan has grown and styled his hair to look like Bieber’s.
Trent, who’s an aspiring performer who was a finalist on the talent scout TV show the X Factor, says he enjoys Bieber’s music.
‘I think he has a lot of talent,’ he says.
During the concert I searched hard to see what talent he was talking about.
Sure, he can play the drums well in the brief display he put on during the show.
I’m sure he has a really good voice but most of the time it was altered to give a techno sound.
His dancing was well choreographed but it was nothing compared to the powerful performance his back-up dancers gave.
His back-up singers helped break up the night when they took centre stage to perform a medley of Bieber’s songs.
Their beatboxing and pure vocal talent showed Bieber up.
I even found his audience interaction too staged and corny.
But it works for teenage girls.
‘I was wondering how many single ladies are in the audience?’ Bieber inquires.
‘How many of you feel lonely because I happen to be looking for one last lonely girl.’ The girls’ screams reach fever pitch.
A blonde teen in a purple shirt, the envy of most there, is plucked from the audience to sit up on stage and have Bieber sing One Last Lonely Girl to her. She’ll never forget this night. – Skynews
