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Every where I turn, I see Justin Bieber. Normally, I'd pass him off as another flash-in-the-pan musical boy wonder taking his turn at a seemingly entitled 15 days of kid fame (translating into no more than 5 seconds of adult notice). For example, do you know who Teddy Geiger is? Jason Dolley? Luke Benward? Jesse McCartney? If you said, "Sure, that's the kid with the floppy haircut", you'd be talking about all of them.
But this Usher protege -- who turns 16 today -- gets around. There he was with his own floppy mop of hair, singing the opening lines of the otherwise ridiculously indulgent "We Are the World" song for Haiti... Performing for the President in Christmas... Dropping in on New Year's Rockin Eve... Showing up on the season debut of True Jackson, VP and the Nickelodeon TV movie School Gyrls... Opening for Taylor Swift on tour... Hanging with Ellen, Chelsea, and Wendy Williams. And he'll naturally be performing at Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards on March 27.
There's no arguing Justin's success. A former YouTube star, Bieber had the second best opening release for a new artist in 2009, and was the first artist to have all songs from a single album to chart in Billboard's U.S. Hot 100. That said, with hit songs like "One Less Lonely Girl", "Love Me", and "Favorite Girl," he's not exactly appealing to a demographic beyond Miley-ville.
But if I've heard of Justin Bieber without the assistance of my pre-teen brood of media critics, then you know he's transcending the kid world, at least in terms of star power. So if you pick one celebrity from your kids' world to make a connection with your children -- one whose fame might last longer than a quart of super-processed milk -- I think Beiber is your boy.
Do you think Justin Bieber's star will continue to shine? Chime in below!
