Don’t Stop Beliebing
Boy pop stars and teenage girl fans can be an explosive combination. Ever since The Beatles, teenage girls have been free to scream uncontrollably, jump up and down in excitement and even suffer fits of hysteria in the presence of their male idols.
If that’s a frightening image to you, then stay away from the Sentul International Convention Center on Saturday night, for thousands of teenage Indonesian girls are sure to lose the plot over the object of their collective affection — Justin Bieber.
Bieber, who might just be the most famous 17-year-old on the planet, will no doubt get a huge reaction out of his eager fans here.
“Oh my God, I can’t wait to see him perform,” said Fratella Firdayanti, a high-school student in Depok. She’s a self-proclaimed “Belieber,” which is what the singer’s loyal fans call themselves.
Bieber, who hails from Canada, has mesmerized millions of fans around the world, including those here in Indonesia.
Born in 1994, the boy idol rose to fame worldwide after he was discovered by music producer Scooter Braun, who happened to come across Bieber’s self-produced videos on YouTube. Bieber was then introduced to R&B star Usher, who also saw great potential in him.
From there, Bieber quickly rocketed to superstardom. After he released his first single, “One Time,” in 2009, he quickly became a ubiquitous figure in pop culture.
He has sold millions of copies of his albums “My World” and “My World 2.0,” as well as EPs, remixes and a compilation album, and also has starred in several TV series and movies, including a 3-D concert film, “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never,” which was released this year.
It wasn’t easy getting Bieber to come to Indonesia. After rumors that his concert here had been canceled, five music promoters decided to work together to make sure the boy wonder made it to our shores.
In early March, promoters confirmed that Bieber was stopping here as part of his world tour, which has already seen him perform in Israel, Malaysia and Singapore.
The venue at the Sentul International Convention Center has a capacity of more than 10,000 and the show has already sold out.
Dino Hamid, CEO of promoters Berlian Entertainment, said that those without tickets should not to come to the venue.
“We fear there will be lots of fake tickets sold,” Dino told Detik.com news portal.
Bieber’s boyish charms have won him fans even in remote areas of Indonesia. Lutfiana Syahida, a 13-year-old girl who lives in Sumedang, a small city in West Java, said she was a huge fan of Bieber, who she described as “a good-looking singer who is cool and has great easy-listening songs.”
“He is so adorable,” she added.
To show her love for her idol, Lutfiana created a fan page on Facebook dedicated to the singer. On the page, she shares her feelings and thoughts about Bieber. She even created a Twitter account under the name “Lutfi_beliebers.”
“Everything about him is so cute,” she said. “I love him so much. I wish I could meet him someday.”
Adhisty Kiara, a 14-year-old girl from Cibubur, East Jakarta, might be the most dedicated Belieber in Indonesia. She is the creator of justinbieber-indonesia.webs.com, which claims to be “the first fan site of Justin Bieber in Indonesia.” Along with a friend, she manages the Web site and has installed a number of features, such as chat rooms, videos and photo galleries all related to Bieber.
Adhisty launched the site in late 2009, and she says it was visited by at least 20,000 people last year.
“When we first started to like Bieber, we found that there were not many fans here in Indonesia,” she said, adding that she was inspired by Web sites by fans in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.
“We wanted to create a forum where fans could discuss things about Bieber.”
Adhisty also has a dedicated a Twitter account, @JustinBieberID, which is now followed by more than 7,000 people.
Just like his other fans, Adhisty thinks Bieber is “cute and talented,” but adds that there is also something unique about him.
“I think Bieber is very down to earth for a superstar,” she said. She also added that Bieber emerged at just the right time — a time when teens were in need of a young pop idol who had both a great voice and a cool look.
“Other young singers can’t match his style, like his purple hoodie and sneakers,” she said.
Ceila Umari Lartrini said she wasn’t ashamed of liking Bieber, even though she is already 17 years old.
Ceila, who follows @JustinBieberID on Twitter, said Bieber was, simply put, “special.”
“He has a natural talent. Not only as a singer — he can also play lots of musical instruments,” she said.
Ceila, who particularly lik e s Bieber’s songs “Overboard” and “You Smile,” said she wished that she could make it to the concert this weekend. But her parents are worried about security at the venue and forbade her from going. “I’m still begging them to let me go to the concert,” she said.
When asked what she would do if she ever met Bieber in person, she said she would definitely “take pictures with him, ask him lots of questions and hug him.”
“I would also be sure to wear Britney Spears’s perfume, because he likes girls who wear that kind of perfume,” she said.
Renata, a 13-year-old Bieber fan, said that she planned on going to the concert with her parents, provided that they have enough money to buy three tickets.
“I told them that I’ll be OK going with my friends and their parents, but they don’t trust me,” she said.
Indeed, some parents are more than a little wary about what could occur when thousands of excited teenagers finally get to see their idol in person.
Mariana Halim, the mother of a teenage girl who plans on going to the concert, said that she “had to” accompany her child to the concert because she was once a boy-band junkie. “And I know how crazy it can get.”
She was referring to a few tragic incidents where fans died from suffocation or were caught in a stampede trying to meet their favorite musicians.
“I remember that in the ’90s that would happen a lot during the boy-band craze,” she said.
Like Renata, 15-year old Elin will probably attend the concert with her parents in tow, something she is not thrilled about.
“I don’t mind going with my mom, because she looks cool, but my dad is coming too and I know he’ll embarrass me and worry too much about things,” Elin says.
Though security is sure to be tight, plenty of parents will still be coming along to supervise. Some, however, admitted to having other reasons for wanting to attend.
“I can’t wait to go, actually,” said Denny, a 41-year-old father of two. He said it would be a much-needed break for him and his wife. “We’ve been working so hard, and, as you know, [Bieber] is a phenomenon,” he said. “How can that not be interesting to see?”
Denny and his wife have been getting into Bieber by buying the singer’s albums.
“We like any pop music, as long as it’s good. And his songs are OK,” Denny said. “I’m sure the dancing and choreography will be really good.”
Hanny, the mother of a Belieber, said she was assigned by other parents to take her daughter and her friends to the concert because “the other moms were working.”
“I’m still trying to get another mom to come with us so if we get bored we can at least chat,” she said.
Hanny admitted to having watched Bieber’s videos on YouTube.
“I don’t like the songs, though,” she said. “So a friend would be good. Two friends would be even better.”
Tasa Nugraza Barley | April 22, 2011
Canadian pop star Justin Bieber performing live on stage in Zurich on his ‘My World Tour’ earlier this month. Taking his show to Tel Aviv, Bieber was received by throngs of screaming teen fans. The singer will perform in Sentul on Saturday night for more than 10,000 Indonesian
