Thursday, March 28, 2024

Justin Bieber “Believe” Falls More than 70% While Fellow Canadian Becomes Summer Phenom

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Fame is fleeting, and teenagers do grow out of things so quickly. Last week, Justin Bieber debuted at number 1 and sold 373,000 copies of his “Believe” album to his core fans. The big problem though is no hit single. “Boyfriend” just hasn’t cut it. When the counting is finished today for Week 2, “Believe” will come in at number 3 with 115,000 copies sold. That’s a steep drop–almost 70%–from the opening week. Linkin Park’s new album is number 1–which should make Warner Music’s new owner Len Blavatnik weep with joy–and Maroon 5 is number 2.

Of the the three, Maroon 5 has the staying power because it has a hit single, “Payphone.” This is a rich summer for pop singles, almost like (dare I say it?) 1969. There’s a bunch of classically hummable songs on the radio, from Gotye’s “Somebody I Used to Know” to OneDirection’s “What Makes You Beautiful” to Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe.” The latter carries it with the great irony. Jepsen, 26,  eight years older than Bieber, is also Canadian. After her music started to take off, she was signed by Bieber’s manager, Scooter Braun, to his label, Schoolboy Records, at UMG’s Interscope.

“Call Me Maybe” is HUGE–it’s the big number 1 song of the year. It may be a one off hit, the “Bette Davis Eyes” of 2012. But it’s a hit. It’s a phenom. There are HUNDREDS of covers of it on YouTube by everyone from Jimmy Fallon and the Roots with Jepsen herself to the Abercrombie & Fitch models. Jepsen’s runaway train cannot be lost on Braun or Bieber as “Believe” — also on Interscope– tumbles down the charts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEsPhTbJhuo

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
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