Look up Ashton in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Ashton may refer to:

People[link]

Surname[link]

• Alan Ashton (executive), co-founder of WordPerfect Corporation
• Alan Ashton (Australian politician)
• Brian Ashton (rugby player), English rugby player
• Brian Ashton (politician), Canadian politician
• Chris Ashton, English rugby player
• Catherine Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland (born 1956), High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union (EU)
• Claude Ashton (1901–1942). English cricketer and footballer
• Dean Ashton, English footballer
• Edward Ashton (disambiguation)
• Ellis Ashton, English comedian and theatre historian
• Eric Ashton, English rugby league footballer
• Ferris Ashton, Australian rugby league footballer
• Sir Frederick Ashton, English dancer and choreographer
• Gilbert Ashton (1896–1981), English cricketer
• Hubert Ashton (1898–1979), English cricketer
• John Ashton (disambiguation)
• Niki Ashton, Canadian politician
• Norman Ashton, British housing developer, notable for work in the North of England in the 1960s and 1970s.
• Percy Ashton (1895–1934), English cricketer
• Roger Ashton, English soldier
• Steve Ashton, Canadian politician, father of Niki
• Susan Ashton, American musician
• T. S. Ashton, English economic historian
• Tony Ashton, English rock musician

Forename[link]

• Ashton (given name)
• Ashton Kutcher, American actor
• Ashton Moore, American porn star
• Ashton Ryan, American gay porn actor
• Ashton Sims, Australian rugby league footballer

Places[link]

Australia[link]

• Ashton, South Australia

Canada[link]

• Ashton, Ontario

New Zealand[link]

• Ashton, New Zealand

South Africa[link]

• Ashton, Western Cape

United Kingdom[link]

England

• Ashton, Cambridgeshire
• Ashton, Cheshire
• Ashton, Cornwall
• Ashton, Devon
• Ashton, Hampshire
• Ashton, Northamptonshire
  • Ashton, East Northamptonshire
  • Ashton, South Northamptonshire
• Ashton, Somerset, a hamlet in the parish of Chapel Allerton, Sedgemoor district
• Ashton, the historic name of Long Ashton, North Somerset
  • Ashton Court
  • Ashton Gate, Bristol
  • Ashton Vale, now in Bristol
  • Bower Ashton, now in Bristol
• Ashton Common, Wiltshire
• Ashton Green, East Sussex
• Ashton Hayes, Cheshire
• Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire
• Ashton under Hill, Worcestershire
• Ashton upon Mersey, Greater Manchester
• Ashton-in-Makerfield, Greater Manchester in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan
• Ashton-on-Ribble, Lancashire
• Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester
  • Ashton Canal

Scotland

• Ashton, Inverclyde
• Ashton Lane, Glasgow

United States[link]

• Ashton, California
• Ashton, Georgia
• Ashton, Idaho
• Ashton, Illinois
• Ashton, Iowa
• Ashton, Maryland
• Ashton, Michigan
• Ashton, Minnesota
• Ashton, Nebraska
• Ashton, South Dakota
• Ashton, West Virginia
• Ashton, Wisconsin
• Ashton Corners, Wisconsin

Other[link]

• Ashton (cigar), a brand of cigar established in 1985, manufactured by Arturo Fuente (cigar).
• Ashton College, a private post-secondary college in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
• Ashton-Tate, software company
• Ashton Cricket Club, Ashton-under-Lyne
• Ashton (VA) Middle School, formerly Dunstable Grammar School, Dunstable.
• Ashton Sixth Form College, Ashton-under-Lyne
• Ashton United F.C., Ashton-under-Lyne
• Avro Ashton, a 1950s British experimental jet airliner
• Ashton Anchors, a fictional character from the Star Ocean video game series
• Ashton Builders, a former UK home builder, particularly notable for its developments in the North of England in the 1960s and 1970s.
• Ashton Observatory, located within Ashton-Wildwood Park in Jasper County, Iowa
• Chez Ashton, a popular fast food restaurant chain in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
• Ashton Music, a world-wide brand of mainly entry-level musical instruments and related equipment

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Martyn Ashton

Animal Bike Tour, Aberystwyth, June 2007
Personal information
Full name	Martyn Ashton
Born	(1974-02-12) 12 February 1974 (age 38)
Team information
Discipline	MTB
Role	Rider
Rider type	Trials
Professional team(s)
1997 2005 2008–	Volvo - Cannondale Animal MBUK Team Ashton Diamondback
Infobox last updated on 12 June 2008

Martyn Ashton (born 2 December 1974)^[1] is a mountain bike trials rider and team manager. He has been riding professional trials since 1993^[2] and is often described as a mountain biking legend.^[3][4] He has been credited with turning it from a niche form of riding into the sport it is today.^[5]

Biography[link]

Ashton started out as a motorcycle trials rider, and began riding mountain bike trials later on.^[5] He has been the front man for The Bike Tour since 2002, and has been the British Biketrial Champion four times and has been the World Expert Biketrial Champion. Ashton is the High Jump World Record Holder. In 2008, Ashton entered the Mountain Biking UK 'Hall of Fame'.^[2]

Ashton not only rides trials, he has also designed the exhibition stages^[6] and has been designing products for his own Ashton Bikes range since 2002.^[3] He has appeared in TV shows, magazine covers and MTB videos, and also has his own column Hop Idol in the MBUK magazine.^[3] Ashton lives in Port Talbot, Wales.

Ashton broke his back in 2003 when he compressed a vertebra and fractured it during a fall, having misjudged a landing, but he soon returned to riding.^[7]

Ashton established Team Ashton Diamondback in order to provide support for young riders. Although they are top level riders nationally and capable of achieving results internationally, Ashton does not believe competition results are the be all and end all, and the team concentrate just as much on gaining positive attention in the media as well as competition. A range of Team Ashton bikes were developed during 2008, and released in October 2008 as part of the 2009 Diamondback range."About Team Ashton". Ashton Bikes. http://www.ashtonbikes.com/team-ashton-diamondback/. </ref>

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

Ashton Kutcher
Ashton Kutcher, September 2008
Born	Christopher Ashton Kutcher (1978-02-07) February 7, 1978 (age 34) Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Occupation	Actor, producer, former fashion model, comedian, television host
Years active	1998–present
Spouse	Demi Moore (m. 2005–present; divorce filed)

Christopher Ashton Kutcher (/ˈkʊtʃər/; born February 7, 1978),^[1] best known as Ashton Kutcher, is an American actor, producer, former fashion model, and comedian, known for his portrayal of Michael Kelso in the Fox sitcom That '70s Show. He also created, produced and hosted Punk'd, and played lead roles in the Hollywood films Dude, Where's My Car?, Just Married, The Butterfly Effect, The Guardian, and What Happens in Vegas. He is also the producer and co-creator of the supernatural TV show Room 401 and the reality TV show Beauty and the Geek. Kutcher currently co-stars in the hit CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men as the character Walden Schmidt.

Early life[link]

Kutcher was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He is the son of Diane (née Finnegan), a Procter & Gamble employee, and Larry M. Kutcher, a factory worker.^[2][3] His father is of Bohemian (Czech) descent and his mother is of Irish, German, and Bohemian ancestry.^[4][5] Kutcher was raised in a conservative Roman Catholic family,^[6] with an older sister, Tausha, and a fraternal twin, Michael, who had a heart transplant when the brothers were young children. Kutcher's twin brother also has cerebral palsy and is a spokesperson for the advocacy organization Reaching for the Stars.^[7]

Kutcher's brother's cardiomyopathy caused his home life to become increasingly stressful. He has stated that "I didn't want to come home and find more bad news about my brother" and "kept myself so busy that I didn't allow myself to feel".^[8] Kutcher stated that during adolescence, he contemplated committing suicide. At thirteen, he attempted to jump from a Cedar Rapids hospital balcony, with his father intervening in the incident.^[9] Kutcher attended Washington High School in Cedar Rapids for his freshman year, before his family moved to Homestead, Iowa, where he attended Clear Creek Amana High School. During high school, he developed a passion for acting and appeared in school plays.^[10] However, Kutcher's home life worsened as his parents divorced when he was sixteen. During his senior year, he broke into his high school at midnight with his cousin in an attempt to steal money; he was arrested leaving the scene. Kutcher was convicted of third-degree burglary and sentenced to three years' probation and 180 hours of community service. Kutcher stated that although the experience "straightened him out", he lost his girlfriend and anticipated college scholarships, and he was ostracized at school and in his community.^[10]

Kutcher enrolled at the University of Iowa in August 1996, where his planned major was biochemical engineering, motivated by the desire to find a cure for his brother's heart ailment.^[3] At college, Kutcher was kicked out of his apartment for being too "noisy" and "wild".^[11] Kutcher stated, "I thought I knew everything but I didn't have a clue. I was partying, and I woke up many mornings not knowing what I had done the night before. I played way too hard. I am amazed I am not dead."^[12] To earn money for his tuition, Kutcher worked as a college summer hire in the cereal department for the General Mills plant in Cedar Rapids, and sometimes donated blood for money.^[13] During his time at UI he was approached by a scout at a bar called "The Airliner" in Iowa City and was recruited to enter the "Fresh Faces of Iowa" modeling competition. After placing first, he dropped out of college and won a trip to New York City to the International Modeling and Talent Association (IMTA) Convention. Following his stay in New York City, Kutcher returned to Cedar Rapids before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting.^[11]

Career[link]

Modeling career[link]

After participating as a modeling contestant in an IMTA competition (losing to Josh Duhamel) in 1998, Kutcher signed with the Next modeling agency in New York, appeared in ads for Calvin Klein, and modeled in Paris and Milan.^{[citation needed]}

Television and film career[link]

Kutcher with Two and a Half Men co-star Jon Cryer in September 2011

After some success in modeling, Kutcher moved to Los Angeles and, after his first audition,^{[citation needed]} was cast as Michael Kelso in the television series That '70s Show, which debuted in 1998 and ended in 2006. Kutcher was cast in a series of film roles; although he auditioned but was not cast for the role of Danny Walker in Pearl Harbor (2001) (the role went to Josh Hartnett), he starred in several comedy films, including Dude, Where's My Car? (2000), Just Married (2003), and Guess Who (2005). He appeared in the 2003 family film, Cheaper By The Dozen, playing a self-obsessed actor. His 2004 film The Butterfly Effect was a dramatic role for Kutcher, playing a conflicted young man who time travels; the film received mixed to negative reviews, but was a box office success.^[10]

In 2003, Kutcher produced and starred in his own series, MTV's Punk'd, as the host. The series involved hidden camera tricks performed on celebrities. Kutcher is also an executive producer of the reality television shows Beauty and the Geek, Adventures in Hollyhood (based around the rap group Three 6 Mafia), The Real Wedding Crashers, and the game show Opportunity Knocks. Many of his production credits, including Punk'd, come through Katalyst Films, a production company he runs with partner Jason Goldberg.^[14] In 2006, People magazine ranked him third in its annual list of "The Sexiest Men Alive".^[15]

Because of scheduling conflicts with the filming of The Guardian, Kutcher was forced not to renew his contract for the eighth and final season of That 70s Show, although he did appear in the first four episodes of it (credited as a special guest star) and returned for the series finale.^[10]

Kutcher produced and starred in the 2010 action comedy, Killers, in which he played a hitman.^[16]

In May 2011, Kutcher was announced as Charlie Sheen's replacement on the series Two and a Half Men.^[17] Kutcher's contract was for one year and was believed to be worth nearly $20 million.^[18] His debut as the character Walden Schmidt, entitled "Nice to Meet You, Walden Schmidt", was seen by 28.7 million people on September 19, 2011. The Nielsen ratings company reported that figure was more than any episode in the show's first eight seasons, when Sheen starred in it.^[19][20]

Other work[link]

Kutcher was part of the management team for Ooma, a tech start-up launched in September 2007. Ooma is in the Voice over Internet Protocol business and Kutcher's role was as Creative Director. He spearheaded a marketing campaign and produced viral videos to promote this service. Kutcher also created an interactive arm of Katalyst called Katalyst Media, with his partner from Katalyst Films, Jason Goldberg. Their first site was the animated cartoon Blah Girls. Ooma revamped its sales and marketing strategy with a new management team in the summer of 2008, replacing Kutcher as their creative director. Rich Buchanan, from Sling Media, became Ooma's Chief Marketing Officer.

Kutcher appears in advertisements for Nikon cameras.

On March 23, 2011, Kutcher launched his own Twitter client with UberMedia, called A.plus. While the app was initially available exclusively for desktop computers with Adobe Air installed, it eventually became available on mobile platforms, for iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry. In order to download on one of the 3 mobile platforms, users must first have the UberSocial client installed on their device, and then proceed to the device's browser to download A.plus.^[21][22]

In July 2011, Brazilian fashion label Colcci hired Kutcher and Alessandra Ambrosio to feature in a denim advertisement.^[23]

Personal life[link]

Kutcher and Moore, September 2008

In 2003, Kutcher began dating actress Demi Moore. Moore and Kutcher married on September 24, 2005,^[24] in a private ceremony conducted by a Rabbi of the Kabbalah Center; the wedding was attended by about 150 close friends and family of the couple, including Bruce Willis, Moore's ex-husband.^[25] In October 2010, Kutcher and Moore met with co-director of the Kabbalah Center Rabbi Yehuda Berg in Israel.^[26] On November 17, 2011, Moore released a statement announcing her intention to divorce Kutcher.^[27] The announcement followed weeks of media speculation about the state of the couple's marriage.^[28]

Kutcher has invested in an Italian restaurant, Dolce^[10] (other owners include Danny Masterson and Wilmer Valderrama) and a Japanese-themed restaurant named Geisha House located in Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York.

Kutcher is a self-described fiscal conservative and social liberal.^[29] He is a student of Kabbalah; his No Strings Attached co-star, Natalie Portman, stated in 2011 that Kutcher "has taught me more about Judaism than I think I have ever learned from anyone else".^[30]

On September 17, 2008, Kutcher was named the assistant coach for the freshman football team at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. However, he was unable to return in 2009 because he was filming Spread.^[31][32]

In February 2011, Kutcher sold his Hollywood Hills home, which he originally bought in 2004.^[33]

In April 2012, Ashton Kutcher became the 500th paying customer to sign up to ride Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo.^[34]

Twitter presence[link]

On April 16, 2009, Kutcher became the first user of Twitter to have more than 1,000,000 followers,^[35] beating CNN in the "Million followers contest".^[36][37][38] Kutcher announced via Twitter that he would be donating $100,000 to a charity to fight malaria. However, there have been several reports that Twitter manipulated the contest's results by preventing users from "unfollowing" Kutcher or CNN.^[39]

Controversy[link]

In April 2011, Kutcher and wife Demi Moore began a public service announcement campaign claiming that "Real Men" do not engage the services of child prostitutes who are the victims of human trafficking.^[40] Kutcher's claims that 100,000 to 300,000 American children were sold into sexual slavery were criticized by newspaper the Village Voice, which gave evidence refuting the claims. Kutcher represented a study referring to minors 'at risk' for sexual exploitation as referring to children actually being prostituted. Experts estimate the true numbers to be in the hundreds, not the hundreds of thousands.^[41] Kutcher reacted to the criticism by accusing the Village Voice of promoting child prostitution and using Twitter to request that Village Voice advertisers including American Airlines, Disney, the City of Seattle, and Domino's Pizza withdraw their advertising from publications owned by the parent company of the Village Voice.^[42][43]

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

As a producer[link]

Awards[link]

• Young Artist Award
  • 1999 – Best Performance in a TV Series – Young Ensemble for That '70 Show (shared with Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Mila Kunis, Wilmer Valderrama and Danny Masterson)- Nominated
• Kid's Choice Awards
  • 2004 – Favorite Movie Actor for Just Married, My Boss's Daughter and Cheaper by the Dozen – Nominated
  • 2004 – Favorite Television Actor for That '70s Show and Punk'd – Winner
  • 2005 – Favorite TV Actor for That '70s Show and Punk'd – Nominated
  • 2006 – Favorite TV Actor for That '70s Show – Nominated
  • 2007 – Favorite Voice in a Cartoon for Open Season – Nominated
• People's Choice Awards
  • 2010 – Favorite Web Celeb – Winner
• Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award
  • 2000 – Sierra Award Best Male Newcomer for Dude, Where's My Car? – Nominated
• MTV Movie Awards
  • 2001 – Breakthrough Male Performance for Dude, Where's My Car? – Nominated
  • 2011 – Best Comedic Performance for No Strings Attached – Nominated
• Teen Choice Awards
  • 2003 – Choice Reality Hunk for Punk'd – Winner
  • 2003 – Choice TV Reality/Variety Host for Punk'd- Winner
  • 2003 – Choice TV Actor – Comedy for That '70s Show – Winner
  • 2004 – Choice TV Personality – Winner
  • 2004 – Choice Reality/Variety TV Star – Male for Punk'd – Winner
  • 2004 – Choice TV Actor – Comedy for That '70s Show – Winner
  • 2004 – Choice Movie Hissy Fit for Cheaper by the Dozen – Nominated
  • 2004 – Choice Movie Liplock Cheaper by the Dozen (shared with Piper Perabo) – Nominated
  • 2005 – Choice: TV Male Personality for Punk'd – Winner
  • 2005 – Choice TV Actor: Comedy for That '70s Show – Winner
  • 2005 – Choice Movie Actor: Comedy for Guess Who and A Lot Like Love – Nominated
  • 2005 – Choice Movie Rockstar Moment for A Lot Like Love – Winner
  • 2007 – Choice Movie Actor: Drama for The Guardian – Nominated
  • 2008 – Choice: Movie Actor Romantic Comedy for What Happens In Vegas – Winner
  • 2010 – Choice: Movie Actor Romantic Comedy for Valentine's Day – Winner
  • 2011 – Choice: Movie Actor Romantic Comedy for No Strings Attached – Winner
  • 2012 - Choice TV Actor: Comedy for Two and a Half Men - Pending
• Golden Raspberry Awards
  • 2003 – Razzie Award for Worst Screen Couple for Just Married (shared with Brittany Murphy) and My boss's Daughter (shared with Tara Reid) – Nominated
  • 2004 – Razzie Award for Worst Actor for Cheaper By The Dozen, Just Married and My Boss's Daughter – Nominated
  • 2010 – Razzie Award for Worst Actor for Killers – Winner

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ashton Kutcher

• Ashton Kutcher at the Internet Movie Database
• Ashton Kutcher at AllRovi
• Ashton Kutcher at People.com
• Ashton Kutcher on Twitter

Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber at the NRJ Music Awards in Cannes, France in 2012
Background information
Birth name	Justin Drew Bieber[1]
Born	(1994-03-01) March 1, 1994 (age 18)[2] London, Ontario, Canada
Origin	Stratford, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Pop, R&B, teen pop[3][4][5]
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician, actor
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, percussion,[6] trumpet[7]
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Island, RBMG
Associated acts	Usher, Ludacris
Website	justinbiebermusic.com

Justin Drew Bieber ( /ˈbiːbər/ BEE-bər, born March 1, 1994)^[2] is a Canadian Pop/R&B singer-songwriter, musician, and actor.^[3][5] Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun,^[8] who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager. Braun arranged for him to meet with Usher in Atlanta, Georgia, and Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher,^[9] and then to a recording contract with Island Records offered by L.A. Reid.^[6][10] Bieber's debut single, "One Time", was released in 2009 and peaked in the top twenty in Canada and charted in the top thirty in several international markets. His debut album, the seven-track EP My World, followed in November 2009, and was soon certified platinum in the United States. He became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut album chart on the Billboard Hot 100.^[11]

Bieber's first full-length studio album, My World 2.0, was released in March 2010. It debuted at number one or within the top ten in several countries and was certified platinum in the United States. It was preceded by the worldwide top-ten single, "Baby". The music video of "Baby" is currently ranked as the most viewed and most discussed YouTube video.^[12] Bieber followed up the release of his debut album with his first headlining tour, the My World Tour, the remix albums My Worlds Acoustic and Never Say Never – The Remixes, and the 3D biopic-concert film Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, that nearly matched the record for the biggest opening weekend gross for a concert-film. Bieber released his second studio album, Under the Mistletoe, in November 2011, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Bieber has received numerous awards, including Artist of the Year at the 2010 American Music Awards, and has been nominated for such awards as Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album at the 53rd Grammy Awards. In 2012, Bieber was named Forbes 3rd most powerful celebrity in the world, earning $55 million. As of May 2012, Bieber has sold 15 million albums.^[13]

Early life[link]

Bieber was born on March 1, 1994, in London, Ontario in St Joseph's Hospital,^[14][15] and was raised in Stratford, Ontario.^[16] Bieber's mother, Patricia Lynn "Pattie" Mallette, was 18 years old when she became pregnant. Mallette, originally from Stratford, raised her son with the help of her parents, Bruce and Diane.^[17] Mallette worked a series of low-paying office jobs, raising Bieber as a single mother in low-income housing. Bieber has maintained contact with his father, Jeremy Jack Bieber, who married another woman and had two children.^[18][19][20] Bieber's great-grandfather was from Germany.^[21] Bieber's mother's ancestry is French Canadian.^[22] Bieber attended a French immersion elementary school in Stratford called Jeanne Sauvé Catholic School.^[17]

During his childhood, Bieber was interested in hockey, soccer, and chess; he often kept his musical aspirations to himself.^[18] As he grew up, Bieber taught himself to play the piano, drums, guitar, and trumpet.^[16][23] In early 2007, when he was twelve, Bieber sang Ne-Yo's "So Sick" for a local singing competition in Stratford and was placed second.^[6][23] Mallette posted a video of the performance on YouTube for their family and friends to see. She continued to upload videos of Bieber singing covers of various R&B songs, and Bieber's popularity on the site grew.^[10] Chris Hicks, Bieber's A&R at Island/Def Jam, explained the young artist's huge online following to HitQuarters by saying:

"He was doing something different. He was an attractive white kid singing very soulful R&B hits. That set him apart immediately from anyone in his range because no one was covering or singing these kind of records. But equally important was that you believed in these songs – it was real. And you wanted to hear more."^[24]

Career[link]

[edit] 2008–09: Discovery and My World

While searching for videos of a different singer, Scooter Braun, a former marketing executive of So So Def, clicked on one of Bieber's 2007 videos by accident.^[18] Impressed, Braun tracked down the theater Bieber was performing in, located Bieber's school, and finally contacted Mallette. Mallette was reluctant because of Braun's Jewish religion; she remembered praying, "God, I gave him to you. You could send me a Christian man, a Christian label! ... you don’t want this Jewish kid to be Justin’s man, do you?"^[18] However, after praying with her church elders and receiving their encouragement, she permitted Braun to fly Bieber, then 13,^[10] to Atlanta, Georgia, to record demo tapes.^[18] A week after arriving, Bieber sang for R&B singer/songwriter Usher.^[25] Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher.^[9] Justin Timberlake was also reportedly in the running to sign Bieber, but lost the bidding war to Usher.^[9][26] Usher then sought assistance in finding a label home for the artist from then manager Chris Hicks, who helped engineer an audition with his contact Antonio L.A. Reid of Island Def Jam Music Group.^[24] Reid signed Bieber to Island Records in October 2008 (resulting in a joint venture between RBMG and Island Records) and appointed Hicks as executive Vice-President of Def Jam where he would be able manage Bieber's career at the label.^{[6][9][10][24]} At that point, Bieber and his mother moved to Atlanta temporarily, also the home of Usher and Braun, to record and get counseling from Braun.^[9] Braun became Bieber's manager.^[10]

Bieber in September 2009 at the Nintendo World Store

Bieber's first single, "One Time", was released to radio while Bieber was still recording his debut album.^[27] The song reached number 12 on the Canadian Hot 100 during its first week of release in July 2009,^[10] and later peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. During fall 2009 it had success in international markets.^[28] The song was certified Platinum in Canada and the US and Gold in Australia and New Zealand.^[29][30][31] Bieber's first release, an extended play entitled My World, was released on November 17, 2009. The album's second single, "One Less Lonely Girl", and two promo singles, "Love Me", and "Favorite Girl", were released exclusively on the iTunes store and charted within the top forty of the Billboard Hot 100.^[28] "One Less Lonely Girl" was later also released to radio and peaked within the top fifteen in Canada and the US, being certified Gold in the latter.^[28] My World was eventually certified Platinum in the US and Double Platinum in both Canada and the UK.^[31][32][33] To promote the album, Bieber performed on several live shows such as mtvU's VMA 09 Tour, European program The Dome, YTV's The Next Star, The Today Show,^[34][35] The Wendy Williams Show, Lopez Tonight, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, It's On with Alexa Chung, Good Morning America, Chelsea Lately, and BET's 106 & Park with Rihanna. Bieber also guest starred in an episode of True Jackson, VP in late 2009.^[36]

Bieber performed Stevie Wonder's "Someday at Christmas" for U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at the White House for Christmas in Washington, which was broadcast on December 20, 2009, on U.S. television broadcaster TNT.^[37] Bieber was also one of the performers at Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest on December 31, 2009.^[38] Bieber was a presenter at the 52nd Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010. He was invited to be a vocalist for the remake of We Are The World (a song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie) for its 25th anniversary to benefit Haiti after the earthquake. Bieber sings the opening line, which was sung by Lionel Richie in the original version.^[39] On March 12, 2010, a version of K'naan's "Wavin' Flag" recorded by a collective of Canadian musicians known as Young Artists for Haiti was released. Bieber is featured in the song, performing the closing lines.

[edit] 2010–11: My World 2.0 and Never Say Never film

"Baby", the lead single from his debut album, My World 2.0, which features Ludacris, was released in January 2010 and became his biggest hit thus far, charting at number five in the U.S. and reaching the top ten in seven other countries.^[28] Two promo singles "Never Let You Go", and "U Smile" were top thirty hits on the U.S. Hot 100, and top twenty hits in Canada.^[28] According to review aggregator Metacritic, the album has received "generally favorable reviews".^[40] It debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, making Bieber the youngest solo male act to top the chart since Stevie Wonder in 1963.^[41] My World 2.0 also debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, Irish Albums Chart, Australian Albums Chart, and the New Zealand Albums Chart^[28] and reached the top ten of fifteen other countries.^[42][43] To promote the album, Bieber appeared on several live programs including The View, the 2010 Kids Choice Awards, Nightline, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Dome and 106 and Park.^[44] Bieber collaborated with Sean Kingston on his single "Eenie Meenie" which also appeared on Bieber's debut album. The song reached the top ten in the United Kingdom and Australia, and the top-twenty of most other markets.

Bieber performing at the Conseco Fieldhouse, in August 2010

On April 10, 2010, Bieber was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live.^[45] On July 4, 2010, Bieber performed at the Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular in New York City.^[46] The second single from My World 2.0, "Somebody to Love", was released in April 2010, and a remix was released featuring Bieber's mentor Usher. The single reached number ten in Canada, number fifteen in the United States, and the top twenty in multiple international countries.

On June 23, 2010, Bieber went on his first official headlining tour, the My World Tour, starting in Hartford, Connecticut, to promote My World and My World 2.0.^[47] In July 2010, it was reported that Bieber was the most searched for celebrity on the Internet.^[48] That same month his music video, "Baby", surpassed Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" to become the most viewed, and most disliked YouTube video ever.^[49] In September 2010, it was reported that Bieber accounted for three percent of all traffic on Twitter, according to an employee of the social-networking site.^[50]

Bieber began recording his second album in July 2010 in New York City.^[51] At this point, because of puberty, his voice was deeper than it was when he recorded his first album. In April 2010, the singer discussing his vocals remarked, "It cracks. Like every teenage boy, I'm dealing with it and I have the best vocal coach in the world. [...] Some of the notes I hit on "Baby" I can't hit anymore. We have to lower the key when I sing live."^[52]

Bieber performing in Jakarta during his My World Tour.

Bieber guest-starred in the season premiere of the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which aired on September 23, 2010. He played a "troubled teen who is faced with a difficult decision regarding his only brother", who is also a serial bomber. Bieber was also in a subsequent episode which aired on February 17, 2011, in which his character is killed.^[53] Bieber performed a medley of "U Smile", "Baby", and "Somebody to Love" and briefly played the drums at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010.^[54] Bieber announced in October 2010 that he would release an acoustic album, called My Worlds Acoustic.^[55] It was released on Black Friday in the United States and featured acoustic versions of songs from his previous albums, and accompanied the release of a completely new song titled "Pray".^[56]

A 3-D part-biopic, part-concert film starring Bieber entitled Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, was released on February 11, 2011, directed by Step Up 3D director Jon Chu. It topped the box office with an estimated gross of $12.4 million on its opening day from 3,105 theaters.^[57] It grossed $30.3 million for the weekend and was narrowly beaten by the romantic comedy Just Go With It, which grossed $31 million.^[58] Never Say Never is said to have exceeded industry expectations, nearly matching the $31.1 million grossed by Miley Cyrus's 2008 3-D concert film, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, which holds the record for the top debut for a music-documentary.^[59][60] Never Say Never grossed a total of $98,441,954 worldwide.^[61] The film is accompanied by his second remix album, Never Say Never – The Remixes, released February 14, 2011, and features remixes of songs from his debut album, with guest appearances from Miley Cyrus, Chris Brown, and Kanye West, among others.^[62]

[edit] 2011–present: Under The Mistletoe and Believe

On February 27, 2011, Bieber attended the 2011 Vanity Fair Oscar Party with American actress and singer Selena Gomez,^[63] confirming several months of media speculation about a romantic relationship between the pair.^{[64][65][66][67][68][69]}

In June 2011, Bieber was ranked number 2 on the Forbes list of Best-Paid Celebrities under 30. He is the youngest star and 1 of 7 musicians on the list raking in with $53 million earned in a 12 month period.^[70] On November 1, 2011, Bieber released Under the Mistletoe, his second studio album.^[71] It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 210,000 copies in its first week of release.^[72]

In late 2011, Bieber began recording his third studio album, entitled Believe. Kanye West and Drake are confirmed to be featured on the album.^[73] On February 22, 2012, Bieber announced via Twitter that the first single off Believe will be released in March 2012.^[74] The following week, Bieber appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to announce that the first single will be called "Boyfriend" and was released on March 26, 2012.^[75] The song was co-written by Mike Posner.^[76] The second single, Die In Your Arms, was released on May 29th, 2012. ^[77]

Image[link]

Justin Bieber has a higher score on the Klout online "influence" scale than Barack Obama or The Dalai Lama.^[78] According to Jan Hoffman of The New York Times, part of Bieber's appeal stems from his YouTube channel. Long before he released his EP, My World, in mid-November, the YouTube videos attracted millions of views.^[18] Braun recognized the appeal. Prior to flying him to Atlanta, Braun wanted to "build him up more on YouTube first" and had Bieber record more home videos for the channel. "I said: 'Justin, sing like there’s no one in the room. But let's not use expensive cameras.' We'll give it to kids, let them do the work, so that they feel like it's theirs", recalled Braun.^[18] Bieber continues to upload videos to the same channel and has opened a Twitter account, from which he interacts with fans regularly;^[10] his account was reported in November 2010 to have over 6 million followers.^[79] Since then he has been consistently gaining followers at an average of 24,000 per day.^[80] The accounts also serve marketing purposes; for example, Bieber's music video for "One Time" only began selling quickly after it was uploaded to YouTube.^[81]

Bieber performing "Favorite Girl" in Zurich, Switzerland April 2011.

Usher comments that while he and Bieber were both signed at the same age, "I had the chance to ramp up my success, where this has happened to Bieber abruptly." As a result, Usher, Braun, Bieber's bodyguard Kenny, and other adults surrounding Bieber constantly coach him on handling fame and his public image.^[18] After signing Bieber, Usher appointed one of his former assistants, Ryan Good, to be Bieber's road manager and stylist. Good, once nicknamed Bieber's "swagger coach", created a "streetwise look" for the singer which consisted of baseball caps, hoodies, dog chains and flashy sneakers. Amy Kaufman of The Los Angeles Times comments, "Though a product of a middle-class suburban upbringing in Stratford, Ontario, Bieber's manner of dress and speech ("Wassup man, how you doin'?" or "It's like, you know, whateva' ") suggest he's mimicking his favorite rappers."^[82]

Bieber is often featured in teen magazines such as Tiger Beat,^[18] and has been labeled as a "teen heartthrob".^[83] Bieber has released a collection of nail varnishes to raise awareness for charity.^[84] Wax statues of Bieber are on display at Madame Tussauds wax museums in New York, Amsterdam and London.^[85] His change of hairstyle in 2010, and the consequent alterations to Bieber products, led to it being called 'the most expensive musical haircut of all time;^[86] one company spent $100,000 to fix its dolls for the 2011 Christmas season.^[87]

Bieber has been criticized for looking and sounding younger than his age, his teen-pop music, image, and frequent media attention.^[88] He has been a frequent target of Internet bloggers and message board posters, notably by users of Internet message board 4chan and users of YouTube.^[89] Nick Collins of The Daily Telegraph speculated that "Bieber's character also appears to strike a particularly sour note with his Internet critics, with many remarks commenting on his youthful appearance, his teen-pop songs, his image as a heart-throb to young teenage girls and his manner of speech".^[90]

Personal views and life[link]

Bieber is a Christian,^[91] and said he has a relationship with Jesus, talks to him and that "he's the reason I'm here".^[92]

Bieber's comments in a February 2011 profile in Rolling Stone sparked controversy.^[93] Asked about abstinence, Bieber responded, "I don't think you should have sex with anyone unless you love them." He said he does not "believe in abortion" and that it is "like killing a baby".^[94] He described sexual orientation as "everyone's own decision."^[95] Bieber has contributed to the It Gets Better Project,^[96] which aims to prevent suicide among LGBT youth.^[97]

Bieber has said he is not interested in obtaining United States citizenship and has criticized America's health care system. Praising Canada as being "the best country in the world", he cited its health care system as a model example.^[94]

In May 2012, Bieber purchased a 10,000 square-foot mansion on 1.3 acres of land, located in the community of Calabasas, California, a suburb of Los Angeles.^[98]

Twitter[link]

As of April 2012^[update], Bieber's Twitter account (@justinbieber) is the second most popular celebrity account behind that of Lady Gaga.^[99] By mid-April 2012, he had over 20 million followers.^[100][101] His follower acquisition is one new follower every other second.^[102][103] His popularity on Twitter at one point accounted for three percent of all Twitter related traffic, with a Twitter employee commenting that "racks of servers are dedicated" to Bieber.^{[103][104][105][106][107][108][109][110][111][112]} This resulted in over 180 million page views for the service each month.^[105] Bieber was frequently a trending topic on Twitter when the feature first launched^[105] because his fans frequently discussed him on the network. ^[113] and was named the top trending star on Twitter in 2010;^[114] Klout gave his account a score of 100.^[115][116]

The size of Bieber's and Gaga's follower bases are cited as a reason why marketers should pay attention to Twitter:^[117] with an ability to reach millions of people with a single tweet.^[117] 8.3% of tweets mentioning "bieber" were semi-automated and probably Twitter related spam.^[118] Research done about Twitter and the 2011 Egyptian revolution includes Bieber as he made tweets about the topic at a time when he had roughly 8 million followers. His multiple tweets resulted in 32,000 responses each, which made Bieber's Twitter account one of the single largest nodes for discussion about the uprising one of the largest on Twitter.^[119][120]

In March 2012, Bieber fans launched an unsuccessful attempt to unseat Lady Gaga as the most popular celebrity on Twitter. Neither Bieber nor Lady Gaga discussed their mutual fanbase's campaigns on Twitter.^[121]

Discography[link]

Justin Bieber portal

• My World 2.0 (2010)
• Under the Mistletoe (2011)
• Believe (2012)

Tours[link]

• 2009: Urban Behavior Tour
• 2010–2011: My World Tour
• 2012-2013: Believe Tour

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]