It’s Been a Bad Week is a British radio comedy on BBC Radio 2, first broadcast on 11 February 1999. It is presented by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis, and is also referred to as Punt and Dennis: It's Been a Bad Week. More than 100 episodes have been broadcast as of 2006^[update], the latest series ending on 22 June 2006. Mitch Benn has since confirmed the show has "bitten the dust".^[1] It was normally broadcast on Thursdays at 10pm, with each episode being repeated on Saturdays at 1:30pm. The show was recorded the week of broadcast at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club.

The show was co-presented by regular guests Mitch Benn, Toby Longworth (Series 6 onwards), Sue Perkins (Series 6 onwards) and Simon Greenall (Series 8 onwards). Past co-presenters have been Mervyn Stutter (Series 1-2), Jon Culshaw (Series 1-5), Emma Clarke (Series 1-5) and Jo Caulfield (Series 6), although these varied in some weeks. One famous guest appearance was Canadian comedy legend Leslie Nielsen. The other contributor to the show was their fictional sound effects man, “Van Man”, so called because he supplied the sound effects from his white van, "illegally parked outside Ronnie Scott's."

It’s Been a Bad Week is a mock awards show, where true stories and urban legends alike compete for the tongue-twisting "The Worst Week of the Week Award, Awarded Weekly, on a Week-By-Week Basis".

Episodes are sometimes repeated on BBC 7.

Format[link]

Each show originally began with the "Bad Week Round-up", which is described as the section for "Bad Week stories they couldn't fit anywhere else". This was a quick two-minute recap of what had been going on in the news that week. This was later replaced with "Van Man's Week of Sound", where Van Man illustrated that week's news with his sound effects. Currently, Van Man just plays the main sound effect of the week. A recurring gag is that Van Man's sound effect seems to refer to one of the week's main news stories but actually refers to a different one.

The show consists of three sections, "Sections 1, 2 and 3". In each section, there are three or sometimes four stories from around the world of bad things which have really happened. Usually each section consists of one story related by Punt, one by Dennis and one by another presenter. Benn normally chooses a music-related candidate and sings a song relating to it, Longworth or Greenall often do stories about dumb criminals (frequently American), and Perkins covers something sexual. Sometimes there will be a "Bad Week Update", where a story previously featured returns, because either the same thing has happened again or a new aspect to the story has surfaced.

In every section, Van Man illustrates each story with his sound effects. Originally he also chose the winner of each section; now it is done by a topical "guest announcer" (impersonated). After the three finalists are chosen, the audience take their electronic keypads (also fictional) and vote for the winner of "The Worst Week of the Week Award, Awarded Weekly, on a Week-By-Week Basis". The prize changes from week to week, depending on the theme of the show.

The series has had several New Year specials, entitled It's Been A Bad Year, awarding (as it was put in one episode) "The Worst New Year of the New Year Award, Awarded New Yearly, on a First Week-by-First Week Basis". Further, the last show of the current year has a different award, "The Worst Week of the Year Award, Awarded Yearly on a Year-By-Year Basis"

Series[link]

First series[link]

1. 11 February 1999
2. 18 February 1999
3. 25 February 1999
4. 4 March 1999
5. 11 March 1999
6. 18 March 1999

Second series[link]

1. 29 July 1999
2. 5 August 1999
3. 12 August 1999
4. 19 August 1999
5. 26 August 1999
6. 4 September 1999

Third series[link]

1. 17 February 2000
2. 24 February 2000
3. 2 March 2000
4. 9 March 2000
5. 16 March 2000
6. 23 March 2000
7. 30 March 2000
8. 6 April 2000

Fourth series[link]

1. 23 November 2000
2. 30 November 2000
3. 7 December 2000
4. 14 December 2000
5. 21 December 2000
6. 28 December 2000
7. 4 January 2001
8. 11 January 2001

Fifth series[link]

1. 17 November 2001
2. 22 November 2001
3. 29 November 2001
4. 6 December 2001
5. 13 December 2001
6. 20 December 2001
7. 27 December 2001

Sixth series[link]

1. 20 June 2002
2. 27 June 2002
3. 4 July 2002
4. 11 July 2002
5. 18 July 2002
6. 25 July 2002
7. 1 August 2002

Seventh series[link]

1. 31 October 2002
2. 7 November 2002
3. 16 November 2002
4. 21 November 2002
5. 28 November 2002
6. 5 December 2002
7. 12 December 2002
8. 19 December 2002
9. 26 December 2002
10. 2 January 2003

Eighth series[link]

1. 15 May 2003
2. 22 May 2003
3. 29 May 2003
4. 5 June 2003
5. 12 June 2003
6. 19 June 2003
7. 26 June 2003
8. 3 July 2003
9. 10 July 2003
10. 17 July 2003

Ninth series[link]

1. 13 November 2003
2. 20 November 2003
3. 27 November 2003
4. 4 December 2003
5. 11 December 2003
6. 18 December 2003
7. 25 December 2003
8. 1 January 2004

Tenth series[link]

1. 13 May 2004
2. 20 May 2004
3. 27 May 2004
4. 3 June 2004
5. 10 June 2004
6. 17 June 2004
7. 24 June 2004
8. 1 July 2004
9. 8 July 2004

Eleventh series[link]

1. 23 December 2004
2. 30 December 2004
3. 6 January 2005
4. 13 January 2005
5. 20 January 2005
6. 27 January 2005
7. 3 February 2005
8. 10 February 2005
9. 17 February 2005

Twelfth series[link]

1. 2 June 2005
2. 9 June 2005
3. 16 June 2005
4. 23 June 2005
5. 30 June 2005
6. 7 July 2005 (not broadcast owing to the London Bombings)

Thirteenth series[link]

1. 1 October 2005
2. 8 October 2005
3. 15 October 2005
4. 22 October 2005
5. 29 October 2005

Fourteenth series[link]

1. 18 May 2006
2. 25 May 2006
3. 1 June 2006
4. 8 June 2006
5. 15 June 2006
6. 22 June 2006

See also[link]

• Darwin Awards
• Ig Nobel Prize
• Fark

External links[link]

• Celador (the broadcaster)
• Episode guide at epguides.com

References[link]

Look up its, it's, or ITS in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

its, it's or ITS can mean:

• it's, a contraction of it is or it has
• its, the possessive adjective and possessive pronoun form of the personal pronoun it

Computing[link]

• Incompatible Timesharing System, a computer operating system
• Intelligent tutoring system, an artificial intelligence system used for tutoring
• Internationalization Tag Set, a W3C recommendation for internationalizing XML
• Issue tracking system, computer software that manages product issues

Organizations[link]

• Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty, a former political grouping in the European Parliament
• Islamic Thinkers Society
• International Thespian Society, an honorary organization for high school and middle school theatre students
• International Tracing Service
• Indian Telecommunication Service, an organised civil service of Government of India
• Irish Texts Society, promoting the study of literature

Education[link]

• Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, often abbreviated to ITS Leeds
• Institute of Technology, Sligo, Ireland
• Tenth of November Institute of Technology (Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember), a public university in Surabaya, Indonesia
• Institute of Technological Studies, in Sri Lanka
• Instituto Tecnológico de Saltillo, in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico

Science and engineering[link]

• Integrated Truss Structure, a component of the International Space Station
• Intelligent transportation system, add information technology to the transportation infrastructure
• Internal transcribed spacer, a section of DNA located within a set of ribosomal genes
• International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90), a temperature calibration standard for measurements in units of kelvins and degrees Celsius
• Intelligent tutoring system, a computer system which automatically provides customized instruction in some topic, usually related to the field of AI

Business[link]

• International Transportation Service (ITS), an American container terminal company

Other[link]

• The "It's" man, a man with torn clothes and unkempt beard who appeared at the beginning of episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus
• Improv Tribal Style Belly Dance, a sub-genre of Tribal Style Belly Dance

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.

Joe Scarborough
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 1st district
In office January 3, 1995 – September 5, 2001
Preceded by	Earl Hutto
Succeeded by	Jeff Miller
Personal details
Born	Charles Joseph Scarborough (1963-04-09) April 9, 1963 (age 49) Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Melanie Hinton (div.) Susan Waren
Alma mater	University of Alabama, University of Florida Levin College of Law
Profession	Attorney, currently television host
Religion	Baptist

Charles Joseph "Joe" Scarborough ( /ˈskɑrbɔroʊ/; born April 9, 1963) is an American cable news and talk radio host, lawyer, author, and former politician. He is currently the host of Morning Joe on MSNBC, and previously hosted Scarborough Country on the same channel. Scarborough served in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2001 as a Republican from the 1st district of Florida. He has been named to the TIME 100 as one of the most influential people in the world. ^[1]

Early life, education and early legal career[link]

Born in Atlanta, Georgia, he was born to George F. Scarborough, a businessman, with two other siblings. When his father died in May 2011, his life story appeared in the Congressional Record and in Politico's Playbook. Scarborough even wrote an eulogy op-ed online.^[2]

Joe Scarborough graduated from Pensacola Catholic High School in Pensacola, Florida (although he is not a Catholic). He received a B.A. from the University of Alabama in 1985 and a J.D. from the University of Florida College of Law in 1990.^[3] During this time he wrote and produced CDs with his band, Dixon Mills,^[4] and taught high school. He was admitted to the The Florida Bar in 1991,^[3] and practiced law in Pensacola.^[5]

Scarborough's most famous case was representing Michael F. Griffin, the accused killer of abortion doctor David Gunn, in early to mid 1993. He made several court appearances for Griffin.^[6] "There was 'no way in hell I could sit in at a civil trial, let alone a capital trial,' he claims now, referring to the prospect of prosecutors seeking the death penalty against Griffin."^[7] Scarborough assisted Griffin in choosing a trial lawyer from the many who offered their services, and he also shielded the family from the media exposure, pro bono.^[8]

Scarborough also helped to raise his political profile and made numerous contacts by assisting with a petition drive in late 1993 to oppose a 65 percent increase in the City of Pensacola's property taxes.^[5]

Political career[link]

Congress[link]

Joe Scarborough's official Congressional portrait

In 1994, Scarborough won a tough Republican Party primary for Florida's 1st congressional district, which came open after eight-term Democrat Earl Hutto announced his retirement. In the general election, he defeated the Democratic candidate, Pensacola attorney Vinnie Whibbs, (the son of well respected former Pensacola mayor Vince Whibbs), with 61 percent of the vote. This win wasn't considered an upset since the 1st has always been a rather conservative district; it hasn't supported a Democrat for president since 1960 and, while Democrats continued to win most local offices well into the 1990s, they tended to be very conservative even by Southern Democratic standards. It had been considered very likely that Hutto would be succeeded by a Republican once he retired.

Scarborough was reelected with 72 percent of the vote in 1996. In 1998 and 2000, he was opposed by only a write-in candidate.

Like most freshmen Republicans elected during the 1994 Republican takeover of the House led by Newt Gingrich, Scarborough was regarded as a reliable conservative. He was a part of a small group of Republican congressmen the National Journal said possessed a surprising amount of power given their youth and lack of experience in Congress. He received a 95 percent lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union.^[9] He signed the Contract with America. Scarborough served on the Armed Services, Judiciary, Government Reform, and Education committees. In 1998, he was named Chairman of the Civil Service Committee.

Scarborough was one of a group of about 40 freshmen Republican legislators who dubbed themselves the "New Federalists" after the Federalist Papers. Scarborough was elected Political Director of the incoming legislators. The New Federalists called for sweeping cuts in the U.S. government, including plans to "privatize, localize, consolidate, [or] eliminate"^[10] the Departments of Commerce, Education, Energy and Housing and Urban Development, but were largely unsuccessful in their goals. Gingrich tapped Scarborough to head a Republican task force on education, and Scarborough declared, "Our goal is to get as much money, power and authority out of Washington and get as much money, power and authority into the classroom as possible."^[5]

Scarborough supported a number of pro-life positions while in Congress including legislation (H.R.2436, Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 1999) that made it a crime to harm a fetus during the commission of other crimes, though he did not vote for the passage of the final bill.^[11][12]

Scarborough sponsored a bill to force the U.S. to withdraw from the United Nations after a four-year transition^[10] and voted to make the Corporation for Public Broadcasting "self-sufficient"^[13] by eliminating federal funding. He also voted for the "Medicare Preservation act of 1995,"^[14] which cut the projected growth of Medicare by $270 billion over ten years, and against the "Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996,"^[15] which raised the minimum wage to $5.15. Scarborough had a conservative voting record on economic, social, and foreign policy issues, but was seen as moderate on environmental issues and human rights causes (including closing the School of the Americas and Lori Berenson).^[5]

[US Congressman Joe Scarborough] heard about Lori Berenson on an NPR broadcast. He went to Peru and spent a day at her second trial. He watched the prosecutors and the judges working together, heard the evidence and decided that she had done nothing that would have convicted her in a U.S. court. Even a repentant terrorist, who was to have been the strongest witness, said Berenson was not a member of MRTA and gave no help at all. Scarborough thought the court had to conclude she was not a terrorist leader.^[16]

While in Congress, Scarborough received a number of awards, including the "Friend of the Taxpayer Award" from Americans for Tax Reform; the "Guardian of Small Business Award" from the National Federation of Independent Business; the "Spirit of Enterprise Award" from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; the "Taxpayer's Hero Award" from the Citizens Against Government Waste; and the "Guardian of Seniors' Rights Award" from the 60 Plus Association.

Committee memberships[link]

• 104th Congress^[17] --Committee on Government Reform and Oversight --Committee on National Security (formerly Committee on Armed Services)
• 105th Congress^[18]--Committee on National Security—Committee on Government Reform and Oversight--Committee on Education and the Workforce
• 106th Congress^[19]-- Committee on Armed Services--Committee on Government Reform-- Committee on the Judiciary
• 107th Congress^[20]--Committee on Government Reform-- Committee on the Judiciary

Electoral history[link]

Resignation and controversy[link]

Scarborough announced his intent to resign to spend more time with his children five months into his fourth term in Congress. "The realization has come home to me that they're at a critical stage of their lives and I would rather be judged at the end of my life as a father than as a congressman," Scarborough said.^[22] A special election was held to replace him.

On July 20, 2001, one of Scarborough's aides died after hitting her head on a desk when she fainted while alone in Scarborough's Fort Walton Beach, Florida, office.^[23] According to Scarborough, soon after her death, allegations "spread all over the Internet" that he had been involved,^[23][24] although there was no evidence of foul play. In 2003, he joked about the incident with Don Imus on Imus's radio program.^[25] In 2004, it was the subject of a public spat between Scarborough and filmmaker Michael Moore.^[26]

Post-Congressional politics[link]

After leaving Congress, he joined the law firm of prominent Florida attorney Fred Levin. He practiced law with the firm Beggs and Lane,^[27] the oldest firm in Florida. He was appointed to the President's Council on the 21st Century Workforce in 2002.^[28]

In August 2005, Scarborough confirmed reports that he had been asked to consider a challenge to U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris for the Republican nomination to challenge Senator Bill Nelson's reelection bid. However, he announced later that month that he was renewing his contract with NBC.^[29]

In July 2006, former aides to Harris's 2006 Senate campaign claimed that Harris had called potential Scarborough supporters and raised the death of an aide in his home district office as a means to prevent his entry into the race.^[30] Scarborough, who had never intended to enter the race, initially considered suing Harris but decided to let the incident pass. He later told Nelson that drawing Harris as an opponent in the race made Nelson "the luckiest man in Washington."^[31]

In early 2009, Scarborough confirmed reports that he had been approached by Florida Republicans who wanted him to run for the Senate seat vacated by Republican Mel Martinez. Scarborough said he was not likely to run as he believes he can have more influence over public policy as the host of Morning Joe, than he would as a U.S. Senator. However, he has not ruled out a political career in the future.^[32]

In October 2010, Scarborough called former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich "cartoonish" and said that Gingrich engages in "hate speech."^[33]

Media career[link]

Joe Scarborough

Scarborough is the host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, which features interviews with top newsmakers and politicians and analysis of the day’s biggest stories. Previously, he hosted Scarborough Country, a primetime news show. He and Mika Brzezinski also briefly hosted a syndicated talk radio show called the Joe Scarborough Show on ABC Radio Network.

While still serving in Congress, Scarborough founded the free weekly Pensacola-area newspaper The Florida Sun in 1999. The paper later merged in 2001 and is now known as the "Independent News."^[34]

In April 2003, he embarked upon a television career with the launch of Scarborough Country on MSNBC, until he began hosting Morning Joe full-time.

Scarborough briefly hosted a three-hour radio show in 2005. The show aired in a competitive time slot (10am–1pm US ET) and struggled to gain affiliates; those few that did carry the show usually carried it in the noon–3pm US ET slot or in late nights instead. After a few months, Scarborough left the show to focus his time on other priorities. (After being vacant for over a year, the slot was filled by Dennis Miller's radio show in 2007.)

[edit] Morning Joe

In May, 2007, Scarborough became one of the rotating hosts auditioning for the slot vacated by Imus in the Morning on MSNBC. Scarborough, with his morning show, won the slot permanently in July 2007. According to Nielsen Ratings, Morning Joe consistently beats CNN and Headline News in total viewers. Morning Joe has beaten CNN in total viewers every month since April 2011 and for 9 consecutive quarters. Morning Joe has also beaten Headline News in total viewers for 27 straight months. This is the first time in MSNBC history that its morning show has consistently out-rated both CNN and Headline News.^[35] Scarborough also is a regular guest on NBC news programs, MSNBC news programs, and has appeared on Meet the Press numerous times. In April 2012, Scarborough guest hosted Meet the Press.^[36]

On November 10, 2008, Scarborough made headlines when he said the 'f' word live on his show. In discussing Barack Obama's transition team, Scarborough contrasted the reputation of Clinton-era staffers with Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel by saying "These were decent steady men who don't go around flipping people off or screaming 'fuck you' at the top of their lungs." The comment was not bleeped out, and while Scarborough's guests and cohosts reacted with amusement, he continued with his point, apparently oblivious to what he had said, until co-host Mika Brzezinski broke in and informed him of his mistake. Scarborough apologized, saying that he thought he had only "said the letter, not the word" and commented that "my wife's going to kill me."^[37] Morning Joe has subsequently been broadcast with a 7-second broadcast delay.^[38]

MSNBC suspended Scarborough without pay for two days on November 19, 2010, for violating NBC News' policy against making contributions to political candidates without prior notification and approval, two weeks after NBC suspended then MSNBC host Keith Olbermann for the same offense. Scarborough had donated $4,000 to Republican candidates in Florida.^[39]

Radio[link]

On December 8, 2008, Scarborough and Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski began hosting a two-hour late-morning radio show on WABC (770 AM) in New York City, replacing 12-year veteran host John Gambling.^[40][41][42] As of April 26, 2010, the radio show has been put on "hiatus" to redevelop its format into a new three hour show.^[43] Many, including Don Imus, have speculated that the show has actually been canceled by Citadel Media. It has been noted that the schedule of WABC would not allow for the program to be expanded an additional hour.

Books[link]

In his book The Last Best Hope, released on June 9, 2009, Scarborough outlines a plan to help guide conservatives back to a political majority after their defeats in the 2006 midterm elections and the 2008 Presidential election.

He is also the author of Rome Wasn’t Burnt in a Day: the Real Deal on how Politicians, Bureaucrats, and other Washington Barbarians are Bankrupting America (New York : HarperCollins, 2004).

Personal life[link]

In 1986, Scarborough married Melanie Hinton. They had two sons, Joey and Andrew,^[44] and divorced in 1999. His younger child was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. While interviewing Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., in June 2005, Scarborough expressed concerns about the possibility that one of his sons may have suffered vaccine damage, perhaps attributable to the sharp increase during the 1980s in the amount of thimerosal injected into infants: "My son, born in 1991, has a slight form of autism called Asperger's. When I was practicing law and also when I was in Congress, parents would constantly come to me and they would bring me videotapes of their children, and they were all around the age of my son or younger. So, something happened in 1989."^[45]

In October 2001, Scarborough married Susan Waren, a former aide to Florida Governor Jeb Bush and a former congressional committee staffer. He currently rents a home in Washington, D.C.

Scarborough's love for the University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team and head coach, Nick Saban is well known to his viewers. He often talks about the Crimson Tide and will show video clips of Alabama games on his television show. His show has even been broadcast from the University's campus in Tuscaloosa on numerous occasions. On his January 10, 2012, telecast on MSNBC, the show's opening began with the playing of the famous Lynyrd Skynyrd song 'Sweet Home Alabama', as well as highlights of Alabama's 21-0 victory in the national title game over Louisiana State University from the previous evening.

Scarborough is an avid soccer fan. As mentioned on ESPN's "Off The Ball" podcast, Scarborough details his dedication to Liverpool FC, a soccer team that competes in the English Premier League.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Site
• Morning Joe — MSNBC

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign contributions made by Joe Scarborough
• OnTheIssues page for Congressional terms
• American Politics Journal
• Chris Matthews Interviews Joe Scarborough on Hardball 06/09/09
• Matt Lauer interviews Joe Scarborough on The Today Show 06/09/09

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]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Justin Bieber

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Justin Bieber

• Official website
• Justin Bieber at the Internet Movie Database
• Justin Bieber at the Open Directory Project
• Justin Bieber on Twitter