Justin Bieber Videos - Unleashing The Music

As he was growing up in middle school, those who did learn about his music career actually respected his skills. He was often encouraged to try out for American Idol, but he was too young to do so. You had to be 16 to try out. He did not dwell on it, but later would find the Stratford Star Competition. The competition was for kids aged 12 to 18 and was basically the same type of thing as American Idol, though on a much lower level. It was just $2 to participate in the event. There were local judges there who were involved in some way in the local community music scene. Some were parts of the church while others were teaching music at the high school. If you won the competition, you won a microphone that you could use to record your own music on the computer. You also were able to use a couple of hours at a local recording studio.

Justin was not afraid to perform in front of other people. He had spent years playing hockey and basketball in front of hundreds of people. He was afraid, though, of performing music in front of people since this was an area he was not familiar with in any regard. He realized that the only people in the crowd that knew him were those that loved him. It was unlikely he assumed that anyone in the crowd he did not know would ever see him again if he did do badly. So, with courage, he performed.

This first event, when he was just 12 years old, was unnerving but even at it, he was performing like a star. He got on the stage to sing Matchbox 20's "3 AM" song. He tried to get the crowd to clap, but they did not. He started to sing and the crowded perked up some. Some nodded their heads. At the end of the song, the crowd did applaud him and that was the first time he actually heard an audience approve of his music.

He made it through the first round of the competition. In the next round, he dressed up a bit, to show he was serious about the performance. In that second round, he sang "Fallin" from Alicia Keys. He used to sing this song in the shower at home, so he knew it well. People in the crowd remembered him from the previous week and, through the song, they were even more interested in listening. They cheered for him when the song was over.

In the third round, Justin was feeling more at home on the stage. Instead of dressing up, he wore his everyday clothes and a baseball cap. This next song was "Respect" by Aretha Franklin. The people in the crowd remembered him, since it was often the same crowd that came back week after week. With this round, people were screaming for him, cheering his name and finally, he was known. And, perhaps for the first time, there was a group of girls screaming for him in the crowd.

Although he was doing well, Justin was realistic in these early rounds of competition. The fact was, those who were his competitors at this time had had years of professional voice lessons. That was unnerving, but the fact that girls were screaming for him, really kept Justin motivated to continue.

Justin was able to make it through to the last round. The other competitors were older than he was. On the final night, he was on stage with a blonde, tall girl who had years of vocal experience, and a brunette who was trained and professional. Just 12 years old, with his baggy pants, and no training, he did not feel as confident. He did not assume he was going to win but he felt good about it. What is heartbreaking to all of Justin's fans today was that, even though he performed so well, Justin did not win this competition. He was a gracious loser, but he was heartbroken to come in third in the competition.

Feeling crushed, he remembers his grandfather's words of wisdom. "You can lose without feeling like a loser. If you take the experience and learn from it, you're still coming out ahead of where you were before."

In 2007, Justin's life would change forever and he would become one of the largest names in the pop industry within just a few short months. What changed was his performance in a local singing competition. The event, which occurred in Stratford was not a big deal, but a 12 year old Justin got on the stage and sang Ne-Yo's song, "So Sick." The crowd loved it and his mother recorded it.

Yes, his mother had recorded each one of his songs in the competition. She posted them on YouTube.

She later posted the video of her son singing the song. It was a simple act. His mother wanted Justin's friends and family to see him perform. She was proud of how well he did. In the months to come, his mother continued to upload videos of Justin's performances. Justin selected numerous R & B songs to sing at various local competitions. He did very well in many of those competitions. More so, Justin's performance on YouTube.com also began to grow. More people were noticing this young boy from Canada that was winning competitions and singing nearly at a professional level.

Before going into more detail about those YouTube videos, is important to note that Justin's career did not instantly take off. And, it would take more work from Justin to make it possible.

One of the things that did happen to Justin after those first competition weeks was the development of a drive to truly perform on stage. Justin loved being out on stage and he loved to perform. Gone were his inhibitions and his desire to hide his music. Now, he was more willing than ever to get out there and to prove who he was and what he had to offer. This is apparent in the next step Justin took.

One of the things most teenage boys want is money. To earn money, through his music, Justin thought about busking. Busking is a term used to describe the process of street performance. In Stratford, the Shakespeare Festival attracts thousands of people, many of whom are passionate about art. Thus, street performers could earn some money working these crowds. In order to make money, Justin decides he would like to try busking during such a festival.

There were lots of pedestrians in the area and he could easily find a shaded area to perform. All he needed was his guitar since he knew so many songs so well. His mother was not sure about Justin doing something like this since she did not want him to be alone. However, Justin tried to convince her to give him the opportunity. She only agreed after Justin's grandfather agreed to sit in a car across the street to watch Justin.

It worked. The first time he went, pulled open his guitar case and sang he managed to make a few hundred dollars in just a few hours. He thought it was nothing but a goldmine for him. More so, the fact that he was able make this type of money seemed to open the door for him and his goals. While his mother talked to him about putting the money away for college, Justin wanted to go to Disney World instead. With the amount of money Justin believed he could make, both Justin and his mother made plans to actually put money away and to consider a trip. Since the two had never been anywhere outside of Star Lake with family, it seemed like an outstanding opportunity.

Busking worked for Justin for a bit. He would earn money because people liked his talent. Most had something nice to say to him. He even received a few notes in the guitar case from girls.

He continued to perform, enjoying the benefits of busking. He would see all types of people who would come to tour the area. He also was talented enough to accommodate a variety of requests he received. His parents had different likes in music, and Justin had learned how to perform most of them.

Justin, with is new found financial freedom, still wanted to be dating at this point. He wanted to hang out with his friends and have fun in the summer months. He did. He dated and he had a great time singing, too.

One of the things that helped Justin to become a star was YouTube. We have discussed its importance already, but it was not just his mother putting these videos up on YouTube. Rather, it was all sorts of people who were becoming his fans. In fact, some of the people that saw him on the street of the Shakespeare Festivals would do the same thing. They would catch him singing, capture a video and post it on YouTube for the world to see.

One day, he went looking for those videos of his performances on the social video sharing website. Interestingly, he came across some of the videos his mother had posted in the months before, of his competition singing. He was amazed. Not only where there tons of hits on the video but there were also plenty of comments, both positive and negative, on the videos.

Not only did his mother's videos get the viral hits, but so did the videos of busking. Those hundreds of initial hits turned into thousands by the end of the summer months. At this point, Justin's mother began to receive a wide range of calls from people around the world interested in learning more about whom Justin is and what he was doing with his amazing talent. Most of the calls she received, she ignored. The fact was, Justin's mother believed most of them to be con artists who were looking to make money off of Justin.

Initially, Justin's mother was not interested in being taken advantage of and thus did not talk to any of those who tried to talk her into hiring a manager for Justin. It was a smart move since many of these people may have been con artists. However, others were more persistent.

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