WHY IS JUSTIN BIEBER DEPRESSED

This  is what I wrote about Justin Bieber June 1, 2010.

Wow! is all I really need to say. Justin Bieber is neat, boyishly perfect looking, with a sweet-sounding voice  that tenderly croons, and belts out:

"My first love broke my heart for the first time,

And I was like

Baby, baby, baby ohhh

Like baby, baby, baby noo

Like baby, baby, baby ohh

I thought you'd always be mine mine."

I bet we'll be hearing his recordings, and hearing about him for years and years. His success is a show business, good-luck-fairy-tale--the story of a Disney-discovered boy--great looking, great hair, energetic, persevering kid who started with a perfect debut song, "On Time," then a first album going platinum,  then the "new artist of the year" award, then 7 songs on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart, then hit song  "Baby" in his recent, first studio release.

Around 2010, in a musical that bombed, I saw a fantastic singer with "soul" in her voice and every move. I even wrote her a letter. And now, I can't remember her name. Her next show, and the next one, just didn't work. In dance (my field), I've seen two male dancers and one female with "soul"--performers with the crackling extra flash, a centeredness that compels your eye to watch and feel their movement in your own muscles. I know their names, but you don't--all three are teachers now.

Today, Justin Bieber, is more famous than ever. That he's seeing a shrink, got a new tattoo, that he cut his hair, likes to wear a baseball cap, is being discussed in TV interviews that suggest he loves someone else/he wants a divorce/his wife's pregnant.

Depressed or not, his latest hits are marvelously performed, but lately, for instance on Ellen DeGeneres show, he was shockingly passive, answered her questions minimally, not being funny, charming or telling an interesting story. He sat there. Golly, all he has to do is be himself and thousands of fans love him, but he just sat there silently.

Last night Entertainment Tonight said, "Justin wants to be a great Dad for his children." (Bet that's  troubling him--he'll be on one of his world tours while they're growing up.)

It hit me--"being himself " isn't easy. Being myself and writing about him isn't easy--it's hard work. His music isn't my cup of tea. Elvis--that's for me, and the classic B guys--Beethoven, Bach, Bartok.

Anyhow, Justin N O W is the wow of the of the younger generation, who think he's sublime, but their taste isn't mine.