WHO IS ASHTON? Ashton Pike is sixteen years old. She does not aspire to be a writer. She IS a writer. Her articles have been published and she wrote and sent this to me. She wants to write for magazines and possibly write a book someday. I believe she will.
I want to thank her for sending this to me. I am glad she was so inspired.It’s More Than Just a Saying, It’s A Lifestyle
By Ashton PikeJune 15, 2011
Everyone knows the hair flip. Everyone knows that angelic voice as it sings the catchy words to “Baby.” No matter how much some people may deny it, everyone knows Justin Bieber. It’s the Bieber Fever, and it spreads. Fast. In just four short years, the small town Canadian hockey player went from below the poverty line to above and beyond everything he could’ve imagined. Now seventeen years old, Justin Drew Bieber released his first-ever documentary film of his long journey on February 11, 2011. Never Say Never being the title shows Justin’s true charisma for doing what he loves.
Being a true Belieber myself, I was in line the day it came out, dragging my friends along with me. It wasn’t easy trying to get in to see it. I figured if I went around five in the afternoon, the lines wouldn’t be as bad. Wrong. I got to the movie theater around four –thirty, and didn’t see the movie until seven o’clock later that night. Three times I went to buy tickets, and each time it was sold out. Most people would’ve gone home and come back later, but I was determined. I sat on the bench until the next show time, and raced to the ticket booth, and finally on the fourth try, I was holding the official ticket to Justin Bieber: Never Say Never 3D and my heart couldn’t have been beating faster. I was excited!
The opening was phenomenal and creative. It shows the one thing that helped Justin climb to the top of stardom: the internet. Justin was discovered on YouTube after him and his mother, Pattie, posted videos of him singing in a local singing contest, Stratford Idol, so his family who couldn’t attend the shows could watch his amazing performances. Scott “Scooter” Braun was one of the many who happened to stumble upon the videos of Justin performing to artists such as Alicia Keys and Chris Brown. Scooter happened to be looking for new talent under which he could manage, and when he found Justin, he looked no further. Scooter tried everything in his might to get a hold of Justin’s mother, but she was skeptical about the situation. Finally, when the two were able to talk, Justin was on an airplane, his first one ever, to a recording studio in Atlanta, Georgia.
The movie counts down the days until Justin is to perform at Madison Square Garden, which is a major step in any artist’s career. The auditorium sold out in 22 minutes. It holds 22,000 seats. That is 1,000 seats per minute. Absolutely amazing. Justin knows how much his fans do for him, and he is always finding ways to give back. He never forgets where he came from, and is constantly making sure he surrounds himself with people that keep him grounded. Justin connects with his fans mostly through Twitter. Me being a frequent follower in a totally non-creepy way, I’ve witnessed how he asks his fans what they think of things, and how he personally takes the time to follow them. Currently, he is following over 115,000 Beliebers and has over 10,400,000 Beliebers following him. Three years ago, barely anyone knew who he was, now over ten million people have been struck with Bieber Fever.
Never Say Never truly inspired me. After I left the theater, I felt like I could do anything. Some artist say things like “never give up on your dreams,” but they have no real proof of how doing that will get you somewhere. But Justin Bieber is living proof of how anything can happen. One day he’s sitting in his living room strumming to Cry Me a River by Justin Timberlake, and the next Justin Timberlake and Usher are fighting over him. All because Scooter Braun happened to click on his YouTube link.
Ever since that movie, now whenever I compete in swim team or cheerleading, Never Say Never is blasting through my headphones. It gives you the message that you CAN do anything if you believe in what you do. Even though I am only a sixteen year old girl writing on her laptop and no professional critic, Never Say Never earns five stars in my book. Unlike any other movie I’ve seen, it SHOWS people what can happen when you believe in yourself and never say never.
This is a radio series entitled HIS SONG: Harry Belafonte, where we take a look at the life and recordings of Harry Belafonte through a series of interviews.
