SALON

Tuesday, Jun 19, 2012 4:45 AM UTC

Bieber’s hot show melts down Apollo power

By

Topics: From the Wires,

Bieber's hot show melts down Apollo powerJustin Bieber performs during the 2012 Much Music Video Awards in Toronto on Sunday, June 17, 2012. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Chris Young)(Credit: AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Justin Bieber had an unplugged performance at the Apollo Theater on Monday, but it wasn’t intentional — a problem caused a power outage during the singing sensation’s big concert.

The singer was nearing the end of a private show in front of a packed house when the power for most of the stage instruments suddenly went out, said his manager, Scooter Braun.

“Then we hear the fire alarm,” Braun said by phone Monday evening. “Literally, the boy blew up the Apollo — he heated up the Apollo.”

But Bieber still managed to finish his show, with the help of fans singing along with him.

“What it turned into was an Apollo moment, like one of those impromptu things,” said Nina Flowers, the Apollo’s rep.

“It was one of the most special nights I have ever been a part of,” said Braun.

The power outage, which only affected the stage instruments and some lighting, occurred toward the end of the show. Braun said they were told the problem was supposed to be only a few minutes, but it stretched to more than 40 minutes.

At first, Bieber took the outage in stride.

“He was joking, he said it was all the hot girls in here,” said Flowers.

He then got on the drums, which were working, for a solo, and had the crowd serenade Braun for his birthday.

But then Bieber got upset at the disruption of the show, which was being taped as part of an NBC special to air later this week.

“He started to get frustrated, because it had been 40 minutes,” said Braun.

However, instead of getting mad, Bieber decided to put his energy into performing for his fans, who stayed in the audience during the delay.

“He walks out, he literally quiets the crowd, and he says, ‘I’m sorry the power is out. . (But) you guys have always had my back. I’m going to sing ‘Boyfriend’ and you’re going to sing it back to me.’”

He then launched into his hit song from his new album “Believe” as the crowd of mainly teen girls sang along as he danced, Braun said.

Flowers couldn’t say what caused the power outage, but she praised the 18-year-old entertainer for finishing the show.

“He could have stopped; he could have not gone on and said, I did everything . but he came back on,” said Flowers.

She added that Bieber showed reverence throughout the night for the famed theater, a hallowed hall where the likes of James Brown, Stevie Wonder and Bieber’s idol, Michael Jackson, have performed.

“It was really like a special moment,” she added.

Bieber’s concert was part of a series of promotional appearances to push his album “Believe,” out Tuesday. It has garnered strong reviews. Braun said he’s hopeful the album will prove that Bieber has more to him than just hype.

“Every step of the way he’s been doubted,” Braun said. “”He is a great artist and entertainer and tonight he showed that.”

___

Online:

http://www.justinbieber.com

__

Nekesa Mumbi Moody is the AP’s music editor. Follow her at http://www.twitter.com

More Nekesa Mumbi Moody.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments are not enabled for this story.

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Who is "Company Doe"? Corporations accused of wrongdoing win battle to keep identities secret
30 points31 points | comment
vote
"Slave descendants seek equal rights from Cherokee Nation": long, detailed narrative of legal and historical complications in red-white-black relations
28 points29 points | 1 comment
vote
Who is "Company Doe"? Corporations accused of wrongdoing win battle to keep identities secret
4 points5 points | comment
vote
Experts: Fox News spying scandal a game-changer - I think that crackdown is ideologically driven and I think it’s hard to come to a different conclusion given the vigor with which this justice department has gone after people. So I think it is about a method of control that is badly misplaced.
3 points4 points | 6 comments
vote
So apparently the American government can weaponize the weather...
3 points4 points | comment

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations