Two of the biggest names in music, both performing on two separate tours at the same time, and plenty of opportunity for celeb gossip – of course, I’m talking about Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift. While Justin concluded his Australasia leg of his Believe Tour on December 8th in Perth, Taylor will continue on to December 14th to wrap up the 2nd leg of the Red Tour. Let’s see – both of the concerts are by teen pop sensations, both of the concerts had outstanding sales (with the Red Tour being 100% sold out and the Believe Tour not far behind at 97%) and both the concerts have their share of good reviews. So how is it that when you examine them closer they couldn’t seem more different?
Justin certainly has had some fun throughout his travels, with numerous reports of him partying away at nightclubs until the early hours of the morning (not to mention the video of him leaving a Brazilian brothel). He appears to be a very busy person even when not performing. But no matter how busy you think you are, that doesn’t excuse you from your main duty while on tour – to show up to your concerts on time. Online outrage occurred when Justin showed up to one of his Melbourne concerts 70 minutes late, to his Sydney concert 40 minutes late, and his Brisbane show shortly before 10pm, instead of 8:30, when the concert was meant to start, with no apology or recognition of the time his fans had to spend waiting for him.
As for Taylor? So far she has shown up to every single one of her shows on time, and even when things go wrong (such as the pit collapsing and the technical issues at her Brisbane show), she takes the time to offer an apology and recognition to the fans affected, consistently speaking to the crowd throughout the power outage at her Brisbane show, even offering to perform the rest of the show acoustically if the power was not fixed. Taylor certainly knows how to treat her fans.
Justin and Taylor have even been compared in reviews of the two shows, with a review of Taylor’s Sydney show stating that her special effects “made the Justin Bieber shows look like a suburban shopping mall talent quest.” Ouch. The variety of audience members at Taylor’s shows compared with Justin’s has also been noted, with reviews pointing out the mix of men and women of all ages at Taylor’s show, while Justin’s shows seem to only attract teen and tween girls, occasionally accompanied by their mothers. It appears that Taylor is more universally liked by the people of Australia.
From their behaviour onstage to their behaviour offstage seen in celeb gossip sites and pages, it is obvious why many parents around the world would easily pick Taylor Swift over Justin Bieber as a positive role model to their children. Who would you choose?
