Lambert, Bieber, Meester Reflect on 2009 Backstage at Jingle Ball

December 14th, 2009 by Erica Futterman Leave a reply »

Photo: Parra/WireImage

Backstage at Jingle Ball, the annual holiday concert for New York radio station Z100, the show’s big names — from teen sensation Justin Bieber to Adam Lambert — celebrated the end of 2009, a year that propelled many of them into megastardom.

Fifteen-year-old Bieber, who solicited the most screams and swoons from the mostly teenage sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden, greeted reporters by beatboxing and coyly answered “Beyoncé” to nearly every question, from which celebrity he had a crush on to who he’d most like to work with to the reason for his broken foot (he actually fractured it onstage at Wembley Arena). On performing at MSG — with Usher, who discovered the young up-and-comer — Bieber matter-of-factly stated, “it’s legendary, so it’s going to be awesome.”

Two of the night’s other big stars, John Mayer and Taylor Swift, declined to comment to the press, instead opting to sum up their thoughts onstage. “Get the old dude off the stage and get Justin Bieber on here!” joked Mayer at the end of his polished six-song performance reflecting how, at 32, he was the elder statesman at the show. Swift performed three times: a headlining set of hits (and a cover of Justin Timberlake’s “What Goes Around … / … Comes Around”) plus her duets with Boys Like Girls (”Two is Better Than One”) and John Mayer (”Half of My Heart”). “Those are songs that I knew I wanted to play live for the very first time in front of a special crowd,” she told the audience. “I’m so glad it was you tonight!”

Earlier in the evening, Boys Like Girls frontman Martin Johnson told reporters the band had known Swift before “she became the biggest star in the universe,” so it ...

Article Source: Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily

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