Right up until
Justin Bieber took the stage at New York's Madison Square Garden, it was an almost typical stop on the My World Tour, complete with hype man and opening sets from Jessica Jarrell and Sean Kingston, who stepped up his game and brought out Iyaz.
But once Bieber, who was using his New York stop to film the concert footage for
his 3-D movie, hit the stage, it was on, and the crowd's screams reached a deafening pitch. Dressed in his white and purple tour regalia, he kicked off the show with "Love Me," complete with karate-friendly dance moves. Any signs that Bieber had fallen ill only two days before weren't remotely evident. He turned his swag on for "Bigger" and for the cameras filming the show for his upcoming film.
"What's up, New York City? Welcome to my world. We are gonna have a lot of fun tonight. I got a lot of surprises in store for you guys!" he told the crowd before going straight into the fan favorite "U Smile," the next single he's expected to release. The catch: He was joined by Boyz II Men for the Motown-flavored track. "Boyz II Men sing it," he told the legendary R&B act before exchanging high fives. "These people are the ones who made me want to start singing." And then the group performed their tune "On Bended Knee," which they dedicated to Bieber's mom.
Bieber reclaimed the show with his song
"Runaway Love," with no Kanye West or Raekwon in sight. "New York City, are you ready to have some fun? I'm filming good. We're shooting the movie," he told the crowd before getting into his heart cage and flying over the audience for "Never Let You Go" and "Favorite Girl," all while playing the guitar.
"You know, I guess I was right. There are a lot of people in here!" he proclaimed before bringing a girl onto the stage for "One Less Lonely Girl."
Bieber was then ready to bring out the big guns. Usher would be the next special guest of the night, setting the party off during Bieber's rendition of "Somebody to Love," giving the pop sensation a big hug before leaving the stage.
But Usher was only the first of the super superstars. Teen queen and 3-D movie vet Miley Cyrus then joined Bieber onstage as he slowed things down a bit for "Overboard." "I got to tell you something," Bieber said. "My motto to live by, there's gonna be times in your life when people tell you you can't do something. This is what I tell 'em: 'Never Say Never.' " And as rumored, Jaden Smith took the stage to rap his heart out to one very excited crowd during the track.
Left alone again, during "Up" Bieber flew over the stage in a cage and every girl went nuts. And after the crowd was reminded to make some noise, Bieber showed his fans how much he loves them by singing "One Time" followed by "That Should Be Me."
"It's gonna get crazy in here! You ready to get crazy?" he asked the crowd, which pretty much had been getting crazy all night. Then Sean Kingston hit the stage with Biebs for their collabo, "Eenie Meenie."
Soon the crowd was instructed to light up the room by waving their cell phones while Bieber sang "Down to Earth," during which he played a white baby-grand piano. Blowing kisses to the crowd, he departed the stage before his encore.
"I heard you screaming, so I thought I'd come back out here. I want to thank everyone. Madison Square Garden is a big deal for me ... and I'm really blessed," he said. "So I want to say thank you! Anyways, let's do another song!"
He closed out the night with his megahit "Baby" and was joined by Ludacris and lots of fireworks. The MSG show proved that when Bieber asks you to show up for his massively fun 3-D movie taping, you show up.
Taylor Swift has said that each song on her third studio album Speak Now is a confession to somebody in her life, and Vulture takes a pretty hilarious shot at guessing who each song on her just-revealed track list is directed it. (It goes without saying that we all know that the tune she premiered at the VMAs, “Innocent”, is squarely pointed right at the man still on the hunt for his antique fish tank.) See if you can guess which record is more than likely about Joe Jonas by checking out the 14-song track list below.