Bieber fever pulses through city to sold-out performance

OMG! It was the night “true Beliebers” had been counting down for months, the night they were finally able to scream themselves hoarse in the presence of their whey-faced idol.

With “Bieber fever” sweeping Dublin for the previous 24 hours, fans of the pop sensation with the sideways hair and the puppy-dog gaze finally got to unleash their pent up adoration, reducing the O2 to a squealing sea of hormones. The pubescent shrieks that filled the 14,000 capacity venue for the Canadian’s (long sold out) Irish debut were predictably deafening, though the knowing grin that occasionally flickered across Bieber’s face suggested he’d encountered it all before.

In a glittering silver jacket and huge shades, the pint sized singer looked much younger than his 17 years. A disposable mash-up of Donny Osmond and early Michael Jackson his music wasn’t nearly as dazzling as his stage show, which featured gyrating backing dancers and a laser lighting. But, of course, fans adore Bieber not for his disposable songs but for what he represents: a fantasy boyfriend who will always treat you well and would much rather gaze deep into a girl’s eyes and coo sweet nothings than hang around outside the chip-shop with his pals.

“Wassup Dublin!” he said. “I want you to have a lot of fun tonight... I love to make you smile. ‘Cos when you smile, I smile.” After much pondering he later added. “Irish girls — they’re beautiful.”

In Dublin since Monday, Bieber had ‘Tweeted’ about the intensity of his Irish fan-base. He wasn’t exaggerating. Rumours he’d been seen shopping on Grafton Street with support star Willow Smith ahead of his two Irish concerts had earlier prompted an invasion of hysterical teens, who laid siege to several stores in the hope of catching a glimpse of Bieber.

Others had gathered outside the Morrison Hotel, where he was reported to be staying. That’s when they weren’t Tweeting their friends the latest updates on Bieber’s romance with Texas actress Selena Gomez (it can exclusively be revealed that, separated by an ocean, he misses her awfully) Sporting newly shorn hair, Bieber was a decent dancer and an exuberant showman, no matter that his singing was every bit as sappy as on record.

Of course you don’t earn $100 million a year without knowing how to push your audience’s buttons and, this respect, Bieber was anything but a callow youth. In one set-piece he levitated over the room in a steel contraption. The kids yelled and sobbed and strained to touch him, a teenage fantasy almost, but not quite, within reach.