As soon as the cherub-faced YouTube sensation Justin Bieber debuted his first video, I was a little suspicious. His perfectly styled hair, crisp choreography, guitar skills, and uniform of jackets and sneakers seemed all too familiar. Of course all teenage boy singers are modeled after the same image, but he was going after the greatest of them all. His squeaky-clean persona and subtle street cred was reminiscent of everyone’s favorite heartthrob: Justin Timberlake. As a diehard Justin fan, I was appalled that he was able to get away with such blatant mimicry. He even stole his first name. As we all swoon over Bieber’s newfound manhood, let’s not forget about the original pop prince. Justin was the first to have the winning smile, badass tattoos, pop princess girlfriend and crossover ability to make pop songs into R&B hits. I prefer a man who can bring sexy back over a swaggy boy any day. Bieber’s video for his latest single, “Boyfriend”, proves my hypothesis as he basically recreates NSYNC’S “Girlfriend” video. See for yourself.
