Bieber fever hits St Lucia!

Not since Amy Winehouse’s visit and subsequent 2009 Jazz performance here or the airing of the final episodes of the Bachelor series last year, which were filmed here, has a celebrity sighting in Saint Lucia gathered such international steam. On Thursday December 30, 2010, the STAR like many other Saint Lucians got wind that teen pop star Justin Bieber was here in Saint Lucia. After the first call, there were several others with Bieber sightings rumoured at various locations on the island. Our news desk made several calls to try to track him down from one lead to the next.

We were indeed able to confirm that Justin Bieber spent time here on the island with his friend (and rumoured girlfriend) actress Selena Gomez. Bieber is 16, Gomez, 18. Originally from Canada, Justin Bieber released his first single “One Time” in July of 2009. The song made number 12 on the Canadian hot 100 during its first week before hitting number 17 on Billboard Hot 100. He then released “One Less Lonely Girl” on iTunes, then two more singles from his upcoming debut album, My World. The first half of a two-album debut, My World came out in November of 2009 topping the Canadian charts and peaking at five in the US Billboard 200. My World has since gone on to become a Platinum seller in the USA, Canada and the UK turning Bieber into an instant teen pop sensation the world over.

My World 2.0—the second half of his two-album debut—hit the stores in March of 2010, but was preceded in January by Billboard Hot 100 top five single “Baby”, featuring Ludacris. Bieber has since been nominated for several awards and has had several success concert performances in 2010.

With his success came the obvious rumours and gossip, and news that Bieber and Gomez were an item started circulating late last year.

News that they were in Saint Lucia together naturally created headlines. The pair spent lots of time here on a private yacht at the IGY Rodney Bay marina and at Marigot Bay. Accompanying them, were  both their mothers, as well as Bieber’s manager and bodyguard. The teenage couple also took time to do a little shopping at the Bay Walk mall, had ice cream at Elena’s Ice Cream Parlour and went zip-lining at Rain Forest sky-rides. And of course no Saint Lucian vacation would be complete without  a day at the beach and Bieber and Gomez did get a chance in between  light showers here, to enjoy some warm sunshine and the beach.

By the weekend,  news of the couple being here for the New Year weekend  was making headlines on celebrity gossip forums and blogs as well as official sites like Billboard.com  which reported that  “Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez Kissing on Caribbean Island.” On Monday night Access Hollywood also aired a news clip about the couple’s Saint Lucian trip and accompanying photos showing Bieber and Gomez sharing a kiss whilst here. The Access Hollywood story revealed that the photo have since caused death threats from jealous Bieber fans towards Selena. Even on a number of websites, the photos have created quite a stir partly because of the couple’s age and because of the negative  comments, from over zealous Bieber fans. Some teenage fans have threatened to kill themselves if Bieber is indeed dating Gomez, whilst others have threatened to kill the young film star. Rumours have also been circulating that Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez tied the knot whilst here, but these have been unconfirmed.