Who the hell is Justin Bieber?

Just why does girly-voiced, hip-hop magnet and 'One Time' Twitter trending topic affect the listening tastes of millions of girls (and their moms) worldwide? Sunday MiD DAY traces the rise and drop of the viral tween sensation called Justin Bieber

Watching a three year-old (or any year-old) wailing like she's just lost her mother and her pet dog can be painful. But 'Crying Cody', an American kid, who got 9 million views on YouTube three months ago for bawling her eyes out because she loves the 16 year-old Canadian douche star Justin Bieber, got to him at his own game.

Don't let it shock you that Cody's mother uploaded this video that orchestrated a meeting with Bieber on American national TV. It's all part of Bieber fever that began soon after Bieber's single mom Pattie Mallette uploaded a video of the then 12 year-old Bieber covering American R&B singer Ne-Yo's So Sick at a local talent hunt in 2007. The upload was also how former record executive Scooter Braun discovered Bieber and connected him with Usher in the same year. R & B star Usher took a shine to Bieber and signed him on after he watched the tweenager audition for him (obviously on YouTube) by covering his track You Got It Bad. Of course, it must have struck a chord somewhere that like Bieber, Usher landed a label deal when he was the same age -- 13 -- and was onto a career that was directed by an ambitious, single mom. Said Usher in an interview to Billboard.com, "Given my experience, I knew exactly what it would take for him to become an incredible artiste."

'Incredible' is tall praise. In his most famous hit Baby, Bieber displays no sign of genius. His vocals are on par if not less impressive that your average American Idol wannabe, his hoodie-loving look would have GaGa in a coffin before you can say lady, and even if his two million Twitter memes retweet until the site crashes, JB's no MJ.

Bieliebers, as they call themselves, are given to artless evangelising. Former Latin American pop hit machine Enrique Iglesias calls himself a Bieleber. Iglesias, along with a massive line-up including Bieber re-recorded Jackson's anthem We Are The World earlier this year, the proceeds of which will go to the victims of the Haiti earthquake. Bieber incidentally opened the iconic track. Said Iglesias in an online interview of Bieber, "He's everywhere. I've heard his music. I actually like that song he did with Ludacris, 'Baby'. It's hooky. It's a hooky song. I think he's a talented kid. It's so difficult to tell about the future. Judging by his talent, yeah, I think he has the ability. But will the kids be able to grow up with him as he moves on? It's all going to come down to the music he believes in. In this business, you're only as good as your last hit. As long as he keeps making really good hits, then yeah. It's a tough business -- one day you're hot, the next day you're s''t."

What's the hook? Braun, now Bieber's manager was shrewd enough to rope in Usher possibly the best launchpad for a non-American artiste to breakthrough the big league. The rest just followed -- Ludacris rapping on Baby -- and just last month, American rapper Soulja 'Crank That' Boy revealed that he had collaborated with Bieber on a yet-to-be-released track Rich Girl. The rapper says in a video interview that Bieber hounded him on iChat for a month and when he finally accepted Bieber's chat request, the first thing that Bieber hit him with was a collaboration plan. Along with a rock solid music plan, Bieber invests a lot of time into simple self-promotion on Twitter and faithfully uploads videos making his channel the 25th most subscribed one on YouTube.

Last week, Twitter shoved Bieber out of the Trending Topic list citing that immediately popular topics defined TT as opposed to topics that have been popular for a while. Bieber's Twarmy of fans instantly tweeted the words 'Twieber' and 'Jieber' making sure their hero remained a hot topic for at least a day after the supposed ban. Meanwhile, Bieber fakes nonchalance as he takes Japanese lessons in Tokyo soon after a concert, and readies for an appearance on the American Idol finale.

Bieber's Mash-Up
The 16 year-old who has an impressive list of collaborations under his hood including Ludacris, Soulja Boy and Sean Kingston has Lil Wayne and Beyonce on his wish list next.

Kim got a death threat, thanks to him
When American socialite Kim Kardashian received death threats from fans after Bieber hinted that he might be dating her, Bieber tweeted: "Ladies calm down. Kim Kardashian is a friend. A very sexy friend but a friend. No need 4 (sic) threats. Let's all be friends and hang out often".

The next Bieber
2010's 12 year-old YouTube sensation Greyson Chance from Oklahoma, who covered Lady GaGa's Paparazzi, recently featured on the Ellen Degeneres Show and is being touted as the next Justin Bieber. While marketing experts are wary of Internet-created phenomena manipulating the entertainment business and are even dismissing the likes of Chance as "flash stars," Chance is definitely more talented and articulate than his predecessor going by first impressions. Ellen tweets: "Write that name down, memorize it -- I have a feeling you're gonna be hearing it A LOT." GaGa (left) in fact called Chance up on the Ellen Degeneres show and encouraged him rather warmly to stay focussed. Is it time up for Bieber?

Other YouTube hits
>>British singer Lily Allen (right) promoted herself on both YouTube and MySpace.
>>2004 American Idol aspirant William Hung shot to fame after a thoroughly unimpressed Simon Cowell ousted him out of the show after his dud performance. Hung broadcast his audition where he performed Ricky Martin's She Bangs, and even landed himself a record deal.