Update: Today (2 Feb 2010) Troye confirmed the news in a new video. Watch it here: twitvid.com/DAAAF
Today (29 Jan 2010) Troye Sivan let the huge news slip on his official Twitter account. http://twitter.com/troyesivan18 The post promised big news and featured a link to a twitvid. The video announced his signing on as the lead of Spud. Just moments later, the video and the post were deleted.
This is fantastic news. Casting an unknown actor would have been an extreme risk, but casting an up and coming talent who can sing, and has proved himself a great actor, is a smart move. You can see Troye as Young Logan (Hugh Jackman’s character at 12 years old) in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Predictably there will be an argument over casting international actors over South African actors, but if the producers want this movie to do well overseas they need star power and talent. Don’t panic, most of the cast will be South African. The Spud pre-production crew are still undergoing an extensive talent search across South Africa to find the best possible cast.
It’s worth noting, Troye was born in South Africa before his family moved to Perth, Australia
Justin Bieber is a Canadian born singer who started out on YouTube. After posting cover versions of songs by artists such as Usher, Stevie Wonder, Ne-Yo, Justin Timberlake and Michael Jackson, Justin soon began getting recognition not only from Managers and Labels but from artists themselves. After posting his rendition of Chris Brown’s “With You”, Brown personally called Bieber and congratulated him on his YouTube recognition
Justin’s record, ‘MyWorld,’ is set to release in America on November 17, 2009.
An old soul is the last thing you would expect to find inside Justin Bieber. But all it takes is one listen to the 15 year-old soul-singing phenomenon to realize that he is light years ahead of his manufactured pop peers.
After posting dozens of homemade videos on YouTube in 2007, where the multi-talented Bieber put his impeccable spin on songs from artists like Usher, Ne-Yo and Stevie Wonder, Justin racked up over 10,000,000 views purely from word of mouth.
“I started singing about three years ago,” says the Canadian native who grew up an only child in Stratford, Ontario. “I entered a local singing competition called Stratford Idol. The other people in the competition had been taking singing lessons and had vocal coaches. I wasn’t taking it too seriously at the time, I would just sing around the house. I was only 12 and I got second place.”
In an effort to share his victory with his loved ones, Justin began posting his performance footage online. “I put my singing videos from the competition on YouTube so that my friends and family could watch them,” he says. “But it turned out that other people liked them and they started subscribing to them. That’s how my manager found me. He saw me on YouTube and contacted my family and now I’m signed!”
Seven months after Justin started posting his videos online, former So So Def marketing executive Scooter Braun flew the then 13-year old singer to Atlanta, GA to meet with his elite colleagues. As if Justin’s natural singing talent wasn’t enough to impress Scooter’s inner circle, Braun knew Bieber was also a self-taught musician who plays the drums, guitar, piano and trumpet.
“Right when we flew into Atlanta, Scooter drove us to the studio and Usher was there in the parking lot,” remembers Bieber. “That was my first time ever being out of Canada so I went up to him and was like, ‘Hey Usher, I love your songs, do you want me to sing you one?’ He was like, ‘No little buddy, just come inside, it’s cold out.’”
All it took was a short time online for Usher to realize he was in the company of a future superstar. “A week later Usher flew me back to Atlanta,” says Bieber. “I sang for him and his people and he really wanted to sign me then and there but I still had a meeting with Justin Timberlake who also wanted to sign me. It turned out Usher’s deal was way better. He had L.A. Reid backing him up and Scooter had a lot of really good connections in Atlanta. I always tease Usher now and remind him he how he blew me off the first time we met.”
In October of 2008, Justin Bieber officially signed to Island Records. His debut album, My World is an intimate look into the mind of a budding young renaissance man. With production from star hit men like The Dream and Tricky Stewart who produced “Umbrella” for Rihanna and Beyonce’s latest smash, “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It),” Justin has everything he needs to achieve pop supremacy.
Watch Justin’s video, “One Less Lonely Girl,” below and see why I think this guy is going to be HUGE. You can follow him, here, on twitter.
His first single, “One Time” produced by Tricky, is about one of Justin’s favorite topics, puppy love. Usher joins Justin on “First Dance” where the two share verses on a song that Bieber describes as, “A slow groovy song that people can dance to.” On the Midi-Mafia produced “Down to Earth” Justin digs deep to talk about growing up. “Bigger” finds the teenaged singer maturing at a steady rate, while motivating his listeners to strive for their goals.
“I’m looking forward to influencing others in a positive way,” says Justin. “My message is you can do anything if you just put your mind to it. I grew up below the poverty line; I didn’t have as much as other people did. I think it made me stronger as a person it built my character. Now I have a 4.0 grade point average and I want to go to college and just become a better person.”
A virtually untapped well of natural artistic talent, Justin Bieber is primed to be a solid force in music for many years to come. “I think older people can appreciate my music because I really show my heart when I sing, and it’s not corny,” he says. “I think I can grow as an artist and my fans will grow with me.” And just think, he’s just getting started.
Life moves along at the speed of light as procrastination rules and varsity drags on. Things outside varsity seem not even to show signs of slowing. Seeing friends, Church, Srizzil, Guitar, work, and homework fly around in a disorderly fashion – each begging for more attention.
Of course the usual issues rage on as I continue through my last year as a teenager. One would think these things would slow down at the age of 19 but they seem only to get more intense and more confusing. Trying to find who you are in a world riddled with lies and deception is probably the greatest difficulty in life. I guess that’s why many adults are so lost, they’ve never found themselves.
I will eventually be adding my biography/testimony/life story up on the site for the world to poke through. This will help new Srizzil readers to better understand the context of my writing. However I’m currently moving the enormous amount of articles across from the old website and making a few cosmetic changes to each one. This will hopefully make it easier for Google to find our articles and attract more Srizzilers from across the world.
On the video front I have started a couple of projects, none of which are near completion. It’s great to make videos but I don’t want to upload any old rubbish. There should be a certain element of quality to all the Srizzil videos so rushing out new videos is not my highest priority.
Before I sign off it must be noted that the new Black Eyed Peas album is surprisingly amazing. Make sure you get it. I’m not into club, electronic music at all but the ‘Peas’ are amazingly talented and never seem to stagnate.
Stay tuned to Srizzil, as we learn and grow together. Don’t forget to become a fan on Facebook here: http://www. facebook.com/pages/Srizzil/68684081375 and talk to me. I always have time for our loyal viewers. You can get to me on twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Zoopy or through our contact form. All in the bar at the bottom of this page!
Justin Bieber is a Canadian born singer who started out on YouTube. After posting cover versions of songs by artists such as Usher, Stevie Wonder, Ne-Yo, Justin Timberlake and Michael Jackson, Justin soon began getting recognition not only from Managers and Labels but from artists themselves. After posting his rendition of Chris Brown’s “With You”, Brown personally called Bieber and congratulated him on his YouTube recognition
After posting dozens of homemade videos on YouTube in 2007, where the multi-talented Bieber put his impeccable spin on songs from artists like Usher, Ne-Yo and Stevie Wonder, Justin racked up over 10,000,000 views purely from word of mouth.
Life moves along at the speed of light as procrastination rules and varsity drags on. Things outside varsity seem not even to show signs of slowing. Seeing friends, Church, Srizzil, Guitar, work, and homework fly around in a disorderly fashion – each begging for more attention.