€10 million for such a ‘lazy’ Bieberchella performance?

After four years of radio silence, Justin Bieber is back on stage and the Bieber fever is alive and well. Not that we expected anything different, of course. He performed as a headliner at Coachella and did it entirely in his own way. With that, he made it clear that you don't need a bombastic show to become the talk of the weekend, because that's what he was. And attached to that was immediately the highest price tag in the history of the festival.

Finally JB again

It felt almost unreal: the 32-year-old Justin Bieber standing again with a microphone in hand. For four years, he stayed far away from the stage due to Ramsay Hunt syndrome. This is a neurological condition that affects his facial nerves, making performing difficult. This diagnosis was also the reason he canceled his Justice world tour.

That was at least the official story. But anyone who follows Bieber a bit knows that there was more going on. Mental health, fatherhood, and simply the need to not be a pop machine for a while. Bieber fever was a huge thing and a lot more intense than many remember. The number of love declarations from Beliebers was in the millions. Despite the break, he didn't sit still; we all listened to his new albums SWAG and SWAG II.

This is what #Bieberchella looked like

Anyone who thought Bieber would return with gigantic visuals, dancers, and one or two outfit changes was mistaken. Instead, he opted for something that is very rebellious in Coachella terms: simplicity. He took the audience through his musical timeline via YouTube. A sort of karaoke-like setting, but then with his world hits “Baby,” “Never Say Never,” “Beauty and a Beat,” and “Sorry.” He did this sitting on a stool behind his laptop with the accompanying Wifi problems. Fortunately, Bieber had invested in YouTube Premium, as ads were a bit too much of a good thing. He didn't do it for nothing this way: Bieber sold the rights to his music catalog for about 180 million euros at the beginning of 2023. As a result, he can no longer perform his own songs wherever and whenever he wants. After thinking creatively for a moment, this turned out to be the solution. The workaround that perfectly fits how he was once discovered: via YouTube.

Raw and intimate or boring?

Sabrina Carpenter was also a headliner and pulled out all the stops for this: an elaborate stage and a synchronized choreo with dozens of dancers. Bieber did the complete opposite. Some described his show as raw and intimate, Zara Larsson put it differently: ‘It’s giving lets smoke and watch Youtube’. With this, the singer who is not shy of color and dance actually says that the show was very simplistic, and she was not the only one. It opened a larger debate about the standards that female artists are held to compared to their male counterparts. And about the compensation they receive for this. It was even stated that if Carpenter had done this ’lazy’ YouTube karaoke, her career would be over.

And then the payday

Let's talk about what everyone is secretly most curious about: the money. For his Bieberchella, Justin Bieber received just under ten million euros. Small when compared to the 180 million he received for his music catalog. In fact, it makes him the highest-paid headliner in the history of Coachella. Carpenter did not receive that amount, despite her enormous production.

Whether you found the performance raw and intimate or just extremely underwhelming: Justin Bieber still knows how to dominate the conversation, and that without wanting to too much. Maybe less is actually more? Especially when less stands against ten million whole euros.

Image: Coachella live