Justin Bieber apologises to angry fans for late UK show

Canadian singer Justin Bieber apologised via Twitter on Tuesday after fans booed him for turning up nearly two hours late to a London concert, blaming technical issues for his late performance.

The 19-year-old teen idol had been scheduled to take the stage at London’s O2 Arena at 8.30 p.m. but said in a Twitter message that the time was pushed back to 9.35 p.m. due to “some technical issues”.

Many fans, and the venue itself, appeared not to have got the message after complaints poured in that Bieber was nearly two hours late when he finally appeared at around 10.20 p.m.

“Last night I was scheduled after 3 opening acts to go on stage at 935 not 830 but because of some technical issues,” Bieber wrote on Twitter. He boasts the largest following on the micro-blogging site with 35 million followers.

“I got on at 10:10..so…I was 40 min late to stage. there is no excuse for that and I apologize for anyone we upset. However it was great show and I’m proud of that.”

In the third of four tweets, he vowed to run on time on Tuesday, and in the final message said his relationship with the media, which picked up on fans’ displeasure following Monday night’s concert, was “not always easy but I’m trying.”

Bieber is due to play the same venue on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

The popular Sun tabloid newspaper said many fans, some of them as young as five years old, had gone home by the time Bieber began while others voiced frustration.

London’s Evening Standard awarded the Baby singer two stars, saying he turned “victory into defeat”.

“By the end, the O2 was barely half-full and when Bieber asked ‘Who’s seen me play before?’, he might have been better wondering who would spend time, money and adoration on seeing him again,” wrote critic John Aizlewood.

Dozens of disappointed concert-goers told British television that they were very angry about what happened.

“I am totally and utterly disgusted. We were all fans and now we hate him. I mean he should have been on just after nine, he    came on at twenty past ten, he’s virtually done a short set anyway and he was lip-synching for half of his stuff,” said one concert-goer.

“There were people leaving because they had trains to catch.  They left before he even came on so it’s rude,” added another.

There was no on-stage apology, although the O2 Arena did later address fans, popularly known as “Beliebers”, apologising in a Twitter message to “all the Justin Bieber fans for the lateness of his show tonight”.

Bieber’s visit to Britain has probably not been his  best.

On March 2, the day after he turned 19, he tweeted “worst birthday” amid reports some of his entourage were  turned away from a London nightclub because they could not  supply adequate proof of their age.

Bieber, who was discovered on YouTube in 2008, last month became the youngest artist to land five chart-topping albums in the United States following the release of his latest record, Believe Acoustic.