Ravishing melodies from Justin Bieber

BIEBER. More mature sound in “Journals.”

Justin Bieber’s bratty antics may have cost him a number of Beliebers, but they sure have kept him consistently “trending” in social media—as his latest album, “Journals,” and its No. 1 ranking on Billboard’s Social 50 chart demonstrate.

All the negative publicity is unfortunate (the recording isn’t getting a lot of traction on the pop charts), because Bieber’s digital release proves that his music and maturing vocal chops deserve better attention than his tabloid-fodder “extracurricular” activities. So, Beliebers should continue praying that their idol will see the light and clean up his act—soonest.

“Journals” isn’t much of a stretch for Justin, but the collection benefits from its ravishing ballads, sleek production values, and radio-ready rhythm-and-blues that will have you grooving to Craig David and Isley Brothers sendups (“Recovery,” “Bad Day”) and singing along to Bieber’s expressive, sinuous vocals (“Heartbreaker,” “Hold Tight”).

This time, there’s no bubblegum frolic—in fact, other than “Rollercoaster” and “Confident,” his reggae-grooving collaboration with Chance the Rapper, there isn’t much to dance to.

But, if you’re partial to gorgeously rendered make-out jams, you’ll have a field day listening to the bluesy “All That Matters” and “Heartbreaker,” the midtempo “Swap It Out,” and the playfully seductive  “PYD,” featuring the lush trills of R. Kelly.

The polarizing 19-year-old singer tweeted last Dec. 24 that he was “officially retiring,” but his management team quickly denied this, saying that Justin “was just kidding.”

Such erratic behavior, along with his recent runins with the authorities, is cause for concern—but, his recent surprise visit to typhoon-ravaged Tacloban indicates that he can’t be all that “evil.”

Let’s hope Justin sees the error of his ways—before it’s too late!

BISMARK. “We’re against objectifying women.”

Pageants boost awareness

Speaking of advocacies, the latest beauty pageants on the block—Ms Teen Earth and Little Miss Earth Philippines—have found an ally in the Climate Change Commission, which aims to amp up its campaign to raise awareness for its environmental programs, by taking advantage of our fascination for beauty contests.

It was disturbing to learn from Secretary Mary Ann Lucille Sering of the Philippine Climate Change Commission that eight out of 10 Filipinos were affected by the increasingly unpredictable  patterns of climate change last year.

Upon Dolly Anne Carvajal’s invitation, we dropped by the pageants’ grand launch last Tuesday and asked the 23-year-old franchise owner, Vas Bismark, why he decided to join the beauty-tilt bandwagon.

Vas explains, “I see it as an opportunity for young women and girls to start caring for something other than the way they look—the pageant isn’t going to be strenuous, and they won’t be wearing swimwear, because we’re against objectifying women. Much of the stress we’ll get will probably come from stage mothers (laughs)!”