Justin Bieber was in a creative, and possibly lovesick, state of mind last night.
The 20-year-old singer posted three Instagram music videos, including the late Michael Jackson’s 1987 hit “The Way You Make Me Feel” and his own ballad “Nothing Like Us.”
The latter — which he has since deleted — was a bonus song on the Bieb’s 2013 Believe Acoustic album.
Previously, Billboard reported the Canadian wrote the slow jam about his then first break-up with on-off girlfriend Selena Gomez .
But first, the infinitely happier, “The Way You Make Me Feel.”
Foot-stomping, infectious pop in the best sense, Jackson’s boy-wants-girl-boy-dances-and-sings-and-does-in-fact-get-the-girl song classic, inspired Bieber to sing his heart out yesterday.
In the clip, Justin lets rip on an a cappella version of “The Way You Make Me Feel” in an outside setting.
So how did he do?
Pretty good, considering the “Confident” singer must have watched videos of MJ singing it hundreds of times, and sung it a fair few times himself.
For years, Justin has name-checked Jackson as his most significant musical idol. Back in 2011, the then 17-year-old’s manager Scooter Braun told a journalist Vanessa Grigoriadis that the “current plan” was to follow the “creative footsteps of Michael Jackson.”
That same year, Justin talked about the King of Pop in Vanity Fair , in an interview that’s a poignant read now.
“Michael was able to reach audiences from young to old; he never limited himself,” Justin told the magazine. “He was so broad, everybody loved him, and that’s what my goal is — to basically make people happy, to inspire them, and to have everyone root for me.”
Fast forward to more recent times and the death of Jackson in June 2009, Justin honored the late legend in a heartfelt speech and rendition of “Rockin’ Robin” at a 2012 event held at Grauman’s Chinese Theater which Michael’s children attended.
Last August, a leak of Justin singing on MJ’s “Slave 2 The Rhythm” ruffled Jackson fans’ feathers. But, this May, Epic Records Chairman/CEO L.A. Reid revealed a “really special” collaboration with Bieber and MJ is in the works and will likely be released at some point in the future.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll be aware the Biebs and Selena reportedly split after a messy Paris Fashion Week, after he lunched and hung out with supermodel pal Kendall Jenner two weeks ago.
Since then: Taylor Swift , reportedly Pink , fans and media commentators, have advised Selena to quit her Bieber habit. If she’s listening to those voices, the Biebs’ music videos postings could be his attempt to reach out to her.
“There’s nothing like us / There’s nothing like you and me / Together through the storm,” Justin sings, while playing keyboards in a kitchen.
The last video didn’t come with a title and is basically a scat.
“Feeling down… life is all good when you’re around,” Justin crooned in another video post.
Question is, did Selena watch?
[ Images via Instagram. ]