Justin Bieber stopped his performance twice mid-concert last night in Istanbul to honor the ‘Azan’, the Islamic call to prayer.
Worldwide famous Canadian singer Justin Bieber performed his first-ever concert in Turkey Thursday night for 30,000 fans at the Istanbul Technical University’s Ayazağa Campus Stadium. Although the mega pop-star was initially booed for coming on stage two hours late, by the end of his performance the audience had long forgiven him.
During the highly anticipated performance Bieber stopped mid-concert twice when he heard the ‘Azan’ call to prayer. The ‘Azan’, referred to as ‘Ezan’ in Turkish takes place five times a day. Biebers fans, regularly referred to as ‘Beliebers’ were thrilled and greatly touched by this surprising show of respect from the 19-year-old star. Concertgoers referred to Bieber’s decision to stop performing to observe the call to prayer as being “respectful”, with many calling him a “great man.”
Fans took to Twitter to commend Bieber for his unprecedented move, which greatly pleased his Turkish audience.
The goodwill Bieber engendered by pausing the show helped offset some of the trouble he and his entourage reportedly got into earlier on Thursday at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport. Bieber and his crew did not present any of their travel documents to security officials as they left the airport. As a result, Bieber was checked by security outside of Sabiha Gökçen Airport and allowed to go on his way.
Bieber crowned last night’s concert, which was a stop on his second ‘Believe’ world tour, with a magnificent stage performance that had dazzling costumes and choreography as well as successful stage lighting and sound system. Bieber kicked off the show by performing “All Around You” and later sang a number of fan favorites including “Never Say Never”, “Die In Your Arms” and “Believe”.
A number of famous performers and figures were amongst the audience of 30,000 including, Tansa and Can Ekşioğlu , Rıdvan Dilmen, Berna Laçin, Tülin Şahin, Barbara Pensoy, Rıfat Elhadef, Mustafa Sandal, Bahar Şer and Nil Karaibrahimgil.
