Bieber fever cancelled in Sunrise chaos

Police cancelled the Sunrise Justin Bieber concert this morning after children were hurt in the crush at the Overseas Passenger Terminal in Sydney.

Amid criticism of crowd control issues, there were reportedly 4000 in attendance at 2am awaiting the arrival of the Canadian teen pop sensation. Many of them had slept there overnight for Bieber’s only Australian gig, which had been due to be held at 7.40am. Problems continued over the following hours, with crowd surges crushing and trampling some fans.

At least 10 girls fainted, with paramedics forced to rescue them from the hysterical mass, which reportedly broke barriers.

“We pulled out more than 100 teens suffering distress at the front of the stage,” a police spokesman said.

From 5am Sunrise was telling viewers the area was full and they should stay home and watch Justin Bieber on the TV.

Producer Adam Boland was supervising the scene last night and arrived early to take control of the broadcast.

After the concert was cancelled Twitter lit up with fans asking WTF? and when Sunrise showed the crowd of fans refusing to disperse they were all giving Seven the finger when the cameras panned the scene. Hosts Kochie and Mel returned to Brekky Central saying they supported the police action.

“It’s all chaos… we’re not sure what’s happening,” said Mel Doyle just after 6am

After the event was cancelled, thousands made their way via city streets to the Martin Place studios where Bieber sang one number indoors after 8am, separated by glass before the screaming throng.

Sunrise had originally made plans for the concert to be staged at the Overseas Passenger Terminal in response to the anticipated numbers.

But parents are angry over the management of the original staging.

Colleen McMenamin, who took her daughters to the concert, said crowd control was “non-existent” and Channel Seven “owes the public an explanation”.

“People were pouring into the forecourt yet it was at least and hour before any announcements were made,” she said.

“A notice was then put up on the stage screen saying that the police had called off the show.

“At this point there were a few police moving through the crowd saying that the show had been cancelled.”

Bieber, whose popularity has surged via Twitter, tweeted that “I want to make this clear… I don’t cancel… I woke up this morning to the police canceling the show for safety reasons.”

“I love my fans….and I am just as disappointed as everyone else with the news from this morning. I want to sing for my fans.”

Samarah Bayrout, 16, said, ‘We waited there all night. They promised us three songs but he only sang one [at the studio].’’

‘‘Some of his fans came all the way from Perth and Adelaide … I wouldn’t do it again. We’ve only got to see him through the window. We could have seen more on television.’’

#letjustinsing quickly became the #1 trending topic on Twitter worldwide.

Inspector Millevoi, the NSW Ambulance commander outside the Channel Seven studios at Martin Place this morning, said eight children were treated by paramedics.

Two children were brought to Sydney hospital. One teen fractured her knees and another hit her head and “was knocked out for a while”, Inspector Millevoi said.

The other children were treated for hyperventilation, he said.

The Sunrise website states: “As of 4.30am, Monday 26 April, the police shut the gates to the area and said that due to safety concerns no more fans would be permitted into the area.

“Around 5.20am, with the forecourt area at full capacity and fans still arriving, the police ordered Sunrise to cancel the performance.” Including its previous comments, the Bieber topic already has over 3,700 comments.

David Koch said the concert was cancelled after some unattended teenagers would not follow police instructions.

Sunrise weather presenter Grant Denyer said: “We knew it would be popular, we were expecting a couple of thousand, we were expecting this to be the biggest concert we ever had.

“But we just couldn’t have foreseen this scale and Sunrise hired the best security you could imagine, we hired the professionals who look after U2, Coldplay, Pink, the big acts, and even they weren’t equipped and just couldn’t handle the Bieber fever.”

After he sang David Koch told Bieber he was a great role model for girls, being  “good at your school work you’re just terrific.”

Bieber has promised to return to Australia.

UPDATED: Producer Adam Boland says about 5000 were expected for the concert.

“The problem was, as well as the numbers, the number of young girls without their parents. We were urging these girls to move back, and there was plenty of open space, and the girls simply refused,” he said.

“At one stage we asked any parents to come in and help … and we had [emcee] Mike Goldman trying to get this crowd back into this space, but they just wouldn’t move … so the police inspector and myself decided to pull the plug.

Seven had employed an event management company that has looked after the likes of U2, Pink and the Pussycat Dolls to manage security and crowds. But Boland admits, they under-estimated “the Bieber fever”, which he said was a “bizarre phenomenon”.

“Once the concert got cancelled we thought that’s it, no more,” he said.

Sunrise agreed with police to Bieber performing one song at Martin Place studios.

“But we talked to his people and the police and … the police said if we delay [the performance] till after 8am then they will surround the building,” he said.

Police sent more officers down to the studios, including the Riot Squad.

Boland said he had no regrets in pulling the pin.

“I think I’m OK with that [apologising] but I think parents would [have wanted an apology] if their [children] had been hurt. We here at Seven are totally supportive of the police action, we are not going to argue with police,” he said.

“We understand the frustration of some the kids. A lot left more satisfied [after the Martin Place performance] but ultimately the safety of them must come first.”

Source: Daily Telegraph, The Age, Mediaweek, Sydney Morning Herald.