Carly Rae Jepsen is a Canadian singer/songwriter, similar to Justin Beiber in that she started out young and in Canada before gaining broader acclaim. She's been well known in Canada for quite a while, more so when she competed on Canadian Idol, and much more so since her song Call Me Maybe got popular. Back when she had finished her Canadian Idol tour of the country, I was working for that crap job, basically as a booking agent, and I helped coordinate a small tour for her through my province. She was nice and professional when I worked with her over the phone, I never listened to any of her music when I put together the tour. I dismissed her as a Canadian Idol kid and didn't know until later that she had a music career before that. It was only after the tour, when all the people who booked her said she was outstanding that I listened to some of her recordings. Too bad I missed seeing her before she hit the big time in those tiny little venues I booked her into I guess. What especially sets her apart is that she's not a manufactured artist - she writes her own music and is more or less genuinely who she presents herself to be. She has a good singing voice without the aid of autotune. Her link to Justin Beiber, apart from the similar backgrounds is that she is touring as his opening act on his current tour. I actually quite like her music and
considering she has actual talent, I'm glad she's seeing some south of the boarder success.