LA Blast !!

The countdown started early in the night for Justin Bieber's sold-out show at the Nokia Theatre on Tuesday night.

Bieber's young fans screamed and waved multicolored glow sticks in the air, while their parents stuffed cotton balls in their ears, sipped on wine or text messaged, seemingly oblivious to the growing anticipation by their children.

When the two large screens on either side of the stage clicked on and announced that it was almost showtime, the decibel level was off the charts. Fans pulled out their cell phones and began taking silly shots of each other, waving their hands in the air, and at times, singing their favorite Bieber songs in unison.

When the 16-year-old finally took the stage shortly before 9 p.m., he dropped down from the ceiling in an egg-shaped apparatus. Neon green lasers shot from the stage, and his face popped up on the screens.

Bieber spent the next hour rolling through a number of hits — including "Baby," "One Time," "Love Me," "Favorite Girl" and "One Less Lonely Girl" — all tracks that helped to make the Canadian heartthrob a household name. Bieber also sang a little medley of classic hits, including "Wanna Be Starting Something" by Michael Jackson and "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith and Run-DMC.

"I'm so glad everyone could make it tonight. I have the best fans in the world," Bieber said. "I would do anything to make you smile."

Again, the kids screamed, rightly knowing that he would launch into his track, "U Smile."

Bieber made several costume changes, but he always kept a New York Yankees baseball cap on his head, grabbing it while dancing in front of and next to his backup dancers.

The contraption that he first dropped down in changed shapes, at one point it turning into a heart that he boarded. It took Bieber into in the air, as he strummed his guitar and smiled down lovingly at his mostly female concert.

"I see a lot of beautiful girls in the audience. You know what? I think I need to get a little closer to you," he said. And as if on cue, fans as young as 3-years-old and those old enough to be their grandparents cried and flailed their hands about, hoping to get closer to him.

@farishakim