Austin Mahone On Being Compared With Justin Bieber, His Goals, And Being Nominated For A VMA

Being a teenage heartthrob is such hard work and Austin Mahone, 18, is no exception. The star certainly has a lot going on lately, including a successful tour, VMA nominations, and most recently, well, his comparisons to Justin Bieber, which he is reportedly tired of hearing. The Boston Herald cleverly illustrates the Justin Bieber/Austin Mahone comparison:

“So like Chachi to the Bieb’s Fonz, Austin Mahone, 18, has filled the vacuum to become the newest crush of elementary school girls everywhere.” -Jed Gottlieb/Boston Herald

But for Austin Mahone, it’s all business as usual. During an interview with the Boston Herald, he offered his current outlook and where he’s most focused:

“One of my biggest goals is to fill an arena anywhere in the world. If I’m in a place as far away as Australia, I want to be able to sell out an arena.”

This is no small order for this budding artist, to be certain. During his homecoming show in San Antonio, Texas, Austin managed to attract a crowd 12,000 avid Austin Mahone fans but the singer doesn’t let it go to his head. He credits his family for helping him stay grounded and humble:

“I don’t think it’s going to be that hard. My mom is with me on tour. My mom’s best friend is with her. My three best friends travel with me. We’re a huge family.”

And whom does Austin Mahone look up to? The answer might surprise you!

“My manager is close with Pitbull and he reached out to him. Pitbull said he was a fan of what I was doing, so I’m really glad we could get him. When he came through and we were working on the video, we had our moment. It worked.”

Apparently the chemistry between Austin and Pitbull paid off as the single “Mmm Yeah” currently has more than 27 million plays on Spotify and the video has racked up a total of 63 million YouTube views.

In related news, MTV News reports that Austin Mahone will be amongst good company when he takes to the VMAs. He is currently nominated alongside Demi Lovato, Katy Perry, 5SOS, and Ariana Grande for the Best Lyric Category VMA award when the show airs on Sunday, August 24th at 9 PM EST. Fans of Austin Mahone’s can go here to cast their votes!

What do you think? Is Austin Mahone the new Justin Bieber? Sound off in the comments below!

[Photo credit: J-14 Magazine]