Justin Bieber has given his seal of approval to Jai Waetford, a young X Factor Australia finalist.
The Canadian singer reached out to the 14-year-old on Thursday (Oct. 31), by posting a message to the budding star on his Instagram account, which has been already ‘Liked’ 636,000 times.
“Make the music you want to make Jai Waetford,” Bieber wrote.
The 19-year-old added, “God has really blessed you. I’m a fan and I haven’t been impressed like this in a very long time.”
Waetford stood out early on the X Factor when he first auditioned in July, with many comparing his singing and acoustic guitar performances and style to Bieber at the beginning of his career
The star-in-the-making came third in the talent show final on Monday night, but it’s speculated that Bieber’s endorsement may see Waetford emerging as the competition’s winner in real terms given his other finds Carly Rae Jepsen and Madison Beer went on to sign huge record deals and former tour mate Cody Simpson has benefited from association.
“I was so excited to be noticed by Justin Bieber on social media,” the young singer told News.com.au.
“I never thought a moment like this would ever happen to me. I mean I’m just a 14 year old kid from Campbelltown,” Waetford added.
On the official X Factor Australia website, hosted by domestic broadcasters Channel 7, Waetford cites Bieber as his musical inspiration as well as Bruno Mars, Guy Sebastian, Elvis, Stevie Wonder — and, notably — Michael Jackson, also a hero of his new superstar fan.
Fans of the young singer have raved about his performances during his X Factor run, with a cover of Bieber’s 2010 single “That Should Have Been Me” from his My World 2.0 album drawing special praise.
Before playing that latter song on the show, Waetford — who describes himself as a singer and a songwriter — reportedly said of Bieber, “His songs and his style is where I can see [myself] being.”
The teenager is making the most of his television start and has released a new single “Your Eyes” which is now available now on iTunes and is currently No. 2 on iTunes Australia.
Waetford shortly returns to school in New South Wales but will join the rest of the X Factor finalists in mid-November for an Australian tour.
While the trajectory of Jai’s career is still in its early stages one thing is certain, Bieber is watching and rooting for him.
I was so stoked after @justinbieber instagramed a photo of my first audition! It meant so much to me for him to have done that #sohappy
— Jai Waetford (@JaiWaetford) November 1, 2013
