With a distinctive mop of hair framing his face, there was no mistaking the kid. It was, indeed, Justin Bieber, who will perform an outdoor show at the RDS Arena in Dublin tonight.
The previous night I'd watched the young Canadian perform a European showcase in Paris's iconic Eiffel Tower for ecstatic young fans and curious media.
Bieber-mania was starting to sweep the world at this stage. On the way in to the hotel to meet the new teen idol the next morning, I had to battle through an army of young females chanting his name. Later, young Justin would make an appearance on the balcony of his suite, like the Pope in Rome, and the screams of the girls could be heard all around the quaint Parisian streets.
As I waited my turn to interview young Justin that day, I was expecting to meet a brat who would give me a hard time. Instead, the floppy-haired pop pin-up (below) was mannerly and happily engaged in the chat about his life and amazing rise to stardom.
"It feels good, it's definitely something I've worked hard for," Justin said, pointing out that he had begun the dream four years previously.
Bieber's rise to stardom through the internet is a modern-day fairy tale and had been turned into a movie called Never Say Never, which was released a few months later.
"I feel a lot of people will be inspired by it," he told me that day.
"It all started when I entered a local talent competition called Stratford Idol in Ontario when I was 12. I came second and I put my singing videos from the competition on YouTube, so that my friends and family could watch them. It turned out that other people liked them and that's how I got a manager."
A self-taught musician who played the drums, guitar, piano and trumpet, Bieber then found himself at the centre of a tussle between Justin Timberlake and his idol, R&B star Usher, who both wanted to sign him to their respective labels.
"It turned out Usher's deal was way better," Justin told me.
So how was he coping with all the fan-mania that has ensued?
"It doesn't really scare me," he insisted. "I know I have to give up a lot of myself and a lot of my personal life to do this. But it's what I want, so I can't complain even though sometimes I have to force myself to put on a smile when I'm under pressure."
Before we parted, young Bieber gave a flash of his self-worth as the conversation returned to the screaming horde of girls outside.
"I don't mean to be arrogant, but if I walked down the street and I wasn't famous I'd like to think girls would give me a second glance because I'm good-looking," he told me.
Fast-forward 18 months, and I meet Bieber for the second time (above) backstage at The 02 in Dublin, now the 3Arena, in August 2011 before his show.
He's got a sharper hairstyle and has matured in appearance. His fans are now referred to as 'Beliebers' and the excitement he causes has exploded with his growing fame.
The day before we meet there had been mayhem on Dublin's Grafton Street as young women converged on the shopping area causing a crush when word spread through social media that Bieber was out and about on the thoroughfare.
When asked about it, Justin said he wasn't aware of the crush on Grafton Street.
"I wasn't there, I had no clue about it, I was out in the country," he said, referring to the fact that he was staying at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow.
His mother, Pattie Mallette, who was just 17 when she had him, was also on the tour. Does she still discipline him? "I mean, she's my mum, it doesn't change once you get famous," Justin responded.
"When I'm being disrespectful or something like that, which doesn't happen very often, she definitely puts me in line."
In the years since, Bieber has struggled to come to terms with life as a mega-star.
Today, with an estimated wealth of 200 million, the 23-year-old is very different to the angel-faced teen I first met in Paris.
Along the way he has earned a bad-boy reputation. In January, 2014, he was arrested in Miami Beach, Florida, on suspicion of driving under the influence and drag racing, reaching 136mph in his rented Lamborghini. He was ultimately charged with driving under the influence, resisting arrest and driving with an expired licence.
In July of that year he faced a misdemeanour vandalism charge for egging his neighbour's home – an incident that resulted in the neighbour taking out a restraining order against him.
As the world began to tire of his antics, Bieber started turning over a new leaf in the last couple of years. Firstly, he sent himself up on the Comedy Central Roast on U.S. TV, in which comedians write and perform close-to-the-bone jokes about the celebrity subject.
Justin later told Ellen DeGeneres: "I think it's just cool to be able to laugh at yourself. I've done some things that might not be the greatest. I just want to kind of own up to some of the things."
He later posted a video online to apologise for his behaviour. He said: "I'm not who I was pretending to be. Often we pretend to be something we're not as a cover-up of what we're truly feeling inside. And just being young and growing up in this business is hard."
Justin, who shares the same manager – Scooter Braun – as Ariana Grande, is said to have found religion in recent years and he delivered a powerful speech at the recent One Love Manchester concert where he also sang his chart-topper Love Yourself.
Ahead of his performance, Justin said: "God is good in the midst of the evil. God is good in the midst of the darkness. He loves you. To the families we love you so much. Put both hands up to honour those people right now."
However, Bieber still whips up a whirlwind when he comes to town – watch out for the storm on Wednesday in Dublin.
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Justin's up to monkey business with animal pal Mally
Justin, fans, and his unfortunate former pet hamster
