It’s 8 o’clock at night on a weekday, and thousands of girls my age stand near me, all of us waiting for him to step onto the stage at the Fillmore Theater at Miami Beach. I arrived at 10:30 in the morning, and my feet are aching, and all I’m thinking at this point is what a hard time I’ll be having the following day, when I have to wake up to go to school.

The lights dim down, and all of my worries and thoughts vanish from my brain instantly. My attention is automatically drawn to the stage, and my reaction to seeing him standing just a few feet away from me, is to scream as loud as my lungs allow me to. It’s my idol and celebrity crush, Shawn Mendes.

Getting to Know Shawn

Shawn Peter Raul Mendes was born on August 8^th, 1998, in Toronto, Ontario, in Canada to Karen and Manuel Mendes. Although Shawn was born in Canada, he’s also half English (from his mother’s side) and half Portuguese (from his father’s side).

I first heard of him when my best friend showed me one of his songs, “The Weight”, and after hearing it, I made the life-changing decision to listen to all his songs—which at the moment, were only four. His genre mostly consists of pop and acoustic music, and when it’s time for him to hit the stage, nine times out of ten, he’ll be performing with his guitar.

Besides playing the guitar and singing, Shawn Mendes can also speak two other languages—but he’s never said what they are. He’s an expert at playing the piano and is also good at playing ice hockey—like almost any Canadian—and soccer.

Ever since I discovered him, my love for him and for his music has tripled. He became my favorite artist a few months after I learned the lyrics to all his songs because I felt connected to what he would sing about. He has written songs on heartbreak, falling in love, surviving hardship, and just learning to live your life to the fullest.

Aside from being an amazing musician, he’s also great-looking. He has short, dark-brown hair and brown eyes, which he usually covers with black shades. He usually wears a plain black t-shirt and matching skinny jeans with black boots. He’s over 6 feet tall, and I can confirm all of this, because I actually had the pleasure of meeting him once.

Meeting Shawn Mendes

That day when I went to the Fillmore Theater at Miami Beach with my best friend to see Shawn Mendes live for the first time, was April 8^th, 2015. I had the toughest time convincing my mom to let me go because the concert had landed on a school day, and I had to beg her to let me have the day off, so that I could go early and try to meet him before he went inside.

I arrived with my friend at around 9 in the morning, and at noon, a golf cart drove past us with Shawn in the passenger seat, waving. My first thought was, “Oh, my God! That’s him,” and the second one was, “Oh, my God! I probably smell horrible from being out in the sun for more than three hours.” I was about to meet my idol! He came out a few minutes later to take pictures and sign all of our posters. I was excited and was more than thrilled when I saw that in my poster, he signed, “Love You” next to his name.

After attending that concert, I went to see him again that same year on December 18^th, at the Y100 Jingle Ball, and this year, on July 15^th, at Mizner Park in Boca Raton. All three concerts I have gone to have been amazing. Just having the privilege of being in a stadium surrounded by people who love him as much as I do, makes each experience worth living.

Upcoming Tour

Starting March of next year, Shawn Mendes will be going on tour again for his new album, Illuminate, and if you haven’t guessed it yet, the name of the tour will be the Illuminate World Tour. My tickets for this tour were bought before they even went on sale (yes, that’s possible), and the songs I’m mostly looking forward to hearing live are “Mercy”, “No Promises”, and “Bad Reputation”, because they’ve become my favorites from this new album. I really like these three songs from Illuminate because their beats stood out to me when I first heard the album, and they were the first three songs I memorized.

I think that people who haven’t taken interest in Shawn Mendes’ music should give him a chance and listen to at least one song because he’s not just any other artist. He’s humble and down-to-earth, loves and thanks his fans for supporting him at all times, and writes songs that hold special meaning to him and to his fans.

Fun Facts About Shawn Mendes

• He was discovered through the Vine video app in 2013
• He opened for Taylor Swift’s “1989” World Tour in 2015
• Before becoming a singer, he wanted to become an actor
• He hates tomatoes

Source: www.thefactsite.com/2015/05/shawn-mendes-facts.html