Bruno Mars: the new King of Pop?

EVER since Michael Jackson's passing, the music press has been wary of crowning anybody else the new King of Pop. But if there's anybody that's deserving of the title (and at least a crown prince), it's got to be Bruno Mars.

In just the span of four years, the 28-year-old has gone from hit songwriter to become one of the world's most bankable pop star; chalking up two Grammy awards and selling over 10 million copies of his two albums, Doo-Woops & Hooligans (2010) and Unorthodox Jukebox (2012).

All 11,000 tickets to his Moonshine Jungle concert on Wednesday evening at the Singapore Indoor Stadium took just three hours to fly out the box office when they went on sale late last year. On stage, the Hawaii-born Mars (real name Peter Gene Hernandez) put on a confident display of showmanship, something that the trilby-wearing singer must have built steadily to perfection since winning an Elvis impersonation contest when he was four.