‘Saturday Night Live’: Justin Bieber to officially host, perform on February 9 show

After we wrote about Justin Bieber strongly hinting that he would be a major part of “Saturday Night Live” at some point this year, you knew that the announcement was coming any day now; thankfully, NBC was kind enough to not keep us waiting for long.

A source has confirmed to us that the 18-year old pop star will not only perform during the show’s February 9 episode for the second time (as he did so previously in the show hosted by Tina Fey years ago), but he will also host for the first time. This is a risky move for “SNL” to make, mostly since Bieber has only appeared in occasional sketches over the years and also has little other acting experience save for a guest-starring role on “CSI” as Jason McCann. If he flops, he could become ridiculed for it much like Lindsay Lohan was last year; on the flip side, Miley Cyrus was outstanding in her most-recent hosting gig (which included an impression of Bieber), and we’re shocked that she has not been asked to host again.

It’s not currently clear if there is a new “SNL” on February 2, but we know that Jennifer Lawrence will be hosting the first show of 2012 a week from Saturday, and that one will be followed by a show hosted by a musician and personal friend of Bieber’s in Adam Levine, who also has some chances to cross-promote himself courtesy of being a coach on “The Voice.” Ultimately, the person that it is the easiest to compare Bieber to is Justin Timberlake, and we hope that he can measure up to the great shows he has done.

Do you think that Bieber will be funny? We want to hear your thoughts below, and you can read some more on the earlier rumors at the link here.

Photo: NBC