As Mario began preparing his sophomore album Turning Point, the 18 year old adopted a more mature image, ditching his jeans, T shirts, throwbacks, and even his trademark braids.

He also changed his sound.

“It was kind of a funny change, singing mature songs,” Mario tells Billboard. “But it was natural. All the songs are about friends and the situations I’m going through.”

So far so good, as the first single Let Me Love You is nestled in the top five on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart and the Billboard Hot 100.

Last week, Mario caught the new flick, ‘Deliver Us From Eva’ which stars LL Cool J, Essence Atkins and Gabrielle Union.

“It’s very funny and cool. ‘Deliver Us From Eva’ is one of this year’s must watch shows. LL Cool J, Gabrielle, Meagan, Essence were all good.”

So what’s the movie about? It’s the story of three young African-American men who pay a “ladies man” played by LL Cool J $5,000 to romance their perfectionist sister-in-law played by the beautiful Gabrielle Union just so they can live their lives free of her constant meddling. The series of events that happen next surprises the men.

Meanwhile, Jami Bernard of the New York Daily News reviewed ‘Deliver Us From Eva’, giving film 2.5 stars.

Jami writes “LL Cool J attains heartthrob status in ‘Deliver Us From Eva’, which is a delightful addition to the nascent Buppie-comedy genre.”

Visit the official page for the movie www.deliverusfromevamovie.com

Mario was speaking to the press the other day and he said that he can’t wait for the next American Idol to come back on.

“I saw the first one, checked it out a couple times. Voted for Kelly because she just seem to sing perfectly. In essence, I just love the whole show.”

“I heard the next one’s coming back on sometime in February so that should be awesome.”

He also spoke about his new video “Braid My Hair”.

“The shoot was off the hook, it being my second video and all that, I knew a little bit about shootin’ videos and had a lot of fun experiencin’ the whole thing.”

“I just hope you all like it and enjoy it. I did it for you all.”

Lucky boy. Young ladies are staking an early claim on this 15 year old crooner, Mario Barrett, the latest artist to be discovered by record guru Clive Davis.

“Girls will be outside my window” marveled the Baltimore native, who goes only by his first name. “They’ll watch me go in the house”.

For about a year, Mario has crashed at his manager’s pad while being home-schooled and groomed for success. “I’ve had some crazy experiences with girls” said Mario, who’s looking for “a certain special someone”.

“They call the house” he continued. “I don’t know what these girls are thinking”.

Why are these girls crazy over Mario? Well, word has it that he is touted as the next big thing by Clive Davis, 69, president of J Records. This was what Clive had to say. “The last time I got as excited about someone who has such worldwide potential, for many years to come, was with Alicia Keys”.

For months, the founder of Arista Records has been trotting out Mario at expensive media showcase parties across the globe. And he placed Alicia to work on Mario’s self-titled debut. She wrote and produced two of its 11 tracks, ‘2 Train’ and ‘Put Me On’.

“Working with Alicia was off the hook” said Mario, who co-wrote two of his own songs. “She taught me a lot. She told me to be myself on stage, and not to let the business change me.”

Mario’s debut track, entitled ‘Just A Friend’, is riding high on the Billboard charts.