Band Works Hard, *NSYNC Singer Says
(7.31) Source - Detroit News: Don't think of *NSYNC as a overnight sensation, the latest in a long line of boy bands that hit it big. The guys in *NSYNC have heard the phrase, but they insist it does not apply to them. They've been toiling for a long time. "Nobody hears about the work that we've been putting in the last five to six years. Everybody just hears about the last year and a half," singer Chris Kirkpatrick says. "Nobody hears about us singing at high schools for years, or doing the national anthem at Orlando Magic games, or at baseball games...We have worked hard." And, he says, they still are. "We don't get much time to rest. Just when you think you're getting a day off, you don't. We never get days off. In the last five years, we've maybe had one week off. We enjoy doing the tours, but if you have a day off, a charity will want you to come by and say hi to some kids. Or you do your own charity event. But that is stuff you really enjoy doing. And, mainly, we're doing what we love, so I'm not knocking it. If you have to do it every day, then so be it."
*NSYNC Fans Shatter Brit Record
(7.31) Source - LiveDaily: *NSYNC fans shatter Spears' 'Today' record When 6,000-plus fans showed up to hear Britney Spears sing on NBC's Today recently, the 18-year-old singer set an attendance record for the show's summer concert series. But Friday, after 10,000 fans materialized to see *NSYNC -- some having waited since Thursday's Today aired -- Spears' record was suddenly shattered. "We had a sense that this would be huge," Today executive producer Jeff Zucker says. The boys of *NSYNC, he says, "are The Beatles of today." This Friday's concert, featuring Santana, also is expected to be a big draw.
The End Of The Teen Music Fad Is Near
(7.31) Source - Entertainment Weekly: "So when will this teen music thing finally be over?" It's a question I'm asked at least once a week, usually when someone discovers I'm a music critic. Until recently, I've had no definitive answer, mumbling either "Eventually, like all cyclical trends," or "It's here to stay -- get used to it." But I now have a new response: "The end of the teen boom? It's already begun."
Like glow sticks at an *NSYNC show, all signs are in the air. For their next album, the Backstreet Boys are reportedly going to either write more songs or use their own band -- as opposed to employing Swedish songwriter-programmer-hit factory Max Martin. Britney Spears' latest album, "Oops!...I Did It Again," includes her first attempt at composing, and Christina Aguilera has started bragging to the media that her next, "much rowdier, really!" record will feature her own songs.
One would think this pattern of overreaching would prove valuable, but those who don't know history are destined to repeat it -- or at least to dance the same doomed steps. Easily the worst track on Spears' "Oops!" is one she co-authored, the slurpy ballad "Dear Diary." *NSYNC's Justin Timberlake co-penned a rare highlight on "No Strings Attached" ("I'll Be Good for You"), but JC Chasez's contributions are more sound effects than songs. Tellingly, none of *NSYNC's originals compare to their current "It's Gonna Be Me," co-written by -- yep -- Max Martin. Song doctor 1, pop stars 0.
Helpful homework for today's approaching-20 teen stars would be to hunt down a copy of David Cassidy's 1975 concept album "The Higher They Climb." First they should study the theme: the rise and fall of a pop idol. Then they should "listen" to the record. Finally, they should grab their cell phones and call their managers -- before it's too late.
Read the whole article here!
Birthday Surprise Stuns Lopez
(7.31) Source - TVGuide: Jennifer Lopez thought she was going to a birthday party on Monday night for Marita Miller, the beautiful bride of Indiana Pacers star Reggie Miller. She didn't realize as she approached West 14th Street with her beau, Sean "Puffy" Combs, that 250 family and friends were waiting at Lotus � and the party was actually for her.
Jeffrey Jah, one of the club's owners, had a lookout posted on Ninth Avenue watching for Puffy's blue Bentley. Jah did a countdown in the darkened club as Jennifer and Puff Daddy approached the door. "One minute ... 30 seconds, 20 seconds, 10, nine, eight ..." When Lopez, wearing a clingy one-shoulder white sheath, walked in, everyone yelled, "Surprise!" And she burst into tears. "It really worked. She had no idea. She was overwhelmed," said one source.
Jennifer, who turned 30, hugged her dad, who'd been waiting with her sister and her manager, Benny Medina. Introducing the Latin rythms of Tito Torrente's band from Jimmy's Bronx Cafe, Puffy said, "This is Jennifer's world; salsa, cha-cha-cha."
Among the well-wishers who jumped up and started shaking were Lance Bass and Justin Timberlake of 'N Sync, Angie (Law & Order) Harmon, Jon Secada, publishing wunderkind Jason Binn and hotelier Vikram Chatwal.
Backstreet Boys In Toronto To Film Burger King Commercials
(7.31) Source - Launch Magazine: The battle of the burgers heated up as the Backstreet Boys headed to Toronto last week to film a series of commercials for an upcoming Burger King promotion. Several miles of streets were closed down on Thursday in downtown Toronto to provide room for the thousands of fans who showed up hoping to catch a glimpse of the Backstreet Boys. The late summer/early fall promotion includes a 45-minute video titled For The Fans and three CDs containing 12 songs in all. The Backstreet Boys/Burger King promotion has impeccably timing, considering that the competition has a very similar promotion that ends just four days earlier. McDonald's Summer Music Event 2000 promotion--which involves Britney Spears, "*NSYNC, Joe, Carlos Vives, Sisqo, and others--runs August 4-24 at participating U.S. McDonald's.
Robbie Williams Chooses *NSYNC over BSB
(7.30) Source - Details Magazine: In a recent interview with Details Magazine, popstar Robbie Williams dishes on how he feels about *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys. "When I was in a boy band you needed one pretty boy in the group, now all of them have to beautiful. Look at *NSYNC, every single one of those blokes are good looking. Backstreet is different, a few of those guys scare me. I can't bare Backstreet. I am not a big *NSYNC fan because those bastards are good looking and talented, which is rare in this business of boy bands."
Chris Excited About Reunion
(7.30) Source - Rolling Stone Daily: Sure, performing live on HBO July 27 and on the Today summer concert series July 28 are pretty big gigs - even for *NSYNC - but there's one event that the group's Chris Kirkpatrick has looked forward to for a long time: his 10th high school reunion, taking place this August in his hometown of Dalton, Ohio. "I'm going to go back with my head held high and be like, 'I've made something of myself,'" says Kirkpatrick, whose family was poor when he was growing up. "I used to dream I'd come back as a success, and now I can go, 'Look at all the lives I've changed.'"
*NSYNC Lands At Planet Hollywood New York
(7.29) Source - Launch: *NSYNC and a few of their celebrity friends showed up for a press conference at New York City's Planet Hollywood on Friday to introduce the Daze and Knights team members for the group's second annual charity basketball game, Challenge For The Children II.
Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez, Lance Bass, and group manager Johnny Wright were all on hand, as were Pink, Beverly Mitchell, Donell Jones, Rockmond Dunbar, Boris Kodjoe, RCA recording artist Josh Keaton, Nikki DeLoach of girl-group Innosense, A.B. of 95 South, and others.
Usher was scheduled to appear, but word came that the singer-actor was hospitalized for exhaustion and dehydration and would also be unable to participate in today's charity basketball game. Since the first leg of the *NSYNC tour wraps up August 1st in Joliet, Illinois, opening act Pink was asked by reporters what she enjoyed most about being on the road.
"I just feel blessed to be in front of this many people in such a short period of time, basically," she replied. "I love to sing, and I'm just happy about getting a chance to do it. "
*NSYNC singer Chasez said that group will take two months off following their last tour date in Illinois. He also described what fans can expect during the next leg of the group's tour in support of No Strings Attached, which will kick off October 29th and run for 31 dates.
"I think for the next tour it will be pretty much the same," he said. "If anything, we'll just add a Christmas song or two to get into the holiday spirit. Other than that, it's going to be a continuation. We're taking these two months to organize the next album and look at the movie scripts and things like that."
Chasez added that group members really need a short break just to get themselves organized after being out on the road for so long. "It's all a big mess. We have piles of stuff sitting at home and that's basically what we're taking these two months off for," he admitted, "to really reorganize that stuff. We're not really going to have a lot of downtime because we've got to do some promotion in Japan and stuff like that."
*NSYNC founded Challenge For The Children in 1999 to offer financial support to a variety of children's programs and charities across the nation. Five different organizations benefit from this year's game, including the Arnold Palmer Foundation For Children & Women, the Justin Timberlake Foundation, Child Watch North America, the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Foundation, and Camp Good Times. Last year the charity basketball game raised more than $100,000.
*NSYNC Tackle New York City
(7.29) Source - Select Articles, Friends, & Me: As if claiming ownership of a hit album that topped charts by selling over two million copies in one week, being the fantasy of millions of pre-pubescent teenagers, touring the world on sold-out shows, and raking in millions wasn't enough, *NSYNC is now taking New York City by storm! The guys, who arrived in NY on Monday, performed 4 concerts begining Tuesday & ending yesterday. Along with performing in front of their largest reported crowd in NYC Friday night, the guys shot a live HBO special broadcast world-wide Thursday. The concert went smoothly thanks to the effort of workers who did perform practice runs Tuesday & Wednesday.
Steve Fatone, brother of *NSYNC member Joey Fatone, announced Friday night at the concert that $1 from every ticket sold that night would be donated to SAG - Screen Actors Guild - in support of their strike. *NSYNC, along with labelmate Britney Spears, issued a statement eariler this week agreeing to withhold performances from commercial productions until the strike ends.
Friday morning, not even 24 hours after thousands tuned in to watch their concert on HBO, *NSYNC could be found on the set of the Today Show, performing for the 10,000-15,000 fans who swarmed the streets around the studio. Some die-hard fans had even been reported as being there since 6AM the previous day.
After the show, *NSYNC attended a press conference at Planet Hollywood in New York City. There, they were joined by opening-act Pink, MTV-VJ Ananda Lewis, 7th Heaven star Beverly Mitchell, choerogpherer Darren Henson, & manager Johnny Wright, amoung others. That night's concert in NYC's Madison Square Garden, also temporarily housed most of the conference-attending stars as well as singer Brian McKnight, MTV's TRL host Carson Daly, & the parents of members Lance Bass & Joey Fatone.
Usher Hospitalized
(7.29) Source - Wall of Sound: Usher's not having everything go his way at the moment. The singer was recently hospitalized, suffering from exhaustion and dehydration. The R&B heartthrob "was under doctor's care for exhaustion and dehydration," his manager said in a statement. "His doctors have prescribed strict bed rest for two weeks and lots of fluids. He would like his fans to know that he is fine and hopes to be back on his feet soon." Usher's medical condition has forced him to cancel plans to participate in *NSYNC's upcoming charity basketball game, and also scrapped an album cover photo shoot.
*NSYNC Take #1 In Asia Region
(7.28) Source - MTV Asia: Total sales of *NSYNC's "No Strings Attached" in the Asia-Pacific region has now exceeded half a million copies. In Malaysia, "Bye Bye Bye" held the #1 spot on Hitz FM's countdown for 8 consecutive weeks while its been the #1 song in Singapore's Power 98 radio station Top 20 chart for 10 weeks running. This could be the longest-reigning #1 pop song in Singapore history!
Britney & Tourist In Club Clash
(7.28) Source - TV Guide: Pop princess Britney Spears had a camera-toting tourist tossed out of downtown NYC hotspot Chaos early yesterday morning. Spears's security detail sprang into action when Kathryn Anderson, of Miami, snapped a paparazzo-style pic of the teen temptress with a glass in her hand. Within seconds Anderson, 31, says she was surrounded by Spears's beefy bodyguards, who gruffly demanded that the out-of-towner cough up the camera. Anderson says she refused, and was escorted out by Spears's handlers. Anderson says she first tried to snap a picture of Spears in the ladies' room, but the normally sweet-as-sugar songbird snapped at her. "She was drunk and belligerent," Anderson claimed to Page Six. But club reps say that Spears, 18, drank only soda and juice. "She said to me, 'I don't want any pictures... I don't look good enough right now.' That made me mad, so I followed her out to the club and took another picture of her with a drink in her hand."
Spears, clad in a white lace top, tight blue jeans and sultry black eye makeup, showed up at 2 am with beau Justin Timberlake of *NSYNC, her brother Bryan, singer Jive and two bodyguards. The Britney brigade declined to hang in the upstairs VIP room and instead took over a large banquette in the downstairs "Portrait Room," alongside the club's Wednesday night promoters and pals Kiki, Dimitri and Unik. Chaos spokesman Ron Alan says the club served Spears cranberry and sodas all night and Timberlake, 19, who danced up a storm with his busty beau, guzzled nothing stronger than bottled water. "If Britney was drinking, she wasn't doing it at Chaos," Alan says. The club's security director, Frank McHugh, said Spears and other underage clubgoers must wear a pink neon bracelet, which bars them from drinking booze. "It's bright," he said. "You wouldn't mistake it for a Harry Winston bracelet." Brazilian stunner Giselle Bundchen, 19, has also sported the accessory.
Spies tell us a bottle of Absolut vodka was being passed around at Britney's banquette, but no one saw her partake. "She seemed fine and was very graceful to our staff," Alan said. "She had a great time dancing with Justin and didn't leave until 3:30 AM. From what we can tell, her good-girl reputation is still intact."
Spears's spokesperson had no comment. � Page Six Staff
Kathy Griffin Talks *NSYNC
(7.28) Source - Entertainment Weekly: I assume *NSYNC would be a go, considering your legendary love of boy bands.
I would [perform with them], but I would be afraid to be bum rushed by the girls and just beaten. When I went to an *NSYNC show, there were girls that were coming up to me with a mixture of envy and hatred because I kissed Lance on stage one time. They were wanting to touch me, then kill me.
Read the whole article here!
*NSYNC Takes Manhattan By Storm
(7.27) Source - Launch: *NSYNC has been in the New York City area all week long, creating a fan frenzy wherever they show up. Tonight, the group's concert performance from Madison Square Garden was broadcast live on HBO. Tomorrow *NSYNC will start the day early with an interview and a free concert live outside the Today show studios in Rockefeller Plaza - for which fans started lining up more than 48 hours in advance, despite pouring rain.
Later Friday afternoon, the pop superstars will take part in a press conference at Planet Hollywood alongside celebrity friends, including Pink, Kelly Price, Fat Joe, Donell Jones, Usher, Jordan Knight, Rockmond Dunbar, Shannon Elizabeth, Darren Henson, Antawn Jamison, Josh Keaton, Stephon Marbury, Dennis Scott, Eric Strickland, Isaiah Thomas, and Youngbloodz.
All of the above-mentioned stars are among the participants in *NSYNC's Challenge For The Children II charity basketball game on Saturday at St. John's University in Queens (tip-off time 7:30 p.m. ET). This second annual event will be followed by a post-game bash later that same evening at an undisclosed location.
*NSYNC member Chris Kirkpatrick explained to Launch this week why the basketball game is important to the group. "*NSYNC has a charity called Challenge For Children that we're doing an event for on Saturday," he said. "Everything that we get involved with has to do with children because that's our main audience and that's who we can reach out to. We're also doing some things--which I really can't talk about right now--but we're doing some commercials coming up to make children aware on other important issues."
Kirkpatrick added that Challenge For The Children was founded by *NSYNC in 1999 to offer financial support to a variety of children's programs and charities across the nation. "It's not one charity where we give to children's cancer or to children's leukemia," he pointed out. "It's a very general children's organization where we divide it up among a lot of children's organizations. Because, you know, there's so many times that if we just focused on one disease or one thing it would be so easy to pigeonhole all the money just into that one charity, but since it's such a broad thing we can help out--not a lot--but a little in a lot of places." Some of the organizations benefiting from this year's game include Arnold Palmer's Hospital For Children & Women, The Justin Timberlake Foundation, and the Nordoff-Robbins Foundation.
*NSYNC will also make a brief appearance singing the national anthem at the annual Jayson Williams Celebrity Softball Challenge at Riverfront Stadium in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday.
Challenge For The Children II Press Conference To Be Held
(7.27) Source - NSYNC's Official Site: Challenge for the Children II Press Conference from nsync.com will be held at Planet Hollywood in NY tomorrow, July 28th. You can watch the fan coference at Artist Direct. The charity game, which is scheduled to take place on July 29th, sold out in less than 15 minutes.
Chris Expands His Horizons
(7.27) Source - Rolling Stone Daily: *NSYNC's old key-boardist, Dax, & Chris have combined forces and have written a song together called, "I'd Love You". The song includes backing vocals, from Molly, Chris' sister, Chris himself, & vocals of Ron Irizarry.
*NSYNC's Chris Kirkpatrick Becomes Child Watch National Spokesperson
(7.26) Source - Launch: *NSYNC member Chris Kirkpatrick was in New York City today to announce that he has partnered with Child Watch Of North America to be the non-profit organization's national spokesperson. Child Watch was founded in 1992 with the mission of working together with school officials, teachers, community leaders, parents, and children to keep children safe. Child Watch also works with local and national law enforcement and government agencies to locate children who are missing as a result of stranger or parental abductions.
"In the United States, an attempted abduction of a child takes place every four and a half minutes," said Child Watch president Don Wood.
Wood explained to LAUNCH why Kirkpatrick is the perfect spokesperson for the organization. "We believe that there's a need for parents that want information on how to protect their children and we have put together plans to have a video of our safety rules," he said. "And Chris has agreed to host that video for us. Basically, the video will be there to try and teach parents and children. We know parents want the information, but how do you get the children to want to watch the video? Well, they'll want to watch it if Chris is in it. So, we've basically appealed to both audiences that we're trying to reach."
Kirkpatrick is pleased to lend his name to Child Watch, which has recovered an astounding 122 missing children so far. "It's a great cause" Kirkpatrick said. "And I'm just not saying that to give you guys some crap. It's like really something that I believe in. Something that Don has heavily believed in for a long time. And hopefully we can take it from where it is and get the awareness out there, so we can take it to the next level, take it out so that everybody knows about child watch, not just a select few. We'll take that number from 122 and quadruple it-- make it 10 times platinum."
Kirkpatrick's photo will appear on promotional materials for the organization, and he will make appearances on talk shows and at other various media outlets to bring attention to the plight of missing and exploited children.
The *NSYNC singer will also help by lending support to Child Watch with his Fu Man Skeeto clothing line and record label, Fu Man Skeeto Productions. The label's debut artist, Ron Irizarry, will provide music for the Child Watch safety video. "We've been kicking around a lot of ideas about the clothing line itself," said Kirkpatrick, "whether it should have some reflective tape or, I guess, there's a new thing that they're talking about being able to sew into the fabric just in case a child gets lost. We're not talking like a 'big brother' situation here where 13-year-old kids [have] parents putting this in to make sure they get home before midnight. But you know, for kids of 1 or 2, when they start to walk and [reach] 6 years old, if they wander off, it's usually not because they just got a little lost. So it will be something that will really help out in those instances."
Texaco, which named Child Watch its national charity in 1997, will also run various promotions and sponsorships at locations nationwide in conjunction with Kirkpatrick. For more information, check out Child Watch's official website at childwatch.org. Child Watch also maintains a national toll-free line for information on missing children and inquiries from parents searching for their children. The number is 1-888-CHILDWATCH.
Strike Force
(7.25) Source - Entertainment Weekly: A host of high profile celebs including Britney Spears, Spike Lee, *NSYNC, and Regis Philbin are siding with the Screen Actors Guild in the third month of its strike against the ad industry. Spears has canceled a nonunion shoot for Clairol -- which is sponsoring her summer tour -- and both she and *NSYNC will donate $1 per ticket sold at their upcoming concerts to SAG. Similarly, Philbin and Lee are shooting commercials only for advertisers who have reached interim agreements with the unions.
*NSYNC Unveils Marionettes At NYC FAO Schwarz
(7.25) Source - Launch: Anywhere *NSYNC goes nowadays is bound to create a fan frenzy, and their stop to unveil their new look-alike marionettes at New York's FAO Schwarz toy store Tuesday (July 25) was no exception. More than 2,500 fans showed up to greet the band and to be one of the first on their block to take home a boy-toy marionette of Justin Timberlake, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone, JC Chasez, and Lance Bass. Kirkpatrick explained at the event that the group does not really consider the marionettes to be dolls, but rather "theatrical pieces"
"We didn't want to do, like, a Barbie Doll or something like that," he said. "It's a little bit different, a little bit cooler. I don't know, we're just not into Barbie Dolls. We didn't grow up playing with Barbie Dolls, but these are pretty cool. They're like vaudeville, entertainment-wise. It's actually a theatrical piece."
What's the most important part of selling a new toy? According to Chasez, the key to selling toys is location, location, location. At FAO Schwarz in New York, the group has landed a great spot. "We're actually next to the X-Men, which is pretty cool," he said. A large shipment of the marionettes, produced by Living Toyz, will also be donated to the Arnold Palmer Hospital For Children & Women.
The second leg of *NSYNC's tour will begin in October and continue through the end of the year. In other *NSYNC news, last week the group wrapped up recording a Spanish version of the Richard Marx-penned song "This I Promise You," from their multiplatinum album No Strings Attached. LAUNCH asked group member Bass what it was like recording in Spanish. "It was really, really cool. You'll have to just wait and see how it turned out." Marx offered his thoughts about recording the track with *NSYNC via his official site (richardmarx.com). "I can say without hesitation that working with them was the most pleasurable experience I've ever had as a producer," he wrote. "It's just a shame the sales of the new album are so dismal." Incidentally, sales for No Strings Attached have already topped 8 million units in the U.S. alone.
Eminem, *NSYNC Face Off for MTV
(7.25) Source - Infobeat: NEW YORK - D'Angelo's steamy single-camera clip for "Untitled (How Does it Feel)" will compete with chart-toppers Eminem & *NSYNC for best music video at the 17th Annual MTV Video Awards. Eminem & *NSYNC both earned six nominations apiece for MTV honors on Tuesday, with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Sisqo & Christina Aguilera winning five nods each. Marlon and Shawn Wayans, hot from their production of "Scary Movie," will be hosts of the awards, broadcast live on MTV from New York's Radio City Music Hall on Sept. 7th. *NSYNC & Rage Against the Machine are among the scheduled performers. View the list of VMA Nominee's
Spears, *NSYNC Sing For Strikers
(7.25) Source - Hollywood Reporter: Britney Spears and the members of *NSYNC have endorsed the actors unions' strike against the advertising industry and have agreed to withhold performances from commercial productions until the strike is over. Spears has also canceled a lucrative Clairol shampoo commercial, and she and *NSYNC have agreed to donate part of the proceeds from upcoming concerts to the Screen Actors Guild Foundation to assist striking actors.
Their show of support stems from an agreement reached with SAG and AFTRA after the unions discovered that Spears and *NSYNC had performed in a McDonald's commercial in Canada last month. Industry sources said that Spears and *NSYNC were lured to shoot the McDonald's ad in Canada under the mistaken belief that SAG and AFTRA do not consider commercials shot in Canada to be struck work. However, the unions maintain that any commercial shot in Canada targeted for a U.S. audience is struck work.
"They were led to believe it was OK to go up to Canada," an industry source said. "Tiger Woods is being approached by Buick, and they're telling him it's OK to go up to Canada to shoot, and it's not." The agreement between the unions and the performers "was made in good faith to keep them out of the advertisers' camp and to ensure that they would support the strike," the industry source said.
Spears' decision to cancel her Clairol ads until the strike is over came on the same day that the New York Times -- in a story not related to the strike -- reported that she will take part in Clairol's new print and TV ad campaign for its Herbal Essence shampoo line. "Whatever needs to be done to complete the Clairol commercial won't be done until the strike is settled," Spears spokeswoman Lisa Kasteler said. "Clairol is only one of the lucrative offers that Britney has passed on until the strike is settled."
Spears has recorded a song for the shampoo, titled "I've Got the Urge to Herbal," which she had been planning to include in her concert tour -- a 50-city tour that is being sponsored by Herbal Essence. Kasteler said she does not know if that song will be included in the Sunday concert that will benefit the SAG Foundation.
*NSYNC Adds Charities To Fundraiser
(7.24) Source - PR Newswire: *NSYNC has now added Camp Good Days and Child Watch to benefit from this year's Challenge For The Children II presented by Motorola. Camp Good Days is a non-profit organization that provides a camping experience and more for children who have been touched by cancer, HIV/AIDS, and violence. Child Watch is a non-profit organization that aids recovery of missing and abducted children.
*NSYNC Hits #1
(7.23) Source - Radio & Me: Well, *NSYNC's done it again! Those ever-popular guys who have been sweeping the nation with their cool moves, hot styles, & upbeat rhythm just received their first Single ever! "It's Gonna Be Me," *NSYNC's latest chart-topper, just topped another chart by being proclaimed Number One on Billboards Hot 100! Congrats guys, you deserve it!
NSA Tour Openers Switch-Off
(7.22) Source - Infobeat:Up and coming sensations Innosense, who are managed by Justin's mom, Lynn, and her self-founded company, Just-In Time Entertainment, had begun the year opening for Britney Spears, but they have reportedly left her and are now touring with *NSYNC for several dates to wrap up their "No Strings Attached" tour. Sisq� had briefly left the tour to film for an upcoming movie and was replaced by Boyz & Girlz United, but is currently back on tour with *NSYNC & is set to stay there. Destiny's Child is rumored to possibly tag along for a few concerts, but that is not yet confirmed. Pink, hwwever, will definately be there till the end!
The Favorite Boy Singing Group? *NSYNC
(7.22) Source - Reuters/Zogby: UTICA, N.Y. - *NSYNC was America's favorite boy band, according to the adults surveyed in a Zogby America poll.
The nationwide telephone poll of 1,035 adults found *NSYNC to be the favorite of 16%. Tied for second place were the Backstreet Boys and Boyz 2 Men at 8.5%, each. Also drawing support were New Kids on the Block and 98 Degrees at 1.4% each. Another 25.1% chose other groups than those named, 28.9% were undecided and 29% said none. *NSYNC was the favorite of younger adults polled, with the band getting 22.1% of that age group, compared with 15.3% for Boyz 2 Men and 11% for the Backstreet Boys. African Americans chose Boyz 2 Men over *NSYNC 25.8% to 18.2%, while Hispanics chose *NSYNC over Boyz 2 Men, 36.3% to 24.4%. *NSYNC was also the top choice among men, but only 11% of the male respondents compared with 21% of the women.
What We Asked: Which of the following popular boy bands would you say is your favorite: *NSYNC, 98 degrees, Backstreet Boys, LFO, Boyz 2 Men, New Kids on the Block?
*NSYNC Joins Hundreds At McDonald's
(7.22) Source - MTV: *NSYNC managed to draw some 1,500 fans to a Philadelphia McDonald's on Thursday afternoon for an event that wasn't even open to the public. Throngs of fans descended on McDonald's on Philly's Grays Ferry Avenue hoping to catch a glimpse of Justin, Joey, and the rest as they joined Joe and Carlos Vives to announce the fast food chain's plans for McDonald's Summer Music Event 2000. The event was a press-only affair, but hundreds still turned up clutching cameras and hand-crafted signs declaring their love for the boy band.
The guys obliged the crowd with some prime snapshot time at the restaurant's front window, and then joined Joe, Vives, and Britney Spears (who was piped into the event via satellite from San Antonio, Texas) to push the chain's summer music promotion. From August 4-24, participating restaurants in the chain will be offering three exclusive CDs - "Your #1 Requests...And More," (Pop Artists compilation) "The Groove," (R&B/hip-hop compilation) and "The Rhythm" (Latin compilation) - and a 35-minute home video staring Britney Spears, *NSYNC, Sisqo, and Joe, and featuring interviews with the artists and behind-the-scenes footage from music video shoots. The CDs and video will all retail for $4.99 each with the purchase of any regularly priced menu item. Tracks on the McDonald's *NSYNC/Spears album -- titled Your #1 Requests... And More! -- include *NSYNC's "Bye, Bye, Bye (Teddy Riley Remix)," "Are You Gonna Be There," "If I'm Not The One," and "I Thought She Knew." Spears's tracks on the album include "Oops!... I Did It Again (Rodney Jerkins Remix)," "One Kiss From You," "Girl In The Mirror," and "Heart."
*NSYNC member JC Chasez told the press gathered for the event why he's glad to be involved in the promotional campaign: "I just think that it's great that we got to do some music with so many cool people like Joe and Carlos and Britney. I think it's exciting that McDonald's took the time and the effort to put this whole thing together, and it's something that we're really excited about because, again, it's going to open up doors for people who like different kinds of music."
"We wanted to put out some songs that we're diferent from the album to give people a variety to listen to," said *NSYNC singer Chris Kirkpatrick. "I mean, we put remixes on there as well as songs that weren't on the album, period, to give the people something fresh to listen to." Kirkpatrick went on, "There's more to offer on this CD really than just getting *NSYNC songs. It's not like they can have an album and say, 'Wait a minute, I already have this song.' They are actually getting totally different stuff."
The chain is also giving fans the chance to win backstage passes to concerts by artists featured on the CDs, a talent pool that includes Britney, *NSYNC, Sisqo, Joe, DMX, Ruff Ryders, Mary J. Blige, Q-Tip, TLC, R. Kelly, Carlos Vives, Enrique Iglesias, Carlos Ponce, and more.
In addition to Thursday's press conference, McDonald's will promote the campaign with a string of TV ads, including one in which Britney and *NSYNC play a game of spin the bottle, and another and the members of *NSYNC sit under vintage dome hairdryers in a beauty salon. The low-price CD promotion is similar to one the fast food chain ran in 1994, which featured specially compiled CDs of Garth Brooks, Tina Turner, Elton John, and other artists. That promotion proved unpopular with music specialty merchants, who complained about being bypassed and about the low price; those retailers had no such complaints when asked about the new promotion. McDonald's has also partnered with Tiger Electronics to roll-out the HitClips Micro Music Player, which clips to clothing and comes with a single "earbud"-style headphone. Available in three colors for $4.99 at McDonald's for a limited time, the player comes with a quarter-sized Tiger Micro Music Clip of either Spears' "Stronger" or *NSYNC's "It's Gonna Be Me." The Micro Music Clip chip is compatible with the HitClips Rockin' Micro Boombox and HitClips Alarm Clock.
*NSYNC Movie: "Why Can't I Be You?"
(7.21) Source - Twist Magazine: In this months issue of Twist Magazine, Joey is quoted saying the title of *NSYNC's upcoming movie is "Why Can't I Be You". Joey also mentioned It will be a type of high school flick & kinda 'American Pie-ish.' As well as restating that the guys won't be playing themselves.
Ellen Admits To Having Tattoo Of Justin
(7.21) Source - Jay Leno: Tonight's episode of Jay Leno found Ellen DeGeneres a guest on the show. The two comedians began talking & Ellen mentioned a weird fan having a tattoo of her on her back. Jay stated he thought no one had a tattoo of him or anything & countered with "I'm sure somebody has a Justin from *NSYNC tattoo. I know I have one right on my cheek, a little one though." The crowd began laughing & Ellen remarked "Justin? The cute lil curly one right? He's so cute." ...leave it to comedians.
Joey Collaboration With Blaque
(7.20) Source - Rolling Stone Daily: Joey and Blaque recently did a collaboration for the "Bring It On" soundtrack. The movie, to be released late this year, or early next year, stars the girls of Blaque.
*NSYNC Give Final Performance At Three Rivers
(7.20) Source - Infobeat: *NSYNC have performed in hundreds of stadiums & coliseums around the world, but once in a while there is a concert so special it tops the charts. July 16th concert in Chris's hometown of Pittsburgh was just such a show. Because of the city's plans to have separate stadiums for their baseball and football teams, the Three Rivers Stadium, where *NSYNC performed, will be torn down. The title of the last concert ever to be performed there was taken by *NSYNC, who mentioned the situation to the roaring crowd. In Lance's own words, "You all are gonna be sayin' Bye Bye Bye to Three Rivers!"