*NSYNC Nominated For Teen Choice Awards
(06.08) Source - Rolling Stone: Teen Pop sensations *NSYNC have just been nominated for four Teen Choice Awards - Album Of The Year (Celebrity), Choice Single (Pop), Choice Pop Group, and Male Hottie (Justin). Voting begins June 9th online at seventeen.com or through this month's current issue of the popular teen magazine, featuring none other than *NSYNC on its cover.
FuMan Crew Set To Invade Chicago June 15th
(06.08) Source - FuMan Skeeto: It's official, Chris and the FuMan Crew are making a third stop on the "FuMan Skeeto Summer Store Invasion Tour". June 15th at 11:30 AM is the time to be at the Oak Brook Nordstrom store in the Oak Brook Center in Illinois. While the guys of *NSYNC are in town performing for a sold out stadium show in Chicago, Chris will take time out to sign autographs for fans. As if that wasn't enough, it's your chance to win 2 tickets to *NSYNC's sold out show at Soldier Field in Chicago. Beginning June 6th, you can head down to the Oak Brook Nordstrom location and enter to win the tickets...it's as easy as that! So be sure to drop in to snag an autograph, pick up some great new FuMan Skeeto fashions and enter to win the hottest tickets of the summer!
�����Questions? Give Nordstrom a call for more details at (630) 571-2121.
�����Nordstrom at the Oak Brook Center
�����10 Oak Brook Center
�����Oak Brook, IL 60523
Amanda To Open For *NSYNC & O-Town
(06.08) Source - Launch: Swedish pop singer and Maverick Recording artist Amanda will open for *NSYNc and O-Town in more than 40 cities this summer. Amanda is currently performing a number of radio-concert events across the U.S. in support of her debut album, Everybody Doesn't, due June 12.
�����Everybody Doesn't was produced by Anders Bagge and Arnthor Birgisson (98 Degrees, Jessica Simpson), Bloodshy (Vitamin C, LFO), and several other producers from the Murlyn Music camp.
�����The 16-year-old singer's single, "Everybody Doesn't," is at Number 96 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is still getting considerable top-40 radio airplay. Amanda recently explained to launch that the title track of Everybody Doesn't sets the tone for the rest of the album. "Well, like, from my whole album, it's about stuff that we've been talking about in school, you know, that's going on when you're a teenager," she said. "And this song is about sex and it's about not rushing into a relationship too fast, too soon. It doesn't have to be about sex. It can be about alcohol, it can be about drugs, it could be about just pressure. And it's just about doing what you feel is right, and not doing it because everybody else does it."
�����Amanda's summer 2001 opening dates with O-Town (subject to change):
�����July 6 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre
�����July 7 - Santa Clara, CA- TBD
�����July 8 - Redding, CA - TBD
�����July 26 - Troy, PA - The Troy Fair
�����July 27 - University Park, PA - Bryce Jordan Center
�����July 28 - Harrington, DE - Delaware State Fair
�����July 29 - Brookhaven, NY - Brookhaven Amphitheater
�����August 2 - Detroit, MI - Meadow Brook Amphitheater
�����August 3 - Cincinnati, OH - Paramount's Park
�����August 4 - South Bend, IN - St. Joseph's 4H Fair
�����August 5 - Columbus, OH - Cooper Stadium
�����August 7 - Sioux Falls, SD - Sioux Empire Fair
�����August 9 - Indianapolis, IN - Indiana State Fair
�����August 10 - Mansfield, OH - Richland County Fair
�����August 11 - Augusta, NJ - New Jersey State Fair
�����August 12 - Lewisburg, WV - West Virginia State
�����Amanda's summer 2001 opening dates with *NSYNC (subject to change):
�����August 13 - Washington, DC - RFK Stadium
�����August 16 - Indianapolis, IN - RCA Dome
�����August 18 - Pittsburgh, PA - New Steeler Stadium
�����August 22 - New Orleans, LA - Louisiana Superdome
�����August 24 - Jackson, MS - Veterans Memorial Stadium
Moby Impressed With *NSYNC
(06.07) Source - moby-online.com:
�����*NSYNC
�����6/4/2001 - New York City
�����"There are some things that I should probably keep to myself...like the fact that I went to see *NSYNC last night at Giants Stadium.
I went for the same reason that my father went to see the Beatles at Shea Stadium in 1964, to see the teen-pop phenomenon up close.
�����And what a phenomenon it was...I have to say that the *NSYNC concert was one of the most technically impressive shows that I've ever seen. They must have a lot of money to play around with, cos the production for this one show was probably more than the gross national product of Malaysia. And, to their credit, their show was actually very smart and funny. I was impressed. I'm not going to run out and buy their records, but the show was really impressive. And now I can say that I've seen 60,000 13 year old girls screaming in unison at the top of their lungs, which was very interesting.
�����Apart from that...on Friday I was coming home from a meeting and a lovely woman stopped me and gave me a bag full of animated books. So, on the off chance that she's reading this update, thank you very, very much. The books were wonderful, and that's the sweetest thing that's happened to me in a long time.
�����Thank you. -Moby"
�����Spinal Tap
�����6/4/2001 - New York City
�����"Ok, last night *NSYNC, tonight Spinal Tap.
�����I went to see Spinal Tap play live at Carnegie Hall.
�����And, sadly, it was dull.
�����Oops.
�����Sorry.
�����I love the movie. And I love 'waiting for guffman' and etc. But live they were dull, sorry to say. Ah well.
�����And I never said that I was a fan of *NSYNC, just that their live show was really impressive.
�����In looking at the little battery icon in my upper right hand corner I realize that my computer's about to power down. So I should send this and go and plug my laptop into some friendly power outlet.
�����Have a nice day, and stop fighting.
�����-Moby"
Justin, Coolio, Superman Join NBA Lakers
(06.06) Source - USA Today: Celebrities sitting courtside at Lakers' games no longer have to dream about one day putting on an NBA uniform.
�����While Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire will never be confused with Shaquille O'Neal or Kobe Bryant, they are Lakers just the same, part of the little-known NBA Entertainment League.
�����The two actors are among the 130 players, who also include Ice Cube, David Arquette, Scott Speedman, Justin Timberlake, Morris Chestnut, Coolio, Dean Cain and Don Cheadle, who get together every Sunday to flaunt more than their acting skills. The 12-team league, now in its fourth season, is open by invitation only to those in the entertainment industry.
�����"Every kid who plays sports growing up wants to be a professional ballplayer," Chestnut said after his game Sunday. "For us to get to put on the uniforms, have the refs, the NBA socks, the logos and everything, it's like a fantasy league."
�����The league was created two years ago in an effort to build relationships in the industry as well as give entertainers an authentic environment in which to play basketball.
�����"We realized early on that not only do they love to watch our game, but they love to play the game," says Zane Stoddard, senior manager of entertainment marketing for the NBA and also the celebrity league's unofficial commissioner.
�����The NBA prefers not to disclose the location of its 11-week regular-season schedule, which runs May through July and again October through January, but the three-round playoffs are held at the Staples Center.
�����Games are off-limits to the public, but famous faces are often in the stands cheering on the players. On Sunday, Kirsten Dunst and Jaime Pressly cheered on their respective boyfriends, Maguire and Simon Rex. Other girlfriends and wives attending games have included Britney Spears (Timberlake), Gisele Bundchen (DiCaprio), Keri Russell (Speedman) and Courteney Cox Arquette.
�����"I bring friends of mine, and they get to see more famous people here than they do anywhere else," says hoopster Andrew Miano, president of Weitz Brothers Productions ("American Pie").
�����Players range in height from the 5-foot-1 Frankie Muniz of "Malcolm in the Middle" to the 6-foot-7 Todd Holland, who was in "Little Nicky." Their talent level varies from Miano, who had never played organized basketball, to "Angel Eyes"' James Caviezel, who played at the University of Washington.
�����Participants take these games seriously. On Sunday, Woody Harrelson got out of bed at 4 PM to make his 5 PM game, though he had been suffering from food poisoning. Last January, crooner Brian McKnight sang the national anthem at the NFL's NFC Championship game in East Rutherford, N.J., then hopped a plane back to L.A. in time for that evening's championship NBA Entertainment game, which his team won.
�����"Normally, when Sunday comes, I do everything I can to get back here if I'm not actually working and have a show," says the 6-foot-4 McKnight, who was the league's MVP two seasons ago.
�����Some players use the games for networking. When Miano's production company was casting its upcoming WB show "Off Centre," six guys from the league were considered. Says Miano: "This is a neat avenue because...I wouldn't hesitate to say to someone, 'Hey, we've got this movie. We'd love to tell you about it.' "
Meredith Edwards Releases Album, "Reach"
(06.06) Source - Amazon: Meredith Edwards, the first recording artist signed to *NSYNC member Lance Bass' management company, Free Lance Entertainment, released her first album with Mercury Nashville today. The LP is entitled "Reach" and selling in most areas for under ten dollars. Free clips to tracks featured on the album are available for downloading at Amazon.com.
�����Bob Allen of Amazon.com reviews the CD: "Young Nashville neophyte Meredith Edwards seems more influenced by the teenybopper sultriness of a popster like Britney Spears than by the countrified earnestness of a Tammy Wynette. She possesses a sweet but unremarkable voice that merely sounds out of its depth on wrenching pop-country love ballads like "You," "Places in Your Heart," and the title tune. But here and there, as on more inspired songs like "In Any Given Moment," the quirky "The Bird Song," and the teen-tortured "This Is the Heartache," Edwards is allowed to play to her own youthfulness instead of struggling to affect a worldliness beyond her tender years. It's only then that she makes a case that she may well be more than just another vapid but cleverly packaged teen warbler who just happens to look good in a miniskirt and halter top."
Everything, Including The *NSYNC Kitsch
(06.06) Source - The Record: Oh, the things one learned from the fans in the parking lot hours before the five hotties of *NSYNC hit the stage at Giants Stadium on Sunday.
�����Stuff like: If you're planning to draw hearts on your face with glitter makeup, skip the mirror and seek the expertise of a gaggle of giggly girlfriends.
�����And: Pink *NSYNC flip-flops, with secret compartments in the soles, can be bought for $12.99 at Kohl's.
�����Finally: Justin is the cutest, and JC runs a close second.
�����These were wise words indeed, spilling from the lipsticked mouths of preteens faster than you can say "God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You" (the title of a 1998 hit).
�����The sold-out crowd arrived for the ultimate girls' night out in white stretch limos and their moms' and dads' SUVs. One group was from Long Island, another from Staten Island. Some didn't have far to travel to see the Fab Five from Orlando, a group dismissed by critics as hotly as it is adored by fans.
�����"We have lots and lots of posters," said Rianna Maharaj, 12, one of four friends from Rutherford who came to the show.
�����"Posters everywhere," added Elizabeth Drywa, 11.
�����"We've been to concerts before," Stephanie Forenza, 11, explained.
�����"I think JC is cute," piped up Cindy Hastie, mother of 12-year-old Kristen.
�����Wait a minute. Adults have affection for Lance, JC, Joey, Chris, and Justin?
�����"You know what? It's good, clean entertainment," said Irene Drywa, Elizabeth's mom. "When they're dancing, they're not inappropriate."
�����In testament, there was not a hint of marijuana smoke or a sign of smuggled booze - common enough when other national touring acts are booked. The naughtiest thing in evidence Sunday night was the liquor-heavy aroma of a melonball - make that a melonball with muscle - from a chaperone's discreet cup.
�����Branded by the critics as a boy band of the week, *NSYNC has staying power in the hearts of its fans. Its first album, released in 1998, sold more than 10 million copies and spun off four top singles, according to the band's Web site. In the past year, the Web site says, the group has played more than 300 concerts.
�����Musically, its strength is harmonizing - but Sunday night, the first of three stadium dates, fans were talking about what they wanted to hear. In the case of *NSYNC, the cuteness factor clearly overwhelms: It's a made-for-MTV combination of genetically installed dimples and stylist-applied hair highlights.
�����"Justin's Girl," read the iron-on letters on one girl's black T-shirt.
�����"We Love You!" read scores of signs, doodled at home with milky gel pens and glitter. No matter that signs would be confiscated - an announcer promised they would be sent "to the dressing room."
�����For all the devotion, though, it was clear that some moms and dads were merely being good sports. Scores stayed behind in the parking lot while their youngsters headed into the stadium.
�����One dad, stranded in the darkening lot with beach chairs and a cooler, couldn't resist ribbing a departing stranger.
�����"I see you're leaving!" he called. "Can I leave, too?"
*NSYNC Says Bye Bye Bye To Baby Bop Bubble Gum
(06.04) Source - USA Today: In the mid-1990's America went through a dry spell of stadium concerts. Then in June 1997 U2 came marching into Giants Stadium in New Jersey with a stadium concert tour, the first in he Northeast in two years. Called PopMart, after the band's "Pop" album, it was intended as post-spectacle, a statement on the disposability of fast-food pop culture and its premillennial status as the Western's world's most worshiped religion.
�����Now, in the 21st century, the stadium show has returned with a vengeance, and its name is *NSYNC, which opened its three-night stand at Giants Stadium on Sunday night. Its PopOdyssey tour, named after its "Pop" single, was everything that U2's PopMart was afraid to be: sheer spectacle for the sake of nothing but spectacle.
�����Where U2 emerged from the center of a giant metallic lemon to open its show, *NSYNC emerged from the center of a giant metallic triangular object.
�����Where U2 had a McDonald's arch facetiously incorporated into its stage design, *NSYNC unabashedly plugged McDonald's fast food in one of its skits. *NSYNC's show even shared a nod to the disco ball with U2's tour.
�����But where *NSYNC had its stadium rivals beat was in the sheer size of its budget and gimmickry. Almost every song came with its own elaborate filmed introduction, expensive high-tech effect, or both.
�����The stage was like a lavish amusement park and arcade. During various songs, futuristic mechanical bulls, giant playpen toys, zip wires, trampolines, treadmills, magic tricks, rubber sin 'n' bounce balls, bicycles, individual elevating platforms, Velcro suits, freight elevators and video game simulations were used by the band.
�����But make no mistake about it: PopOdyssey is not retrogression to pre-irony pop spectacle. It is the dialectical answer to U2's (and alternative rock's) attack on spectacle. It is pop in defense of itself.
�����The new model of *NSYNC is one that has grown armor to withstand the arrows of criticism, and that armor (most likely a result of listening to the managers and assistants in the band's inner world of yesmen) is the contention that every band that wants to be famous or makes videos for MTV, is pop.
�����And if pop is the goal, then *NSYNC is going to be the most valuable player and it is not going to apologize.
�����Throughout the show, *NSYNC reminded its audience of just that point, communicating - through lyrics, voice-overs, and text announcements - its message: "This must be pop."
�����The "Pop" single itself, which opened the show, and the title from the band's forthcoming "Celebrity" album were both angry in a Michael Jackson "Scream" way: they were aggressively defensive. "Pop" began with the words "sick and tired" before going on to scream at detractors who belittle *NSYNC as a passing trend; "Celebrity" looked at the personal hardships of being in the public eye and not knowing who your friends are.
�����It should be clear from the topics of these songs that the band is now writing more lyrics for itself instead of singing the limpid love songs that served as filler on its first two albums.
�����But the limpid love songs are still there, as seen in the band's performance of its new "Just the Two of Us."
�����On its new uptempo songs, *NSYNC took a more decidedly futuristic urban twist, sounding less like New Kids on the Block but uncannily like Destiny's Child.
�����The most impressive of the new songs was "Game Over," with a skittering, robotic video-game beat.
�����Anyone who saw the MTV "Making of the Video" episode about *NSYNC's "Pop" now knows that this is definitely no clean-cut band. If anything, *NSYNC is losing touch with its audience's needs, and "Pop" (certainly an inferior single compared with "Bye Bye Bye), with its lyrics of "What we're doing is not a trend/We got the gift of melody," may ultimately prove to be a case of pride before the fall, of Nero choreographing a lavish, beautiful and thoroughly entertaining dance as Rome burns around him.
*NSYNC's Pop Odyssey Tour Hits Boston Area
(06.04) Source - Allstar: The stage set for *NSYNC's 43-date Pop Odyssey tour is a colossal chrome construction beset by ramps, a balcony for the eight-piece backing band, trap doors, elevators, and - way above the towers of lights - five high wires leading to the podium in the middle of the arena.
�����The fifth date of the tour - which launched May 23 in Jacksonville in the quintet's home state of Florida - at Foxboro stadium in southeast Mass., on Friday (June 1), promised to be a big production. During the 90-minute set, more props were on hand to create a spectacle: a wealth of toys, multi-costume changes, a quintet of female dancers, mechanical bulls, video skits, and the usual stadium sized pyrotechnics.
�����As the flood lights dimmed, the five bodies that walked onstage robed and masked like eerie monks fooled no one. The audience was already turned to the podium at the end of a long ramp leading from the center of the stage. There, it was expected that Chris Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, Justin Timberlake, and Lance Bass would first appear. As the three video screens ran a countdown, cameras and hysteria were readied.
�����Airing their current single, the raunchy BT-produced "Pop," from the band's third album Celebrity, which is due out July 24 on Jive Records, the five emerged on cue and strutted down the ramp, dressed in glitzy punk clothes that screamed discount store-bought even though they were likely tailor-made.
�����It was a deliberately frenzied, obvious, and vulgar display of pop star posturing and performance excess (perfect for a TRL-fed audience), and it worked perfectly.
�����It wasn't until the third song, the mellow ballad "God Must Have Spent a Little More Time On You," that the quintet halted its bump and grind and a little calm ensued. Next, raised skyward on five cylinders for a slow tempo number from Celebrity - the clarinet-highlighted soft jazz love song "Just the Two of Us," - both audience and band caught their breath before the frenetic "Space Cowboys" found the five atop hi-tech mechanical bulls, rhythmically tossed hither and thither.
�����Thus the rollercoaster ride that mixed uptempo pop with ballads - hi-jinks and standard post-Off the Wall choreography with huddled harmonizing - continued. It was in those classic harmonies, topped by solo turns from Chasez and particularly Timberlake, that *NSYNC's real strength as a vocal group shone.
�����Oddly, a career retrospective video introduced the barely five-year-old Band's show, and a certain jaded cynicism was evident in new songs like "Celebrity." Compared to the rough, Scouse charm of openers, Liverpool trio BBMak - which gave *NSYNC a run for their cute boy band money - *NSYNC seemed to be declaring itself (not without some justification) to be at a career pinnacle.
�����Earlier in the show, as *NSYNC "flew" above the crowd on those flimsy looking wires � Chasez acrobatically doing flips; Kirkpatrick nervously holding on - you had to wonder if *NSYNC had not indeed taken the spectacle as far as it could. Coolly, the group hadn't looked down as they glided through the air though, just straight ahead, singing the song.
New Platinum & Gold Artists Make The RIAA Certs
(06.01) Source - Allstar: Newcomers Sunshine Anderson, India.Arie, and S Club 7 are among the acts to score their first gold albums in May, according to the Recording Industry Association of America's May gold, platinum, and multi-platinum awards announcement on Friday (June 1).
�����Also receiving their first gold awards (selling 500,000 units) in May were John P. Kee (Not Guilty), Tank (Force of Nature), as well as the video singles "B.O.B./Ms. Jackson" by Outkast and "Dig" by Mudvayne.
�����On the superstar tip, Tupac Shakur continues to rack up sales from beyond the grave as Until the End of Time is up to 3 million; Limp Bizkit's Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water is up to 5 million; while *NSYNC's No Strings Attached has been certified for 11 million, among others.
�����Excitement over Tool's newest, Lateralus, helped boost 1993's Undertow up to 2 million units. Also scoring double platinum albums in May were Janet Jackson's All For You and several albums from John Denver, including Rocky Mountain High and Windsong. In fact, Denver has nine albums on this month's gold, platinum, and multi-platinum list.
�����For the complete list of the 22 gold, 16 platinum, and 14 multi-platinum May RIAA certifications, go to riaa.com.
Candies Recruit Top Music Acts For Teen Pregnancy Awareness
(06.01) Source - Infobeat: *NSYNC, Destiny's Child, Macy Gray, Eve, and 98 Degrees will perform at the official launch for the Candie's Foundation on June 5th at Roseland in New York City. The event, which will be hosted by Jenny McCarthy, has three price levels ($300, $500 and $1,000 for the show and a post-show party at Studio 54) with the proceeds going to the foundation which raises awareness about teen pregnancy. The performing artists, along with the Dixie Chicks, Carl Thomas and others are part of the Candies Foundation's public service campaign that will run this fall in fashion and entertainment magazines.
New Book Internet Guide To Pop Music
(06.01) Source - Rolling Stone: The Incredible Internet Guide to Pop Music written by James R. Flowers Jr. is currently available at Amazon.com for $15.95. The book, which features artists like *NSYNC, Britney Spears, and Madonna is meant to explain where on the World Wide Web one can find all sorts of things about favorite contemporary pop music artists. Covering sixty acts that have met the author's critera of having "multiple hits in the past few years," the book offers interested searchers online access in standardized catagories such as official e-mail addresses, web sites (official and otherwise), articles, and discussion sites. More intense fans can avail themselves of sites providing audio, video, wallpaper, web rings, lyrics, images, fan clubs, and concert info.
Misc. *NSYNC News
(06.01) Source - Various: Here's some minor news tidbits for those of you who don't know:
�����~A new season of HBO's critically acclaimed series "Sex In The City" will be starting up agian this Sunday (June 3). There will reportedly be a mulitude of guest apperances this season, possibly including an episode with *NSYNC member Lance Bass.
�����~New Yorkers are in for a one of a kind treat on June 5th. Sultry Pop Songstress Jessica Simpson will be a special, one-night-only opener for *NSYNC's concert that night at Giant's Stadium. Fans can see her at an instore signing and the first to visit will also receive free tickets to *NSYNC's concert that night where she'll be performing.
�����~Justin Timberlake and Stevie Wonder will appear on Brian McKnight's upcoming album, "Superheroes," due August 28th.
�����~*NSYNC will sing the national anthem at the Jayson Williams Celebrity Softball Challenge on July 29 at Riverfront Stadium in Newark. The event will be held in conjunction with the Newark Bears baseball team. Proceeds will benefit the Jayson Williams Foundation. Celebrities scheduled to play include Penny Marshall, Danny Aiello and model Kylie Bax.
�����~AllAccess.com recently polled the guys of *NSYNC about who the most flirtatious member was. The superstar boy band mates have different opinions, it seems. Justin Timberlake considers Joey Fatone the most flirtatious - while their group mate Chris Kirkpatrick reveals that Lance Bass is "pretty good" at flirting, too. "He's sneaky," says Kirkpatrick. "You don't know he's doing it until it's too late." Meanwhile, Fatone accuses JC Chasez of being "just cheesy. He has all these really bad lines. He even uses, 'How often do you come here?'" JC has even been heard asking, "What's your sign?" according to Kirkpatrick, with the teen mag Tiger Beat, in its May issue, Chasez owns up to the line, but adds, "It just came out really wrong. The minute I said it, everyone was like, 'You are a loser.'"
�����~TV Guide Insider reports that on May 29th, *NSYNCer Lance Bass was sighted on top of the bar at Brother Jimmy's BBQ at 77th and Second in New York City, pouring shots and kissing girls.
�����~Six people have reportedly been badly hurt with *NSYNC's stage set-up for their PopOdyssey Tour including band member Joey Fatone who gouged his leg during a rehearsal a few days prior to the filming of the group's latest video, 'Pop'. Fatone was taken to the hospital and had staples put in his let to hold the wound closed for healing. A member of the crew reportedly had his hand broken from the same device that injured Fatone, but the tour is still underway and everyone is said to be healing nicely with no other problems having occured.
�����~Fans all around the states weren't the only ones watching the TRL debut of *NSYNC's newest creation 'Pop' on Tuesday [May 29]. The members of the chart-topping band had not yet seen the final cut of the video to the first single off their upcoming third LP, Celebrity so the group themselves - along with friends, family, & their management - left Foxburo Stadium in MA [the venue they'd been rehearsing at] early to watch the debut of the video.
�����~*NSYNC member Joey Fatone has a new addition to his slowly growing collection of flesh-coloring tattoos. The latest tattoo was reportedly done by tattoo artist Frankie Orange and is located on his leg. It's a new bar code attached to the other reported bar code gracing his leg and has Brianna, his new daughter's, footprint between the two.