*In the words of *NSYNC themselves: the initial concept for O-Town is just very fake and unrealistic. You get a plethora of guys together in in a boyband factory/boot camp and then slap them with a tag that says "ACCEPTED" or "REJECTED." That's not how most men's vocal groups are formed(It's certainly not how the BSB or *NSYNC was formed; They put themselves together), and this gives a bad name to themselves and others. And then they televise it like some soap opera!? Well yeah, business-wise it's a great way to get publicity, but think about it, how long are they going to last outside of that little show? They're already having issues with each other and their management. And I certainly am not going to go out of my way to buy their products. It's going to be very interesting to see them go out on the marketplace and try to compete(Well...I'm not crazy about the idea of artistic competition, but really that's what this is)with The Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC. Lou Pearlman and the rest of those producers are very much toying with their craft and the industry in general.

Which isn't to say that these guys aren't good. Part of the reason why this is just so sad and angering to watch is because you really do get to see that these are real people, real musicians, with real talent and dreams, just people that you come to admire. They're not great(...yet?), but in terms of their performance, of their art, I'd be lying if I said that the guys are that much worse then the bands that are out today. Well, granted, I've only heard like three of their songs, but this is definately something that they worked on seriously and with passion, like any other band.

The thing is, and trust me I would really rather not say it like this, but to me these guys kind of represent an anti-*NSYNC. Ugh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, just let me explain! Lou finds that none of his two previous boytoy bands are willing to be played around by him no more, so he goes out to set his own medium, something in which he has even more control over. What better way to exert control over something than to make it a TV show, total with cliffhangers, fan publicity, and ratings? The fact that this is in the public eye doesn't necessarily mean that Lou won't be able to pull any clandestine tricks. No, the fact that this is so out in the open makes the average viewer believe that this is the way things are supposed to operate, so no one suspects him of nuthin'. The last thing I want to do is place my opinions of these guys(whom I'm not exactly getting a very good first impression of)on a collision course with my opinions of *NSYNC(whom I have been a fan of for a while and have immeasurable respect for), but you know it's unavoidable.

Still, you know what I'd like to see? The guys of O-Town actually make it big, selling tons of records, then get into a legal dispute with Lou Pearlman over his financial and moral circumstances, win, and finally set their own standards. It could happen. Though hopefully *NSYNC won't start complaining like the BSB about having their "image" stolen. (*NSYNC: "You guys are always copying us!" O-Town: "Hey, you guys aren't the only independent-minded boyband in the world!" *NSYNC: "Yes we are! It's not fair! We're supposed to be the only self-controlled boyband! It's like, find your own identity!":))

On a totally random and worthless note which I expect many of you will be lifting your eyebrows over, I was very surprised to find out that this wasn't the first time I've seen Ashley Angel before. He did the voice of Alex in Lunar, Silver Star Story, a game for the Sega Saturn and Playstation, which was(and still is)one of my favorite RPG adventures. True, it was almost impossible to progress without use of a gameshark, but whatever. My opinions of him are actually raised about 80% because of this, and in turn my opinions of O-Town. Yes, I know, go ahead and tut-tut me, I know I deserve it...:) Wow, that was random.

So anyway! My analysis on O-Town: Appreciate the band musically, growing more and more attached to and fond of the individual members (Da**! I knew I shouldn't have watched those emotional episodes!), but holding immense disrespect towards the initial concepts and hype of which it is all under. In all fairness, I'd like to wish Erik, Ikaika, Jacob, Ashley, and Trevor the best of luck in reaching their dreams and showing to the world that they are real, but to be realistic to my own feelings, I wouldn't be all sad and mopey if they didn't. I'd be disturbed and possibly annoyed, but not sad.

I really never did not very much liked Ikaika, but when I heard his reasons for leaving, I was interested. Really, it takes a lot of guts to go through and admit to this. In the episode on 8/4, Ikaika said to an attorney that Lou was trying to be his family, and he can't be; He already has a family and has commitments to them. And Lou's trying to separate him from that family in many ways, and he can't deal with that. He can't have this kind of pressure where everything seems like a sacrifice one way or another. He got into this truly to have fun, but now it's just like he has no control over the work he does anymore.

(Hey, *NSYNCers, this beginning to sound familiar?:))

Ikaika tried to have his brother on tour with him as security, but there wasn't enough budget or something. The man who I shall now refer to as SAM, the Skinny Annoying Man, then said that the whole point of a bodyguard is that they can't be personally connected(And *NSYNC has no friendship at all with Lonnie and the rest of the crew? Please). There was this whole scene where SAM and Lou said that Ikaika's brother...Haku?...was putting uncool thoughts into his head(Dudes, having one myself, I believe that's what a brother's supposed to do. You're like, disrupting a family balance here...). Interesting...when you compare it with the Stever scenario, it show how much less control these guys have over their situations.

Anyway, there was this whole big thing over Ikaika's position over this...he's either in or out. He chose out. And you know what SAM's first words were after hearing this? He said that they were losing a lot of money over this. Oh, the urge to track SAM down and crush his nut, how great it is...

I support Ikaika in his decision. He felt that he was in this thing for the wrong reasons, in the wrong way, so he had to back out. Staying in the band would've been harmful to himself and the band as a whole. True, I probably wouldn't have broken the news to the others on the day of a million dollar photo shoot, but hey. In my opinion, Ikaika does owe something to the band and to Lou, but not so much that he would be forced to do things he doesn't want to do and be controlled like a puppet.

(Hey, *NSYNCers, this beginning to sound familiar?:))

I'm just gonna let the hypocrisy of this rest for a moment...A band of total strangers is made artificially over national TV, a member quits, and the other members are all stunned. And now they'll have to go through the factory process again and choose another member. Uh huh, I'm gonna go listen to my *NSYNC album now.

ON THE OTHER HAND! In retrospect I have to admit that Haku's behavior was pretty d*** rude also. There he was, just standing there all glowery in the forehead with his I-couldn't-give-a-rat's-***-about-you-we-do-it-my-way attitude, and his brother's possibly making the most important decision of his life, which would impact not only him but the four other members as well. I honestly don't think that Haku at all understands the whole of the situation and how he really shouldn't have that much of an impact on it. This isn't just Ikaika his brother we're talking about; This is Ikaika the member of O-Town. I don't think that Ikaika was forced by his family to leave(If he was then my attitudes on this would be reversed immediately, however), but I do think that Haku was overexercising his influence as a brother to achieve his own ends.

Word of advice to the remaining members of O-Town and the soon-to-be final member: Be wary. I'm not saying that you're all gonna suddenly drift off and start sueing and betraying each other(In fact I highly doubt that; I honestly feel that this was an isolated event), but at this point, in a situation like this, I would not be surprised at all if something else suddenly turns up. I'm still standing by my wishes that you all succeed, one way or another, though.

On another note, Diane Warren appeared in this ep(She's the one who wrote Music of My Heart and other nifty stuff), and she says that these guys have the talent to make a good album. I agree. Now if only they'd get by the business side of it, and it'll all be happy.

I wasn't here last week, so I caught the repeat episode. Several things floated through my mind as the hour passed.

1) Glory praise be, Jacob might finally be getting a clue.
2) Erik, take some pills.
3) I don't know what that new guy's name is. Thus I will refer to him as New Guy. Even when I find out what his name is, he will be New Guy. Because he will always be known as the New Guy. Unless he's not.
4) O-Town sucks.

I'm sure you're looking at #4 and thinking, "HA! He's bashing them! He's bashing musicians! I'll go and report his *** to all those cliques that don't allow artistic bashing and I'll get him kicked out, haha!!!"
Don't bother. 'Cause I'm didn't just bash Jacob, Ashley, Trevor, Erik, or New Guy.

They're not O-Town.

Get a clue.

Those five "members," they don't make up O-Town. O-Town doesn't belong to them. When their album comes out, those five guys aren't the ones who will be doing the publicizing. They aren't the ones who will choose their interviews, schedules, their work patterns. "Their" album will be barely made up of "their" songs. They won't choose what to wear. Where to go. They won't decide what O-Town does. Because they aren't O-Town.

Somewhere in some expensive office, Lou Pearlman and his team will be clapping each other on the backs of their expensive suits, congratulating each other on the total manipulation and control of yet another boyband. They own O-Town. Those people in the back offices deciding whatever the heck O-Town wears, what O-Town sings, what they do, how they do it, and when...they are O-Town.

Guys, get a clue.

Please don't take into account the fact that I don't especially like any of you when I say this: New Guy, if they were their own group they wouldn't need Lou's permission to get you in. Ashley, choose your priorities according to how you want them. Erik, doesn't the fact that you're worried about the parts you're gonna get say a little too much about the pressure given to you to bend to their needs? Jacob, give 'em hell.

Let me tell you all a little about vocal coaches. I've met with three. The one I'm gonna talk about is the coach for my barbershop quartet. He is one of the most amazingly kind, funny, thoughtful, talented, benign, cordial, patient person I've ever met. He's taught me stuff about harmonizing I didn't even think were possible. There was never an irate tone to his voice in the couple million times I was sharp or flat. Always supportive and constructive, he never added to my frustrations, only helped calm them. Caring when I'm too tired from staying up all night working on a certain webpage:P. Never condescending. Make no mistake, he'd tell me if I sucked, but he spoke always of the potential for improval. He's barely if even getting paid, taking time out of his limited life to help us. And help us he did.
When I saw this episode, I was associated with a man I will now refer to as BFT, Big Fat Teacher. Now, I had just gotten back from a rehearsal with the quartet, and I gotta say it. The way BFT treats you? That's not the way it's supposed to work. It's not. No, he does not get to treat you like s**t. Does he even teach, or does he just sit on his *** being snobbish and rude? How about harmonizing, has he even mentioned that to you at all? Not to be rude myself, but when someone's treating you as if he's that much better than you...It feels like something should be done to guarantee this fool a kick in the face.

Anyway, where was I...oh yes, seeing the way your "founders" operate, I mean, haven't you guys figured it out yet!?

Get a clue.

Jacob, at least, is beginning to get uneasy with it all. Yes, Jacob, they really don't care about the music you write(Just when I was starting to have hopes for your independence, too). They really don't want you to progress beyond their boy pop. They really do want to keep you in their little formulated genre and so they can sell you for tons 'o bucks. Yes, they really don't know what music is. Just look at that manager guy's panicked face as he tries violently to tell you that you're taking this too far. Trust me, Jacob, you're not. Realize this before it's too late.

And to the rest of "O-Town's" marketing tools(Aka Ashley, Erik, Trevor, and New Guy):

Get a clue.

You tell 'em, Justin. Hmm...he basically just took everything I said above and put it into understandable terms. Great minds think alike(HAHAHAHA Oh I kill me).

Sigh. Technicaly speaking, for now the show is over...I'm not even sure if it'll be renewed for the next season(Probably will be). Why am I even updating this page? Well, I needed a good scratching post, so sue me(HAHAHAHAHA! Get it? Sue!? Oh I kill me).

So the other day I was watching "Sex Sells: The Men" on VH1(Don't ask. Do not. And no I wasn't taking notes!)and it had little sections on boybands. It showed some *NSYNC and some girl was babbling about how Justin's got the looks and Lance's got the intelligence(And not the looks^_^? Lol), then it went on about how if the guys weren't sexy no one would listen to them. I got my own thoughts on that, but for now let's just stick with O-Town.

Surprisingly, a very large segment of the boyband...segment...was dedicated to them. In all generality it was blah blah blah, but then Jacob said something that I found very curious. I can't remember the quote word by word, but it was something along the lines of "We are very much aware that we are just someone else's franchise."

...Oh?

Needless to say I was immediately interested, but then it moved on to another subject. I instantly tried to put my brain to work(Hard to do sometimes)...could Justin and I be very wrong, that these guys do know that they are just being cashed and checked and sold as someone else's profit? The more I think about it the more sense it seems to make. As much as I'd like to believe it these guys are not stupid, clueless, whatever. They have brains. They know that the business is funky. And I'm sure they're much more wary of their circumstances after the Ikaika incident. So why do they stay?

Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that the guys do understand everything about their situation and know its hypocrisy as performing artists. Going from there, what would the only motivation be for them to stay in their situation? My answer, ultimately, is opportunity.

"What!?" You gotta put yourselves in their position. This was a contest. A group of numerous young men basically compete with each other for placement on the grand roster. Some of them make it. For those select few, it is the greatest opportunity of their lives. But all of a sudden these...issues become apparent to you. Issues about your independence, issues about your management, issues about your believability. Just...issues. You begin to understand that your position is clearly not the most favorable in the business.

But now the million dollar question: Would you care? Really, honestly, would you? I have to ask myself that constantly; My dream is to someday become a pop star, and of course the chances of that are slim to say the least. If I were given a once in a lifetime opportunity like these guys were, would I, could I just go and say, "Screw it, it's too messy and uncool. I'll try to look for another opportunity," and risk everything I've ever worked for? Is that even wise? You have to understand that not even *NSYNC was always as stable as they are today; They had stepping stones to go over and they had dices to roll. Entertainment is one of the riskiest businesses in the world, and one has to grasp at opportunities.

So I'm asking, if Lou went to you and offered you this huge, impossibly shiny opportunity to fulfill your dreams but with very obvious drawbacks, could you really turn it down? Ikaika did. I'd like to think that I would too, but really I have no justifiable answer for that...the question itself makes me uncomfortable. I'm still seriously not fond of O-Town or its basis of operation, but there's no way I could just say to you outright that I would never in my life walk down that path. What do you folks think?

On another note, they performed at the Miss America pageant this year...I didn't catch it(For some reason, in my family that's always been a bigger thing with the girls than with the guys), and I'm beginning to be very glad that I didn't. I recently downloaded the performance off Napster...AAAAAAAARRRRG THE PAIN!!! Make it STOP! Seriously. Just by the sound itself, not the performance...I'm not exaggerating. It doesn't sound good. You got these five guys just screaming around trying to pull out chords...Follow suit if you don't believe me.

What to type, what to type...No, this is not a rumor. I heard them say this with my own ears. If you click on the link, you can too.

I could call them rude and immature...but that's kinda redundant and obvious. Oh yes, we're going to spill your secrets! What secrets, that Lance isn't really his name? SHOCK!

I'd like to take this moment to mention that yes, I know *NSYNC is not as innocent as they would have us believe. I know there are secrets. I know they have lipsynched in the past, for example. SHOCK! While it's true a lot of fans would lose respect for them because of that, I've already dealt with my shock and disappointment at them, so I'm over it. I know that the story they tell may not be the whole story; Check out the Dax files for a more accurate version. Lou was there from the start, Chris got to him through a couple of friends, who I'm assuming Howie D was also a part of.

And so what? O-Town is in no position to judge *NSYNC or parallel themselves to *NSYNC. It's harsh, and it's totally not me to say his, but it's totally true. Whatever artificial means *NSYNC had in their early years, I know this: They knew each other. Yeah, really. They got together as friends, allies, soulmates practically through a common goal: To sing, to make music, to have fun. They did not have to audition and rely on a REALITY TV SHOW for their starts. That's O-Town's claim to fame no matter how they want to argue it. And it does not get more artificial than that no matter how they want to argue it.

But you know what? I saw the new season of Making the Band. What do I say? I'm glad there was actually a reason their Miss America performance, for lack of a more fitting term, sucked. After watching the thing, it's kinda hard not to feel sorry for those guys. I know how just easy it can be to mess up a harmony; It stays messed through the whole song and it's embarrassing. And I know how it is when you feel you have to do well at something and then end up not doing well at all. I think everyone does, at some point.

It's a hard business they're trying to pull. I don't remember the actual quote, but they say they have to be as good/even better than the competition(And we all know who that means)in less than half the time it took for the competition to get started, and they're absolutely right. If not for the show I wouldn't even pay them half a second of attention, and neither would the world. I think they're being driven way too hard to do too much too early. I absolutely do not think that breaking out so soon, at least with goals as high and dare I say as ambitious as theirs, is a good idea. I wouldn't blame them if they're just totally pressured and angry at the way things are going. Oh I'm still anti-them, I mean from the start of this whole thing I've said that I'd be happy if these guys made it big and I wish them best of luch, but I'd never ever actually go out and support them. Today it's the same. It's just, watching the dang show I just feel for them on a humane level, you know? It's hard not to.

I pity O-Town. I pity them for what they have to go through. For them it really is about having to prove something. Having to prove that they are better than others. Having to compete. Having to win. Is there fun in that? Reward? I don't know, I'm not in their position. I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not.

Meanwhile I think both groups will do well to maybe keep comments to themselves, at least for now. After seeing them on the TRL thing, I imagine that's an easy thing to do.

And while I'm on the subject I'm getting kinda tired of Lance being singled out as the meanie who said bad things about O-Town. Welcome to reality! None of the *NSYNCers and very few other celebrities like O-Town, period. Justin flat out called their show crap! Kevin Richardson said the show makes him nauseous! People will say, "Well the only attacked the show, not the members themselves!" Show me exactly where in the following statement that Lance directly attacked the members:

Sigh.