By: Tiffany Albert
Freshman, Swansboro High School
Teenagers are screaming and chanting �Next Page� repeatedly and the excitement level is high.
Next Page is waiting for their cue, and when James Armstrong, their manager says, �Ladies and gentlemen, here�s Next Page,� the group runs onto the stage.
This new five-guy band from Atlanta released its first album on Valentine�s Day. But for the past few weeks the group has been in Onslow County schools attracting fans and spreading a message to teens to stay in school and follow their dreams.
Next Page has performed in assemblies across the country during school hours, and many schools, including Swansboro High, Southwest High, Jacksonville High, and New Bridge Middle, have brought the group back in the evening for paid concerts.
The group starts out with their introduction number, �Dirty Pop� originally recorded by Nsync. Other songs in their shows are �U Remind Me� by Usher, Staind�s �It�s Been Awhile�, Jagged Edge�s song �Where Da Party At� and some of their own songs including �Tell Me What You Like� and �Falling In Love.�
Onslow County fans already have high hopes for the group that stared touring last August.
�They are not like the Backstreet Boys or Nsync,� says 15-year old Melissa Sherrill, who is a freshman at Swansboro High. �They have their own style in a unique way, they look really good, and they can sing. They are going to make it in the music industry�.Maybe one day they will be the greatest group in the world, and hopefully they will come back to Onlsow County in the near future.�
Diversity Showcase Assembly recruited the talent for Next Page including 21-year-old
�When I heard from Rod (the talent scout), I introduced him to Matt and Chris,� Mike says. �He was immediately interested, and told me that he needed to find two more members because he needed to have five vocalists and dancers.�
That is when Nunzio and Travis joined the group.
�It literally just fell into my lap,� Nunzio says. �I was managing a room in a club in Atlanta. An old friend of mine from high school came up to me and brought the whole thing down on me. The next thing I knew I was meeting with a representative from So So Def Records, and then I became part of the group.�
After they got the group together, Mike came up with the name Next Page. They started the tour on August 10.
Laura Craig, a 15-year-old freshman from Jacksonville High, says she knew from the first moment she heard the group they were good.
�When I first met them after the concert that I went to at Jacksonville High School, I knew that they were awesome,� she says, referring to the meet and greet the group does at the end of each concert. �I found out how sweet, kind, and funny they were. I did acknowledge the fact that they are probably going to be famous one day. So I really think they have what it takes to make it in the music world.�
Laura says they did a good job performing Craig David�s �Fill Me In� and �Smooth Criminal� by Alien Ant Farm.
�They did a good job on those and a lot of other songs,� she says. �They had a dance contest in which the group picked four girls from the crowd to go up on the stage and they had to dance to R. Kelly�s song, �Fiesta�, which a cheerleader won.
But I wish it was me who had won the prize. The prize was the group sang O-town�s �All or Nothing� to her.�