From Teen People (MARCH 1998)
Tag along as the Backstreet boys rock the house at the
MTV Europe Music Awards
Amsterdam - It's 11a.m., and 50 Dutch girls are standing sentry outside
the Grand Hotel
Krasnapolsky. They?ve been there since yesterday - shouting, crying
and pressing themselves up
against the hotel's imposing iron gates.
Inside the Grand - and out of the fans' reach - is an extraordinary
roster of rock's biggest stars (the
members of Hanson, Aerosmith and U2 among them), who will all
be attending tonight's MTV
Europe Music Awards in nearby Rotterdam. But when a passerby asks
the crowd who they?re
waiting for, the answer rises up in a shrieking wall of sound:
"Backstreet Boys!"
Back in the United States, this 5-man vocal group from Orlando
(Nick Carter, 18; Howie Dorough,
24; Brian Littrell, 22; AJ McLean, 20; and Kevin Richardson, 26),
which have been performing
together since 1993, has caught fire with the chart-topping singles
"Quit Playing Games (With My
Heart)" and "As Long As You Love Me". But in Europe, the bands
records have outsold albums by
Foo Fighters, LL Cool J - even Puff Daddy.
"In Europe, there's no walking - anywhere - without a bodyguard,"
says Howie from the hotel's
lobby, where the Boys have convened after getting a post-noon
wake-up call. To prove that theory,
AJ and Nick head outside to greet some of the fans before climbing
aboard their private bus, which
will take them to Rotterdam, where they'll be performing as well
as presenting and - hopefully -
winning an MTV award. The band's five bodyguards are not amused
by the Boys' boldness.
"When teenage girls all push in a group, you can't stop them,"
says head guard Lonnie Jones. As
he speaks, the crowd erupts. A cluster of girls breaks free and
charges towards Nick. Lonnie
(who's bigger than most refrigerators) quickly intervenes, directing
the other guards to keep the rest
of the band at a safe distance.
Picture Captions: When Nick walks out of the hotel to sign autographs
before boarding the bus, the
fans erupt, like a frantic crowd in a Godzilla movie. "Sometimes
I don't understand why they do
that," he says. "It's mind-blowing, basically." "The hysteria
is still bigger here (in Europe as
opposed to the States)," says Howie.
Reflections on the Road
Once the Boys are safely aboard the bus, Nick shakes his head
at the girls pounding their fists
against his window. "It's really weird. They think they know who
we are, but they don't." Brian
sighs and points out the irony of the situation: None of the Boys
has a serious girlfriend. "People
say, "Who cares? You're loved by thousands of screaming girls,"
he says. "But it's not like there's
somebody I can call anytime and say"This is how I feel." There
isn't someone who knows me
inside and out."
They peer out the window as the bus passes the Gelredome in Arnhem.
"You guys sold that out in
20 minutes," says one of their managers, Jonny Wright. "You almost
beat the Spice Girls. They did
it in 16." Everybody groans. Tonight the band is up against the
Spice Girls, as well as Hanson and
Puff Daddy & Faith Evans, for the MTV Select Award (the Boys took
this prize, for which viewers
cast their votes, last year).
"If we don?t win, I want Puffy to," says Howie. "I think he's
really creative."
"The only musician I would be sorry to lose an award to is that
Marilyn Manson dude," says Brian,
"and we'll never be in the same category as him anyway, which
is good."
Dress Rehearsal
At Rotterdam's Ahoy Stadium, the musicians are rehearsing for
the big night on the eerie,
sci-fi-themed stage. Aerosmith's Steven Tyler walks over to the
Boys and shakes their outstretched
hands. AJ whispers to a photographer, "Can you get our picture
with him?"
Moments later, the guys are practicing the routine for their five-and-a-half
minute medley, which
features lasers, 20 dancers and a costume change. The fact that
the show will be airing in the States
seems to be on everyone's mind. "A lot of people (in the US) look
at us as just a 'boy group,'"
says Brian. "we may have lots of screaming fans, but that doesn't
mean we don't put on a good
show. It's (important) to us that we be respected by other artists
and people who are older than
teenagers."
As the Boys head to their dressing rooms for hair and makeup (even
guys need this for TV), Kevin
walks right into Missy Elliott. "Oh, hey, girl!" he says casually.
When he catches up with the group
he reports excitedly, "I just bumped into Missy Elliott!" The
Boys are clearly psyched to be in the
midst of so much musical talent.
"When Steven Tyler gave me a high five and a hug, I was like,
yikes!" says AJ. "He was showing
us his guitar string bracelets - you get a hundred of them and
put them on you arm."
"Do you think Janet Jackson is gonna be there tonight?" says Howie."I'll
talk to her if I have the
nerve."
"The only thing I don't like about awards shows is that I don't
think you should single out
individuals and say they're better than anyone else," says AJ.
"It wouldn't hurt to win, though..."
The Show
The Boys make their red-carpet entrance and take their seats.
Hundreds of fans hold up "Backstreet
Boys" signs. The band members talk among themselves, unfazed.
("Prodigy is over there, a few
rows down...Did you see who's sitting to our left? It's 98 degrees.")
The show begins, and the Boys place bets on the winners. When
Bush is announced as a nominee
for best rock act, AJ groans. "You wanna kill Gavin, AJ?" Nick
asks, laughing. AJ has a huge
crush on Bush singer Gavin Rossdale?s girlfriend, Gwen Stefani.
"As long as he doesn't win," AJ
mutters. Oasis takes the award. AJ smiles.
Finally, it?s time for the MTV Select Award. "Look, the camera's
on you!" yells Jonny Wright as
the envelope is being opened. "That means you?ve got it!" AJ buries
his face in his hands. "Don't
say it until it's true!" but it is true, and all five Boys jump
out of their seat and run to the stage.
They return to the spotlight an hour later for their end-of-show
performance. The Backstreet Boys
rock the house, bringing the crows to it's feet.
And then, suddenly, it's all over. The music fades and the Boys
are shepherded back to their
dressing rooms, the screams of the audience echoing behind them.
As they eye their prize, their
thoughts turn to home: "After tonight's performance, I think people
will start to really grow up
about us," says and exuberant Brian. "We're not just a teen group.
We're gonna be around for a
long time."
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