BACKSTREET BOYS: Do They Fake It When They Shake it? - BOP Jan 00
A.J., Howie, Nick, Brian and Kevin have spent the last several months singing and dancing onstage, but are all five having fun with the fancy work?
Aside from their amazing vocals, funky beats and babelicious good looks, what makes the Backstreet Boys super-sensaysh is the way they can dance. Admit it, watching these flavorful five dish out hit after hit from their 1999 CD, Millennium, wouldn't be the same without A.J. McLean's frenetic gyrations, Kevin Richardson's graceful stylings, Howie Dorough's perfect pitter-patter, Brian Littrell's laid-back grooves or Nick Carter's own special dance flava. Yet surprisingly, the Backstreet Boys don't consider themselves professional dancers. In fact, a couple of them don't really enjoy dancing much at all.
For the luscious, "Larger Than Life" songsters, singing always has been--and will be--top priority. "We are a big vocal group--that's our main thing," A.J., 21, clarifies. "Dancing is just kind of like an added thing. It's kind of like accessories, basically."
Fortunately, A.J. likes to "accessorize," because the time and effort the Backstreet Boys put into dancing are no small commitment. "We usually work for eight hours a day, five days a week on dancing with songs," the tattooed hipster reveals.
"I can be lazy when it comes to dancing"
Yet for Brian and Nick, spending hour upon hour perfecting the dance segment of their performance can sometimes seem more like a chore than a labor of love. "I can be lazy when it comes to dancing," Brian, 24, confesses. "I learn [the dance routines], but then I do it just to be doing it."
Adds Brian's 19-year-old sidekick Nick, "You know, it's funny. I enjoy performing--that's the big thing. Dancing is a part of performing, and I enjoy going up there and expressing the music through the dancing. I think the initial learning part of dancing is really hard. But eventually, you start to learn, you get used to it and then it flows."
For most people, the notion of learning a new dance routine for every song the Backstreet Boys perform seems overwhelming. So it makes sense that Brian and Nick think dancing is hard work. It is pretty amazing that these fine five are able to get every dance move down and keep each routine straight when they're performing one song after another. So how do they continue to pull of stellar dance performances for every concert?
It's probably because they've all been shaking their groove thing since before the Backstreet Boys ever existed. "I've been dancing since I could walk. Music a big part of mine and Brian's family," Brian's 28-year-old cousin Kevin shares. "Dancing comes pretty naturally to me, although I wouldn't consider myself a professional dancer, even though I do it for a living."
Howie, too, has been busting moves since he was a wee one. "I've been involved in the entertainment business since I was about 6 years old," the 26-year-old sweetie tells us. "You know, taking voice lessons and dance lessons, stuff like that--totally being involved in well-rounded, entertainer kind of thing."
"it was hard for me to learn"
Even reluctatnt dancer Nick has been swivelin' his hips for quite some time. "I used to do a little bit of dancing before the group, but I really wasn't that good," the blond babe of the bunch says. "From the very beginning it was hard for me to learn. I mean, it wasn't that I didn't have rhythm . What it was all about was I was really young and I didn't want to concentrate on it and I was more like wanting to play around and everything, so that's why it was harder."
Obviously, the youngest of the BSB songsters has since learned to focus more on his dancing, because he certainly keeps up with the best of them onstage--which brings up a good question: Who do the Backstreet Boys think is the best dancer in the group? Without hesitation, each one of the Backstreet Boys answers, "A.J." "Without sounding conceited, I would probably say maybe me, alongside with maybe Kevin," A.J. bashfully boasts.
Considering A.J.'s background in dance, this is no surprise. "I've been dancing for 17 years, so I pick things up pretty easy," he shares, before rattling off his impressive resume of dance classes. "Ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, acrobatics, contemporary, swing, ballroom--everything. I could actually teach now if I really wanted to."
Now there's a concept: A.J. as your dance teacher. Kind of makes you wanna get out your tutu, doesn't it?