’N Sync rules!

This will be a first. That is, aside, of course from those awards nights like the Grammy of the MTV where they would be in the same venue but will not share the stage at the same time. Besides, the fans present during those events most likely came for the winners and also to gawk at the other stars present. And they certainly did not think it any big deal that the Backstreet Boys and ’N Sync were together in the same place.

This time around the occasion will be the United We Stand fund-raiser which will be held on Sunday, Oct. 21 at the RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. The event will benefit the American Red Cross Relief Fund and the Salvation Army Relief Fund. There were initial plans to do simultaneous concerts in Washington and the Shea Stadium in New York. ’N Sync will open at the RFK while the Backstreet Boys will headline the Shea.

Plans were changed though because of security reasons and ’N Sync and the Backstreet Boys will now be on the same bill. Of course, other stars like Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, Puff Daddy, Aerosmith, Bette Midler are also slated to perform but you can bet that what people will be watching out for will be the reactions of the fans of ’N Sync and the Backstreet Boys.

I grant that this is no time for fighting. The world is already getting a megadose of that right now what with the war between the US of A and Afghanistan and the growing threat of bio-terrorism. You can’t even be pleasantly curious about strange mail anymore. So it makes no sense these days to think of boy band rivalry at times like these.

Still, it cannot be denied that at this point in their careers, ’N Sync is indeed the leading boy band in the world a position once held by the Backstreet Boys. I know that the Backstreet Boys got there first and deservingly so. But with astute management, perhaps lots of clever machinations and judging from what we read, also plenty of hard work, ’N Sync, which seemed like no great shakes initially, made it to the top with hits like It’s Gonna Be Me, Bye Bye Bye and others.

This early, these guys can already look forward to at least a couple of Grammy nominations for the album Celebrity. Why, they have already won four major trophies at the MTV awards including the greatly coveted Viewers’ Choice Award which fans of the music channel vote for. They even got to perform their single Pop with the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson. Jacko, who can get the likes of Marlon Brando to appear in his music videos, does not sing with just anybody. The album also made it to number one in the Billboard charts, their second in a row after No Strings Attached. It has sold more than five times Platinum in the US of A alone and is now on its way to becoming double Platinum here in the Philippines.

Celebrity also signaled the arrival of a new look, spiked hair and leather jackets and a harder kind of pop music for ’N Sync. This album boasts of what is probably one of the most complicated layering of sound ever heard from a boy group. I can just imagine the kind of work that went into creating this at the studio. These guys are also showing depth what with their ability to poke fun at the pop idols that they have become. And marvel of all marvels, the whole thing works. It works so well, in fact that other boy groups like 98 Degrees and even the Backstreet Boys at times, now come out bland and humorless compared to ’N Sync.

Will all this good luck hold up? Hopefully. It really all depends on how these guys are able to handle fame and its accoutrements and that is something that not all of the members of the Backstreet Boys seem able to cope with nowadays. Will there be a chance for us to watch the United We Stand fund-raiser? I have not seen any announcement but it would be really exciting to see how ’N Sync and the Backstreet Boys handle working together on this important event.