The latest incarnation of the perennial boy band, *NSYNC, is doing what boy bands do best since the Monkees-sweeping the charts as they sweep teenage girls off their feet. The Orlando quintet's first album, *NSYNC, released in 1998, yielded four number one songs, including "I Want You Back," "Tearin' Up My Heart," "God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You," and "Drive Myself Crazy." The album sold ten million copies In 2000, they toured 300 out of 365 days. During all this, they have recently switched labels and are now with Jive Records. The band continues to participate in charity events. Currently, Lance, JC, Chris, Joey and Justin are gearing up for their biggest charity fundraising event of the year. The third annual Challenge for the Children will take place on July 27, 28, and 29 in Las Vegas at UNLV's Thomas and Mack Center. *NSYNC, along with other celebrities, will compete in various athletic events to raise money for children. **NSYNC founded Challenge for the Children in 1999 to help children's programs and charities nationwide. Some of these causes include funding schools whose budgets have been reduced for sports programs and music education; AIDS; adoption and foster care; teen pregnancy; alcohol and drug programs; and the fight against teen violence. *NSYNC's clean-cut, no-drugs, charity-committed image has held up well against recent allegations that Justin Timberlake harassed a female fan after a concert. The allegation hasn't put a dent in ticket sales, though it has spawned some heated commentary on the web. Another recent rumor, that Justin and galpal Britney Spears were killed in a recent auto wreck, has been addressed and refuted online. Despite these situations, **NSYNC's overall image is one that inspires parents to approve of their teenagers' adoration of the band.
If every action engenders an equal and opposite reaction, one measure of *NSYNC's popularity might be the proliferation of pro-and con-websites featuring the toothsome fivesome. The search string "*NSYNC" will return hundreds, if not thousands, of URLs dedicated to honoring-or flaming-the band. The following sites, both professional and fan-made, offer the most thorough, easily navigable hyperlinks in praise of *NSYNC.
*NSYNC's Official Homepage
The band's official website is packed with information. It contains a lot of photos-most posed rather than candid-as well as the latest news on the band's doings and an online store. It's colorful, quick-loading, and bug-free despite all the bells and whistles built into its design. The animation helps the site flow rather than impedes navigation. All in all, it's a well-designed online PR package for the band, and it is continually updated. If you want the "official" word on *NSYNC, go here.
*NSYNC Base 2000
This is a professional-looking site that loads a little slowly, though *NSYNC fans will find it well worth the brief wait. It contains news on the band, and tour info; and allows you to purchase tickets online. There are some great links here. Click over to ecrush.com to find out which *NSYNC member is your soulmate, or to send "secret admirer" e-letters to any crush if you're shy. The *NSYNC pictures here are pretty good, too.
*NSYNC-World
This slick, colorful site allows you to download the latest hit single by *NSYNC, "Pop." You can get an NYSNC screen saver here, as well as send an ecard of the band to a friend. Hear more music when you jump to the "No Strings Attached" section. This site offers brief newsbytes about new releases, interviews, and articles. There is a small section of the most popular *NSYNC photos-posed, not candid-and an interview with the guys about their most recent album, No Strings Attached.
*NSYNC World
Despite the duplication in name, this site is unrelated to the previously listed one, except for the fact that both are about *NSYNC. This is another slick-looking site with up-to-date news on the band, including some of their extracurricular activities, such as Justin Timberlake's new collaboration with Britney Spears. The site is informal and easily navigable. It contains info on the car accident rumor, tour dates, and more. Listen to *NSYNC and watch videos with Windows RealPlayer.
*NSYNC Jaded Everybody's Free (to make fun of *NSYNC)
This fan site is very funny. Don't let the mirthful mocking fool you-this is a site by and for admirers, not detractors of *NSYNC. It includes the lyrics of parody songs altered in a Weird Al kind of way by fans who send them in. Check out "Joey Got Back" and "Livin' La Vida Broke-A" if nothing else. Many of the lyrics are clever, and the commentary is as well, though it is rife with in-jokes.
Fictionlyn's Stories
Another fan site, this time for romance fiction featuring the members of *NSYNC. The heroines seem to be intelligent, assertive, and independent young women, and the plots are suitable for fans of all ages-no sex, no profanity. Some of these writers are actually quite good at spinning a yarn, for example, Twinkiegurl. This site was voted the #1 *NSYNC Fan Fiction Site by the *NSYNC Fan Fiction Page.
#1 *NSYNC Tickets
This fan site was put together by the dad of a seven-year-old *NSYNC fan. Here you can order tickets online, read bios of the band, and catch the latest *NSYNC news. This is probably the most useful ticket site specializing in *NSYNC.
The Crazy *NSYNC Dreamworld
This large Dutch site was written by two young fans with a good command of English. The site is billed as "the first unofficial European *NSYNC fanpage. It features pictures, lyrics, interviews, and bios of the band members. It is quite extensive, and some of the interviews, since they are with Dutch magazines, are impossible to find elsewhere. The two site owners, Fiona and Marieka, are looking for bilingual translators to help them with their page. Whether you know Dutch or not, this is a great page for *NSYNC fans.
