Hello!

Amanda wanted everyone on the Team to know what's up, so she wrote this letter to you -- HERE

Later,
Andrea

Ever wonder what special beauty secrets the stars swear by during the holidays? We begged and pleaded and finally they dished. Here's how some of music's hottest rising stars like to glam it up.

Amanda Latona
She's not just the ex-girlfriend of Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean. This vixen on the verge can sing, too. Her self-titled debut album is set to be released in early 2003.
Seasonal Secret: "I wear red lipstick and dress up like Santa Claus."
Holiday Must-Have: "Lip gloss with glitter in it."

Hey, everyone!

The sequence of the tracks has not been determined yet, but the following songs will be on Amanda's CD --

Can't Take It Back
I Quit
Do You Still
Invisible
Better To Be Lonely
Without You
I Hate Myself For Loving You
This Heart
I Was Made To Love You
Where Was I

"Do You Still" is definitely the 2nd single and will impact radio February 3rd.

We're going to have some exclusive clips for you pretty soon, so stay tuned!

Later,
Andrea

In addition to the Street Team Recruitment Contest, which is still in full effect until January 1, 2003 (see Message #26 for info on how YOU can win a phone call from Amanda), I thought I'd launch another Team contest.

Here's the deal....

We need TWO banners --

1. One to promote Amanda's Official Website (http://www.amandalatonamusic.com/)

and

2. One to promote the Official Online Street Team (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AmandaLatonaTeam)

And we'd like for YOU to put on your creative caps and come up with some really cool, eye-catching banners.

The designer of each will win an autographed CD sampler!

We only have one rule: Each banner submission must measure 468 (width) x 60 (height).

After you've designed your banners, send them to: JTeamsAndrea@aol.com

All submissions must be received by Friday, December 6th.

After December 6th, the finalist's banner submissions will be put in the PHOTOS section of our Team page for everyone to see and we'll launch a Poll to see which banners you like best. So, in essence, you'll be selecting the winning banner!

If you have any questions, drop me an email.

I look forward to seeing your banners.

Later,
Andrea

Things are going to be kind of slow for Amanda media-wise until her February single release, but that doesn't mean I want you guys to come to a screeching halt. We want this team to be large, in charge, and ready to make a major impact in February. So let's start recruiting new Team members.

Our first recruitment goal is 1,000 members. If we can reach the 1,000 mark by January 1, 2003, the Team member who recruits the most new fans will win a phone call from Amanda! Here's how YOU can enter --

1. Let all of your online friends (you know, the people you chat with at clubs, mailing lists, message boards, etc.) know that Amanda has an Official Online Street Team and how to join.

Fans can sign up any time by becoming a Yahoo! Groups member @ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AmandaLatonaTeam

2. After the new members sign up, ask them to send an email to me with YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS as their SUBJECT LINE. That way I'll know which Team members are out there recruiting.

The new Team members can email me any time at JTeamsAndrea@aol.com

It's that easy!

We've got some other cool stuff planned between now and February. So stay tuned!

Have a great weekend,
Andrea

Also, we need the help of the fans: Jules had this posted on her site, so I thought I'd post it here as well: "Here's what we need! With B2K releasing an album titled "Pandemonium" in January, Amanda is considering changing the name of her album. Bummer, right? "Pandamonium" may stick around - but just in case, she wants me to ask you guys for ideas! YOU could name Amanda's debut album! Send in your suggestions and I'll pass them along to Amanda! » Send Album Name Suggestions"

"Dawnie, what can I say you are awesome. Thank you for taking time out of your life to make a site for me. It means so much to me. I really appreciate it. My fans mean the world to me. I love you."

Hometown: Orlando, Florida

Date of birth: March 24, 1979

Vital stats: 5'6"

Modest appraisal:
"I am as real as possible, and I am completely down-to-earth and strikingly beautiful [laughs], and I’m funny—woo-hoo!"

Where you’ve seen her:
Boasting nine tattoos, this new girl off the rock-chick production line and ex-girlfriend of Backstreet Boy AJ McLean was once a member of the teen group Innosense but is now going solo with her debut album, which is due out early next year. But if you can’t wait that long, check out her current single, "Can’t Take It Back."

She wants to be your friend:
"I want to be cool. I don’t want to be the girl that shows the midrib and walks around all sexy. I want to be a girl that people can relate to. I don’t want to be intimidating to anyone."

Good guys need not apply:
"I love bad boys. I hate the fact that I do, but I do. Though if I could find a bad boy who’s really nice, who isn’t like ‘Sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll! Yeah, baby!’ then that would be perfect."

What we’ve always suspected:
"Guys and girls are so different. It’s literally like that book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus. I cannot believe—talking to guys and talking to girls—how much girls all think alike and how much guys all think alike. They’re totally opposite."

Full of surprises:
"I like to be real. I’ll be in an interview, and I’ll just say whatever I feel. Like ‘Dude, do you see that guy’s butt?’ or something like that. I talked about a penis once in an interview [laughs heartily] and the interviewer was like, ‘I can’t believe you just said that.’"

You may know her as Backstreet Boy AJ McLean’s former girlfriend. You may know her as one of the original members of the girl group Innosense. But if you expect any bubble gum pop music on Amanda Latona’s debut album, think again.

A year ago, when I was still the Editor-In-Chief of Kiwibox.com, I had a chance meeting with Amanda at a listening party for LFO’s second album. Being the natural goof-balls we are, Amanda, Rich Cronin and I decided it would be funny to take pictures of them kissing and leak them out on the Internet to start some controversy.

3 months later, Brad from LFO almost got into a fight with me because he thought I was the one who started the rumor about Rich and Amanda.

I sat down with Amanda just 2 weeks ago for an interview. She remembers the whole incident from last year, and after I told her about what happened with Brad, she apologized profusely while laughing at me out loud.

Her personality hasn’t changed a bit, I thought.

But as the interview went on, I started to realize how much everything else about her has changed: her looks, her attitude, her music.

When I brought the subject up about the visible change, she smiled charmingly and said "Isn’t it crazy? Yea, I think I’m more into my own. It’s more like maturity." She goes on talking about her first single "Can’t Take It Back", how she just knew the first time she heard it, "The song is sooo me!"

“Can’t Take It Back” is the perfect song for a female rocker. The song was just sent to radio stations across the country, and Amanda was on her way to LA to shoot the music video. It’s an edgy rock anthem about telling your ex-boyfriend to get lost, written jointly by some of the best rock music writers, one of them is none other than Meredith Brooks. On the topic of future collaborations, Amanda named Lenny Kravitz and Steven Tyler to be on the top of her wish list.

Her album hits the stores in about a month. The name of the album is “Pandamonuim” – it means “chaos” or “craziness”. I complemented her on picking such a cool name, and wondered where did the “Panda” fit in this (the normal way to spell it is PandEmonium, not a). Amanda got visibly excited, and she turned and showed me her tattoo on her left arm – a panda bear playing guitar.

Then we started counting all her tattoos – she has ten!! Here’s the EXCLUSIVE list of all Amanda Latona’s tattoos, only found on Kiwibox.com – Enjoy!

1. Daisy on her butt
2. Butterfly above the daisy
3. The Female symbol on her back
4. Chinese character on her stomach meaning “Bad”
5. Another Chinese character below that meaning “Beautiful”
6. Cross on her back
7. Panda playing Guitar on her left arm
8. The words “Rock ‘n Roll” underneath the Panda
9. Ladybug on her foot
10. Full line of music notes on her right arm

Before we wrapped up the interview, she talked about how great it was working with Clive Davis and everyone else at the J Records family. “They are so cool, but also so good at what they do. Whatever you need, just call and it’s taken care of. Clive is so involved, you don’t expect someone so big to be like that, he knows every line of my song, every bar and note, he knows everything that’s going on.”

You can listen to her single here on Kiwibox. You’ll see what I’m talking about. Amanda shed her Orlanda pop roots and is now a bon-a-fide Rock n’ Roll girl. Oh, about her relationship status, she’s still friends with AJ, but there’s no new guy in her life, except maybe for her Maltese Poodle Kasey.