NKOTB's Jordan Knight tells MTV News that their American Music Awards
By Mawuse Ziegbe, with reporting by Tim Kash
Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block
Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Superstar boy bands New Kids on the Block and the Backstreet Boys, who each spent a segment of the '90s causing teen-girl hysteria with their squeaky-clean party jams and baby-faced good looks, are now joining forces for a U.S. tour in June.
On Sunday night (November 21), the country got a taste of what an NKOTBSB show will look like when the nine-member collective closed the 2010 American Music Awards.
Before hitting the AMA stage, the fellas told MTV News that the collaborative awards-show production mirrors the staging of their upcoming trek.
"It's gonna be exactly what they see on the tour," NKOTB's Jordan Knight said of the show, in which the guys took turns belting pop smashes by both groups. "I think a lot of people, when they hear New Kids are going on tour with the Backstreet Boys, they think we're gonna, like, [face] off; we're gonna be some kind of rivalry. But that's not the case. They're gonna see tonight onstage that it's a collaboration, that we get along ... and you'll see it on our performance."
The amiable rapport among the crew is definitely evident when the guys talk about each band's contribution to pop music. Members of NKOTB and BSB maintain that the groups have a symbiotic relationship: The New Kids paved the way, and the Boys kept the boy-band phenomenon alive.
"In many ways, they contemporize us. They brought us to the forefront," NKOTB's Joey McIntyre explained. "When the Backstreet Boys came out, at first you're like, 'OK, these guys are kinda doing their thing.' To get the credit that somehow we started [the boy-band trend] - which we didn't, 'cause there's New Edition and the Jackson 5 and this tradition's being going on forever - they kinda shed a light on what we did too, and that's nice."
Nick Carter added that the "Larger Than Life" crooners were amped to hit the road with their '90s teen-idol forefathers.
"We appreciate and respect everything that these guys have done for the music industry, and now it's just great to be together," he said. "I think that's what's awesome."
NKOTB's resident bad boy Danny Wahlberg compared the team-up to a successful partnership straight out of Hollywood.
New Kids On The Block perform with the Backstreet Boys at the 2010 American Music Awards on Sunday
Photo: Kevin Winter/ AMA2010/ Getty Images
They might have been the only nine guys who could close out a show as hectic as the American Music Awards. In a show filled with pop newcomers like Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber, New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys graced the stage to show they still had the right stuff.
Like any good boy-band performance, there were pyrotechnics and sweet dance moves. The pop supergroup started with a mash-up of the BSB hit "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" and the NKOTB classic "Hangin' Tough." Soon the guys slowed it down for Backstreet's "I Want It That Way" and then kicked it old school for the New Kids' "Step by Step."
All nine guys took a dance break before they segued into "The Right Stuff," complete with the New Kids' infamous shuffle dance from the video. The spotlight once again fell on a BSB tune before they capped it off with "Larger Than Life," complete with an "NKOTBSB" chant. Confetti fell from the sky as the guys closed out the show.
Earlier in the night, all nine guys hit the AMA red carpet together. In an interview earlier this month, they teased that there was a chance they might record a track together.
"It's tough getting these guys in the studio. These young cats," New Kid Joey McIntyre explained about his tourmates, the Backstreet Boys. "Well, it's honestly, it is tough to get everybody together. Yes, we have lots of great intentions.
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