There are some people for whom New Kids on the Block will forever remain the equivalent of a Sony Walkman: Hot when it came out, then tolerably retro, but no self-respecting audiophile would be caught listening to it now. Those people clearly aren’t in the boy band’s demographic.
But for those who came of age with a copy of Tiger Beat magazine in one hand and a bottle of hairspray in the other, NKOTB (as the cool kids call them) still makes the heart flutter. And it’s for them that MuchMore presents New Kids on the Block & Backstreet Boys: Live From the O2.
Yes, as the title suggests, the 1980s boy band has teamed up with 1990s boy band Backstreet Boys, the Larger Than Life group that was as ubiquitous in its era as low-rise jeans and thongs. And as they toured as NKOTBSB in 2011 and 2012, the supergroup made women in their 20s and 30s swoon all over again.
The Live From the 02 show, a MuchMore network premiere that features the group’s London concert from last April, would’ve been unimaginable just a few years before it happened. As the legend goes, the two groups were touring separately in 2010 when the Kids happened to invite the Boys onstage at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
“It was a magical moment … none of us will never forget,” Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell told Entertainment Tonight. “Right after we performed together everybody on Twitter and Facebook … it was everywhere that we were going on tour. So we started talking about it and we made it happen.”
After a joint compilation album and 51 shows grossing more than $40 million worldwide, the supergroup landed on Billboard’s list of Top 25 Tours of 2011. The success prompted New Kids to cobble together a couple themed cruises, and now they’re currently touring with ’90s groups Boyz II Men and 98 Degrees for The Package Tour.
Off the concert stage, the NKOTB members — now in their 40s — have been forging their own paths: Donnie Walhberg stars on the CBS police drama Blue Bloods, Jordan Knight was a judge on CBC’s talent competition Cover Me Canada, Joey McIntyre guest-starred on TV shows such as Blue Bloods, 90210 and CSI: NY, and a few of the members are still releasing solo music projects.
Yes, the New Kids aren’t new, nor are they kids. The boy band members aren’t boys nor part of a band, in the traditional sense. But they’re hangin’ tough, as it were, and they set the blueprint of many boy bands to come — whether you think they’re a scream or a scourge. (MuchMore, 9 ET/6PT)
Three to see
• ABC — the network that brought you What Would You Do? — now asks Would You Fall for That? via its prime-time schedule. Debuting tonight, the hidden-camera show promises to take psychological experiments into the real world. (ABC, 9 ET/PT)
• Just in time for cottage season, Undercover Boss Canada features Molson Coors Canada, as the company’s chief legal officer, Kelly Brown, investigates what’s brewing on the other side of the boardroom. (CMT, 9 ET/6PT)
• ACM Presents: Tim McGraw’s Superstar Summer Night gets a repeat airing from May, with Tim McGraw sharing the stage with Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Pitbull, John Fogerty, Faith Hill, Nelly and The Band Perry. (CBS, 8 ET/PT)
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AJ McLean of the Backstreet Boys is engaged (ritani.com)
New Kids On The Block: Concert review (thestar.com)