And then there was snark. They make it so very easy.

[aruan]

Wherein Susie posted a link, I clicked, and what followed ended up being close to three comments in length.


I deem that, from here on in, all of *NSYNC's interviews be done by the Canadian press!

What celebrity would you be afraid to meet?
Justin - "I don't think I'd be afraid to meet anyone. I like meeting everyone."

Oh you well-coached, magnanimous little goober! Come over here and Miranda will be happy to pet your head. *hugs him*

Needing to learn me more about this two-step phenomenon that's supposedly swept Europe. Have heard nothing about it here. You wouldn't happen to know any artists, would you?

Is there a song you'd like to cover?
Justin - "Any Al Green song. You know what song I'd like to do a cover of: If You Don't Know Me By Now."

I usually cringe from earnestness, as it tends to come off cliched. But on Justin, it's just what it's meant to be, simple honesty, and it's so, so sweet. *hugs him some more*

Why do so many members of boy bands pluck their eyebrows?
Justin - "I don't know. To each his own. Mine are bushy as hell. It's very Boy George though, isn't it?"

Were you going for an aesthetic or vibe there, babe? *g*

Who would you like as a sixth member of 'N Sync?
Justin - "Eminem. He would totally fit in with us."

*snorts Sprite* Bwahahahaha! *recovers* WHAT?!

Could someone be gay and out and in a popular boy band in America?
Justin - "Yeah, I think so. As long as you're true to yourself."

And somewhere in the world that night, the collaborative efforts of the PR people of Disney/BMG/WEG stand rightly justified. They probably wiped away a gentle tear of pride just then.

On another note, my already healthy love of Canadians has increased tenfold. They ask all the pertinent questions!

Do you think it would make a difference in terms of fans?
Justin - "I don't know that it would. I can say this for us: The thing our fans really appreciate is our honesty."

Would I be out of line to read into that?

Who's the best cook in the group?

I may have misread that on first pass. *hides*

Breast implants or natural?
Justin - "It doesn't really matter. I'm not a boobs man, I'm an ass man.

Amen, Justin baby, a-men.

Who would you want as sixth member of 'N Sync?
Chris - "Our choreographer, Wade. He'd be a great member to add if he could only sing [laughs]. I don't think we'd ever have a sixth member. We're happy with what we got."

*snerk* While it would make GSF situations a lot easier to negotiate, five makes for much more pleasing formation possibilities onstage. Plus, they'd have to get one of the moms back on the tour to properly chaperone. They had to draw a beard on him for Pop because he couldn't grow one of his own! Another reason why the Making of Pop is some of the best stuff in this sparkly!crack!house of a fandom.

Could someone be gay and out and be in a popular boy band in America?
Chris - "I'm sure they could. There were two really big groups in Europe, Boyzone and Caught In The Act, and they [had gay members] in the groups [who] came out and it was a surprise to everyone and I was like, "Who cares?" If one of us were gay, big deal. If one of us is, maybe we're just not talking about it. And that's not saying we are..."

It's not saying much either way, Christopher. Protesting too much, however, will only lead to journalists in your bushes, so let's move along.

Interesting though. The gay thing isn't as big an issue in Europe though (at least not in Hungary anyway, though judging by the stuff they show on MTV, etc.) But it still is and continues to be an irrationally major point of conflict and tension in the US. I'd wager that any pending admissions will probably wait until after the final tour is over, sadly.

Who's the best cook in the group?
Chris - "None of us cook. We're all bad cooks. I've seen Lance make some peanut butter and banana sandwiches which just look grotesque, and I've seen JC burn water."

*snorts some more Sprite* Aahahahahaha! *steps away from the beverage*

Why do so many guys in boy bands pluck their eyebrows?
Joey - "I have no clue. The only time I pluck my eyebrows is if I have it right in the middle. I don't shape anything. What you see is what you get. None of us have ever really plucked our eyebrows."

Aaw, Joey! *pouts* Way to spoil Julad's Beauty's Gentle Pleasures for the canon whore.

Could someone be gay and out in a major boy band today?
Joey - "I don't see why not. There's honestly nothing wrong with being gay. I have friends that are gay. I think in this day and age it really wouldn't matter. A lot of girls at clubs are like, "That guy's good looking, too bad he's gay," but they're still going to like him because he's good looking. So I don't think it matters any more."

Uhm, there may have been logic in there, but it involves his implying that their popularity is entirely due to their looks, so we're just going to move right along.

What celebrity would you be scared to meet?
Lance - "I don't think I'd be scared to meet anybody. There are people I don't care to meet."

James Lance Bass, I love you more than you'll ever know.

Why do so many boy bands pluck their eyebrows?
Lance - "None of us pluck our eyebrows. These are natural shaped. [Those who do it] are trying to look good. I think it's cheesy. I think it's like posing. We're not models, we're singers."

I can see him being so very unabashedly proud of his slightly skewed devil brows. And looking good at the price of plucking your eyebrows is cheesy but not, say, at the involvement of rhinestones and eyeliner? You tread a fine line indeed, good sir.

Could someone be gay and out and in a popular boy band in America today?
Lance - "Oh yeah. Definitely. I don't think it would hurt at all. Actually, I think it would [make the fan base] bigger. You'll have a bigger market. The whole gay market. Hey, one of us..."

AND THEY LET HIM TRAIL OFF?!?! Apologies about the caps, but I felt they were warranted. *more incoherent noises of scandalized outrage*

You did celebrity Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. So if there was celebrity Survivor ...
Lance - "There is going to be celebrity Survivor. I have been asked to do it, but I don't think I'm going to."

I wonder if they only asked him, out of the group, and why, at whatever point in time this was written, post-Celebrity dropping and pre-Justin/Brit split.

If you did do Survivor, which member of 'N Sync would you vote off first?
Lance - "Myself definitely. I don't think I could survive. I love the outdoors. I was raised in that. But I don't know. Eating bugs?"

*can laugh safely now* Bwahahahaha! Eating bugs, Lance? Not the unmerciful midday sun, not the dangerous wildlife, not the treacherous terrain, but eating bugs is what does it in for you? Someone in quantity control obviously slipped up, as I'm afraid you're much too gay for this world.

Has being a celebrity affected the way you dress, the way you exercise?
Lance - "I do think it affects the way you make yourself look in public because it's going to end up somewhere if you're out in your pajamas. We chose this job. I think you have to live with it. People want to see you look like a star. You're there to entertain people."

I love that Lance has his head on his shoulders in a very real way when it comes to what they do. No, you can't just do whatever you want and expect people to love it, you have to recognize and accept the realities of your situation and take on the responsibilities that come with something as seemingly trite as being a popstar. I love that he doesn't take it for granted but at the same time sees stardom for what it is.

Who's the best cook? Chris said you make a grotesque peanut butter and banana sandwich.
Lance - "It's because they don't like peanut butter and banana. If you like peanut butter and banana I make the best. You mash the peanut butter and banana together. Then you put a little honey, a little cinnamon and sugar. Then you put it on the bread and toast it. You're suppose to fry it, but I don't have a fryer. That was Elvis Presley's favourite food."

My that *does* sound good. Also, yeah, he really has no idea just how deep my love goes. Loveable, lickable dork that he is.

Breast implants or natural?
Lance - "Natural. Yeah."
Same size though? Natural Ds or fake Ds?
Lance - "Natural. A nice handful."

Is it just me, or did that sound like a clip from an entirely different interview with a person about 700 degrees latitude away from Lance? Anything's possible.

What celebrity would you be scared to meet?
JC - "I'd be a bit frightened of Marilyn Manson. I don't know what that guy practises."

Endearingly, he's probably worried about hygenics here.

Do you own any Eminem CDs?
JC - "Actually, I don't. But I have listened to the record. I have fun listening to it in a scary way."

Uh, what?

What would you like to cover?
JC - "That's a tough question because we went out of our way not to do covers on this album. For fun, I would say [Toto's] I'll Be Over You."

I'm sure I would probably find something mildly amusing to add here if I knew either the band or the song.

Could someone be gay and out and in a boy band in America?
JC - "Sure. I'm sure it would shock for a quick minute, but people are so over that at this point, I think. But who knows. I've kinda been exposed to Europe and things like that. But in my mind I don't think it would affect anyone's decision to like a band or not ... Everybody loved Boy George when he came out and he was blatantly out there."

If he meant to contrast, rather than compare to Boy George here, someone from wardrobe should have told him a very long time ago that Madonna T-shirts, feather-collared coats, and flower-embroidered pants aren't exactly the staples of a subtly gay ensemble.

Now that you're famous, do you work out more?
JC - "I don't work out, so there goes that. Fame has not really affected the way I dress or whatever. But just being exposed [to things has]. I think once you're exposed to a bit of culture you become more open minded because you see the beauty in more things. I'm very fortunate to have that."

Nothing snarky here, I just thought it was a really good quote. I love JC's appreciative nature, that he notices the beauty in things and pays it its due.

Who's the group's best cook?
JC - "Well, it depends on what you want. Justin makes some great Hamburger Helper. Joey can make some pretty good pasta. I'm pretty good with breakfast foods like pancakes, eggs."
Pouring cereal?
JC - "No. Justin would win that hands down, he eats it so much."

I remain amused that Justin's and my propensity in cereal type and quantity consumed overlap so judiciously. Bring on the marshmallows and sugared chocolate!

Dude, for sheer amusement and relevance factor, this is possibly the best interview I've ever read. Thank you so much for the link, Susie.

*skips off, sure to be grinning madly for the rest of the day*

[Ed. Note: Interview gacked from here.]

Comments

[ramblinround.livejournal.com]

You're so welcome! Glad you enjoyed. I remember being just the same, the first time I saw it!

But this:

Why do so many boy bands pluck their eyebrows?
Lance - "None of us pluck our eyebrows. These are natural shaped."

Dude. Lying out of his ASS. Maybe they don't pluck 'em anymore, or they never did it by choice, or maybe they had 'em waxed, but Lance in particular has sported some unnaturally shaped brows in his time. I prefer them a little more bushy, as we've seen in the hiatus. But I don't believe this for a minute.

Although, honestly, one of my favorite pastimes in reading/watching Lance interviews is picking out the whoppers. Like in that BBC thing, where he said the VERY FIRST time he ever saw cocaine was in 2001. Yeah. Right, Lance. Hahahahaaaa! So, ultimately, I find this thing about the eyebrows quite endearing.

[gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com]

I think my world needs some readjusting to accomodate sweet-little-lie-telling showbiz!Lance. It would be entirely like him to say the above, having found a way to rationalize/repress the plucking from back in Europe. Justin for a fact gets them groomed and shaped, unless E!'s been telling me lies, too, though they all seem to have stuck to the 'none here' answer on the topic. *shrug* I like Lance's eyebrows, whatever he's doing to them.

Moving along, that BBC thing was delightful watching. Did you ever happen to find someone who managed to capture it, by chance?

[trixiesfic.livejournal.com]

The little lies are the most amusing. Like JC saying he doesn't work out. Yeah, sweetie, we've all seen your shoulders. Those don't just occur in a vacuum.

[gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com]

Especially after going through someone's ode to his arms earlier this morning, I kinda "gave" JC a look at that and said 'Riiiight' under my breath. It's just that I don't like having to take people with a grain of salt. But that's entirely my thing, and if JC's got a complex about admitting that he works for that body, well, that's his own sack of potatoes as well.

[marythefan.livejournal.com]

It's not saying much either way, Christopher. Protesting too much, however, will only lead to journalists in your bushes, so let's move along.

:snrk:

You've seen the OUT magazine interview, yes?

[gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com]

I have not, although I know of its existence. Believe it made me think about 'hm, wouldn't it be interesting if one of the boys had occasion to be on the cover of a gay issues publication?' Two days later I turn around in the Borders magazine aisle and find Justin smirking at me from the cover of The Advocate. *smirk* Would you happen to have a link?

[marythefan.livejournal.com]

I got no link, but I did dig up a transcript. I remember walking along - in Borders, in fact - and looking over to see "NSYNC's Chris Kirkpatrick Dishes Gay Dirt" on the cover and about having a heart attack. No one knew it was coming out. No one had heard or said anything about it. It was a complete and utter shock.

************

June 2001
Michael Musto dishes with the NSync member about his new fashion line, Michael Jackson, and whether any of his bandmates are gay.


The oldest and perhaps wisest NSync member, 29-year-old Chris Kirkpatrick, is savvy enough not to rest on his laurels as part of 2000's number 1 music act, whose new album Celebrity is due out July 24. The affable boy-grouper has turned entrepreneur with FuMan Skeeto, his line of t-shirts and sweatshirts influenced by skateboard culture and Japanese animation. Ain't no lie - so buy, buy, buy!

Musto: So now you've got a fashion line. What are you, the new Puffy?

Kirkpatrick: I don't think he's really designing that stuff. I know I'm not really designing mine. If you think I know what a woman's halter top feels like ...

M: I do!

K: Exactly. You can give me some tips. But you might be different from the girls who buy it. "Michael says it's a little snug in the hips."

M: Please, I'm a size 4! Anyway, are you branching out because you're a smart guy?

K: It seemed like something to do. I know what I like to wear. It makes sense that if I can do my own line, I should do it.

M: Do I smell a solo career in the making?

K: No, not really. We all have the group's best interests at heart. But I think my individuality's strong enough that I need a lot of different side things to fufill it.

M: I know. I used to love that sort of Spacedog hairdo you once had.

K: It was some outlandish braidy thingy. It stuck us out a little bit. But I've moved on. I'm now into something more mature: purple hair.

M: All right, let's get down to business. How many NSyncers are gay? Four? Five?

K: Honestly, I couldn't even answer that. I don't think any of them, but it's not something we talk about. "Good riff - are you gay?" If any of the guys are gay, that's their own personal thing. I don't make a big deal either way.

M: Yay! So there still might be a potential husband in there for me?

K: Possibly. I wouldn't rule it out.

M: You have lots of gay male fans. Do they come up to you?

K: Like, hit on me?

M: No, just approach you.

K: Of course. We do meet-and-greets. We meet a lot of gay male fans, and they're cool. A lot of times they're more flamboyant [than the girls] and very funny.

M: What do you think of gay stars who publically come out?

K: I'm not going to knock anybody for their sexuality or what they believe in. We're all just people trying to figure out what we're doing on this planet.

M: What are the Backstreet Boys doing on this planet? No, wait - how many of them are gay?

K: That's another one I couldn't answer. If I hung with them, I'd know, but I don't.

M: Like, oh my God. I thought the animosity was dying down.

K: i don't know if it's dying down, but they're always looking for controversy, and now they're kind of tired of it.

(LJ's cutting me off, so cont. in next post ...)

[marythefan.livejournal.com]

M: Don't you think the boyband market's way oversaturated already?

K: The only thing I had a problem with was O-Town - not them personally, but the whole setup, the way they made everything seem so hokey. I watched the marathon - for a second. Hokey! That show tried to make it look like this is how things really are.

M: Speaking of heightened reality, I saw you on TV with Michael Jackson.

K: He said he can now call us his friends. I was freaking, because that's fucking Michael Jackson!

M: Don't mention fucking Michael Jackson. Has he gotten a bad rap?

K: The only bad rap he got was in "Black or White" - Macaulay Culkin did that rap. Bad joke. Anyway, people want to point fingers, but he's just an eccentric person. He likes weird things. Michael's on a plane that nobody really gets. He's so up there that he's above people.

M: Keep me off that plane! What's your take on the Elton John-Eminem lovefest?

K; To each his own. I don't know who came up with that [duet], or what they were trying to achieve, but hey, I'm a music fan - though I think Dido sounded better on the album.

M: Your biggest controversy is probably that "ain't no lie" is grammatically incorrect.

K: I don't think music is about grammar.

M: It ain't?

K: It would be funny if people said, "NSync is so awful - they have bad grammar, they stay up after their bedtimes and the ones over 21 drink alcohol." Yeah, we're evil, rotten to the core! Once I got a box of cereal and went straight for the prize - I didn't wait for it to fall into the bowl!

M: You heathen! Bye bye bye!

******

Sooooo, he'd know about the Backstreet Boys if he spent more time with them, but his boys, who he lives on top of ... why, how would he know? They never discuss such things!

Bwah!

[crazybutsound]

Oh, you doll! I enjoyed that interview a heck of a lot! Wheeeeeee! Thanks for transcribing and posting it here, lol. And yeah, I agree with you that this not knowing about his boys because they don't talk about it, and not knowing about BSB because he doesn't hang out with them isn't very logical. Chris, hon, this wasn't a very good denial at all.

[gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com]

Christopher, Christopher, Christopher. At that point, those boys have been your life and probably seen/know as much as your mother does, and no, maybe you don't sit around making s'mores discussing your love lives and reliving the choicest moments in gratuitous detail, but come now.

"I wouldn't rule it out."

I'd love to hear what intonation he said that with. It could be coy or matter-of-fact, and the world may never know!

Thanks for the interview, Mary. These boys either need to start believing their own press or at least do their "testimonials" with flair, like Lance.

[lincolnkw.livejournal.com]

And, just for curiosities sake, there IS a new boyband in Europe made up primarily of English members but with a couple others mixed in, who have released one single so far and are working on an album now. The group is called "Saving Marilyn" and all FIVE of them are gay. And out. And, if they do well, will be coming to the states after their album drops. A picture can be found in the new issue of "Metro" or "Genre" I can't remember which.

[gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com]

We should analyze their pictures to see if there's any overlap in the extent of their respective puppy piling.

Hm. This just made me wonder. Would it make the group dynamic easier or harder to negotiate if they really *were* all gay? Possibly not because you'd lay the 'no nookie within the group' rule down pretty swiftly, but there's no speculation as you stare longingly across the bus' sofa. Hm...