girl, you know that ain't fair
May. 17th, 2004 05:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aruanOkay, given the events of last night, this morning, and a whole host of past wrongs gone too long unaddressed, my righteous indignation has seen fit to return to me. Therefore, I rant.
Re: A.D.I.D.A.S.
This whole solo venture of JC's is becoming rather farcical, isn't it? *sigh*
How much of this song's lack of success can we attribute to the song itself and how much of it to the timing of its release? Nobody can say. What stands is that had they released A.D.I.D.A.S. in the pre-Super Bowl world, a song which Alex Greggs (allegedly) said was "one of the most-added songs to radio" until within a couple of weeks ago, I think it had the makings of being an unqualified smash.
But alas, this is not that world.
As Madonna said, it's a sad thing that people can't just "turn the station, change the channel" these days, and as JC finished, that they instead need to actively take issue with it. Now, I'm all for proactively affecting an environment which makes you uncomfortable - civil rights movement, anyone? - but there's a reason for the First Amendment, and that's because people with unpopular opinions have a right to be heard as well, and while that's as idealized an interpretation as there is, that's what it stands to ensure. Whether that means you disagree with Iraqi policy or the music being played on the radio, you have a right to write letters, Editorials, demand airtime if you're high-profile enough, organize petitions, lobby your elected officials - the opportunities are endless. But in the end, we're a republic (defined as a strong central government), and despite the existence of state governments, it's the folks on Capitol Hill who set the rules for the nation.
Luckily, we can change who's in office by voting in elections. Unfortunately, many people don't take advantage of it, and even fewer make the effort to get themselves heard. Well, enough of a portion of an already vocal majority (who probably don't even watch TV or listen to radio) made themselves heard after the Super Bowl publicity stunt fiasco, and as lawmakers in an election season are especially reactionary, we have the world as it is today.
I should really find out more about the FCC than I know now. They're a federal subcommittee, though I don't know if it's through the House of the Senate, but what I'm interested in is just how much power they have over censorship measures, how broad their powers, what standards they set, and how strict their enforcement is.
But at the end of the day, whatever rules or standards may be in place don't matter for much because what it comes down to is money. Try slipping a bouncer a fifty after you've been denied entrance to a club. Or a couple hundred for a milkshake at a continental restaurant. It just does. Now, Jive is a big record company. They're a powerful record company, with many of today's biggest names signed to it, especially after its merger with Arista (see: Usher). They have under their influence a very large portion of the most sought-after market demographic. Even if they wanted to get something that contained the word 'fuck' - say, over a hundred times - played on the radio, I'm sure there'd be several takers that would jump at the chance (and even some who have the latitude to do it as a political statement).
That, of course, is not what we're asking. A lot of what we're arguing is based on the fact that A.D.I.D.A.S. is a fun, irreverent song without a serious navel-gazing note in its composition, and the video does nothing but reaffirm it. Yet the FCC is threatening fines for airplay because of the word 'sex.'
*takes a deep, cleansing breath*
I had a very long rant typed up after the Super Bowl about the absurdity of a woman's breast being cause for all that hoopla (because most people don't bother to muster the higher brain functions to comprehend the offensiveness of the context, the purpose, and the myriad socio-cultural outrages that truly made it offensive). The Reader's Digest version is that while we live in a world that, let's all remember back to the fourth grade now, wouldn't exist without sex. The video isn't racy. It's funny, it's tongue-in-cheek, it's fabulously tacky but won't get played because the same people don't have a sense of humor condone true raunch that degrades women and glorifies pimping, drinking, and guns because they've been properly promoted. As to the names we've been throwing around to support our stance that music with similar and raunchier content is being played - Eminem, Usher, Beyonce, Eamon - well, all I have to say is, look at the names we've been throwing around. Eminem. Usher. Beyonce. Eamon. I could quote lyrics. Heck, I could quote the latter's song title, but it's not necessary. Because it doesn't matter. Their names are too big, which means their market share is too big, to deny them pretty much anything.
JC is becoming the unwitting poster child for this election-year hypocrisy, and you know what, if that's the kind of press that's gonna come out of it (and, as![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
popfantastic said, it would've been a good move on the part of Jive to think a little longer and harder about pushing a song and funding a video about sex when the artist has already had cause to attract FCC concerns - unless, that is, if that bit of "promotion" on CNN etc. resulted in an album-sales boost, which might have been their logic here) I hope he embraces this platform like he did after the Pro Bowl incident, and that people listen and ask questions and take a good, hard look at what's really harming our children (and for that matter, how parents are allowing it into their lives to do so.) I hope he gets the kind of serious press he got then and makes his points just as poignantly.
[Edited: Misunderstood some information. But whichever song the first single had been, even without knowledge that the Super Bowl would happen, neither of them is really any "safer" for radio, and if Jive had done its share of promotion when it first counted, if they'd released the album when they were supposed to, the Super Bowl wouldn't have mattered because both singles would've long been out by then. Didn't Jive not want Like I Love You as the first single, either?]
As everyone has said, Jive is a business. As much as we want something - Celebrity DVD, a bigger tour for JC, etc. - if it's not going to make them money, it's not going to happen. It doesn't matter that they were the ones to blame for dropping the ball with JC in the first place. I don't care about excuses of marketing trouble and whatever else. Jive pays a lot of people very hefty sums of money to work out the logistics of getting their product to its intended audience (which was handled nothing short of embarrassingly - no one I know would put his face on a box of cereal consumed by grade-school kids after hearing the very first track.)halimede made a great point: "I sorta suspect it's because they find JC's stuff incompatible with the *NSYNC image. Very silly of them, because the *NSYNC audience is growing up too, and like Japanese pop artists they should bank on keeping their audience as they grow. It's not likely they'll appeal to the next [generation of 13-year-olds], and the next and the next. Those will be into the next new thing, not something their older siblings and/or parents were already into." Nothing anyone says will convince me that everything (release delays, inadequate marketing, little radio airplay) still would've happened without proper backing from the label, not with the size and power of the company (and record companies in general), and the utter crap (and to make this relevant, raunchy and/or explicit songs) that does get radio airplay/MTV coverage.
The thing that baffles me though is there was proper promo as early as August of last year, with rumblings of a solo record dating back to May. We had more scheduled appearances, we had release dates - these are not the steps taken to promote an album a record company don't intend to support (nor one that's unfinished, which leaves me with no clue why JC was mastering the tracks in New York in December.) I think Jive very well may have counted on another success story like Justin's with JC - the question is when that attitude changed and why.
Whatever the truth, the fact remains that despite critical acclaim, the old tripe that there's only one star in any successful group has essentially held true, and that's going to have enormous consequences for the group (should the guys plan to do more than pay it lip service someday), JC, Chris, and Joey alike (as Lance remains stubbornly adamant about not wanting to sing solo in any capacity.) We'll address all this in greater detail in a little bit.
Re: Line Drama
We joke that it wouldn't be a *NSYNC-related event without line drama easily enough, but the thing is, there's no reason at all for this to be so.
Small, backwater clubs I can understand not having enough staff or just not caring enough to make sure those who get there first get in first. But an ostensibly professional venue like the House of Blues needs to get its shit together. And fuck explanations of high turnover rates or inadequately trained staff - there are such common sense, simple solutions to this problem, it boggles me that we've run into issues at every.single.venue. Every one of them! It's ludicrous to me that they haven't figured out a workable system that keeps a line orderly, that ensures early arrival = best standing room, that people can't cut in line, and that such basic questions as camera policy, entrance priority, and for that matter, an adequately secured environment for the artist are all settled long before anyone ever sets foot on their premises.
- They're called barricades and ropes. They keep people in and out.
- Have someone patrol the line so security has a rough idea of who's where and what's going on and address complaints of cutting, etc. as they arise.
- People who get there at the asscrack of dawn and sit around until security arrives at two in the afternoon deserve to get in first. Take names, as they did in Philly, or hand out numbers, as they did somewhere else, so people can get food/go to the bathroom and still be able to get back in line.
- Have a meeting with the entirety of your staff before an event if any special arrangements need to be made. Let them know about policy changes the artist has requested, go over basic questions that might arise, make sure they know how to handle situations - i.e. not groping and verbally assaulting fans under any circumstances, much less over a camera they were never told they couldn't use and never told to put away first before any further action. No, I'm not bitter at all.
- If the crowd has the potential to get rough and there's a general admission pit (whether that's because of the type of show, the type of crowd, too many people in one place, too small/young people where they shouldn't be), place your burlier bouncers in there for crowd control.
It's all so basic, I feel like an elementary schoolteacher for having to say any of it, but that's the mentality of the people security is there to control - the ones who cut, the ones who shove, the ones who are 4'11" and standing in the fourth row of a pit, the ones who grab at performers. They're such little things, and while you can't prevent or account for everything, these measures would go a long way to ensure a more satisfying and stress-free concert experience for the attendees, the performer, and the venue alike.
Re: Inappropriate Behavior Toward One's Idols
Okay, so, the girls who freak out when they see a person they idolize? The ones who burst into tears and have to be literally pushed/pulled to go up to them and then mumble through their flustered adoration? They're sweet. A little high-strung, but their intentions are good. I was amused by the story he told of the fan who got onstage at one of their concerts and just stood there in shock that she actually made it.
However, the ones who are somehow compelled to rush/assault said idol? Especially the various stories of people somehow getting onstage and grabbing them? I don't get it. No, really. What possesses a person to do that? What kind of cheap thrill that's satisfying enough to violate a person's space and dignity does one get from this? I realize that not everyone in this fandom is in it for the music, but why would you want this person you care about enough to go to his concert and walk away offended/creeped out/put off by you? Why? For something as utterly classless and meaningless as a crotch grab, in the middle of a performance no less. Have you no shame, respect, or decency? Isn't the goal for most of us to have some kind of meaningful, memorable interaction/conversation with the people we admire? I don't know what to say to you if that was your ultimate desire out of your "relationship" with this person, but congratu-friggin'-lations on making it something he won't soon forget. I hope it was everything you wanted - now get the fuck away from my fandom.
Everybody's heard the story. JC got groped last night at the San Francisco show, and we're not just talking a light squeeze in the thigh area - it was a full-on crotch grab. It happened either during Let's Go Crazy or Dear Goodbye, and given that he's much less likely to stand still long enough for such things during the former... *gnashes teeth* If it happened during the latter... I don't have the faculties to deal with that.
I'm sure... no, wait, I know for a fact, having been to all the December shows and the first four on this tour, that it took JC a while to be comfortable enough to really reach out to the audience. He didn't even slap hands much at all in December, but really warmed up to us by the time of the second Anaheim show this April, reaching out many times on both sides of the stage, singing to people, really getting us into the show. Especially considering his track record of a good part of the last fifteen years involving various degrees of scary incidents with psycho fans. I have worlds of respect for his showmanship and professionalism for not punishing that side of the audience by not going over there for the rest of the show and hope this doesn't affect the staging, only the security, of the rest of them.
Re: The Backstreet reunion
*sigh* My friendslist has Backstreet fans, many of them, and while I couldn't be happier for their happiness at getting a chance to see their boys together again, recording and performing new material, I'm immensely uncomfortable that the Boys' precedent (which in my view, despite the reaction at Wango Tango, won't be a rousing success) will likely determine whether or not there'll (let's be honest) ever be an official (i.e. records and tours, as opposed to just in our hearts and their words) *NSYNC again. Because whatever the outcome of their venture, no one can say it won't affect the decisions of Jive regarding the prospect of backing another *NSYNC album/tour.
And should I turn out to be wrong in my pessimism and the Boys go on to do the impossible and take over the world twice, I'll print out this entire section of rant and eat it. You can hold me to that.
To beat you to your first contention - I know Backstreet aren't *NSYNC. I don't know how much the rest of the world, or even their own record label, does. Two boy bands of five members, both sing pop music and dance, enjoyed immense success at their height and then relatively (to their own respective previous efforts - let's not forget *NSYNC's Celebrity was the last album to sell over one million copies in its first week before Usher's Confessions) humbling (again, relatively) final albums and tours before taking an indefinite "hiatus," etc. I know the sound grows and change and all that butterfly analogy stuff, and this upcoming album probably will be different than their previous work, but they're associated with a certain kind of music (especially since Nick's venture into rock mostly tanked) that's been on the decline for a few years now. It's also the music their "formula" (what they do and the type of audience they do it for) is based on, which will create yet more marketing troubles like Justin on Nickelodeon and JC on cereal boxes. Despite the success of Gone and Girlfriend on R&B stations as well as Justin's own solo success in the same area, even though that's what's popular, it's not the sound people expect from *NSYNC. R&B is also, obviously but notably, not the musical direction favored by the entire group.
Which brings us to my caveat - if any *NSYNC reunion is going to be treated like "Justin and the Timberlakes," either by the media or the fans, then I can say against every selfish bone in my body that I don't want to see it happen. And man, that hurt to write, but it's true. I'm happy for Justin, I like his album and I went to his concert and wish dearly I could've seen a club show, but when he's with JC, Lance, Joey, and Chris, they're *NSYNC. And I don't know if that's a possibility any more.
As a parting note, fuck you, TicketMaster. Fuck you and your fleecing ways, fuck you for charging another $19 for delivery that will cost the price of two fucking postage stamps, fuck you for not accepting the passwords of legitimate fan club members, and fuck you again just on principle.
Just, fuck. *kicks Monday*
Re: A.D.I.D.A.S.
This whole solo venture of JC's is becoming rather farcical, isn't it? *sigh*
How much of this song's lack of success can we attribute to the song itself and how much of it to the timing of its release? Nobody can say. What stands is that had they released A.D.I.D.A.S. in the pre-Super Bowl world, a song which Alex Greggs (allegedly) said was "one of the most-added songs to radio" until within a couple of weeks ago, I think it had the makings of being an unqualified smash.
But alas, this is not that world.
As Madonna said, it's a sad thing that people can't just "turn the station, change the channel" these days, and as JC finished, that they instead need to actively take issue with it. Now, I'm all for proactively affecting an environment which makes you uncomfortable - civil rights movement, anyone? - but there's a reason for the First Amendment, and that's because people with unpopular opinions have a right to be heard as well, and while that's as idealized an interpretation as there is, that's what it stands to ensure. Whether that means you disagree with Iraqi policy or the music being played on the radio, you have a right to write letters, Editorials, demand airtime if you're high-profile enough, organize petitions, lobby your elected officials - the opportunities are endless. But in the end, we're a republic (defined as a strong central government), and despite the existence of state governments, it's the folks on Capitol Hill who set the rules for the nation.
Luckily, we can change who's in office by voting in elections. Unfortunately, many people don't take advantage of it, and even fewer make the effort to get themselves heard. Well, enough of a portion of an already vocal majority (who probably don't even watch TV or listen to radio) made themselves heard after the Super Bowl publicity stunt fiasco, and as lawmakers in an election season are especially reactionary, we have the world as it is today.
I should really find out more about the FCC than I know now. They're a federal subcommittee, though I don't know if it's through the House of the Senate, but what I'm interested in is just how much power they have over censorship measures, how broad their powers, what standards they set, and how strict their enforcement is.
But at the end of the day, whatever rules or standards may be in place don't matter for much because what it comes down to is money. Try slipping a bouncer a fifty after you've been denied entrance to a club. Or a couple hundred for a milkshake at a continental restaurant. It just does. Now, Jive is a big record company. They're a powerful record company, with many of today's biggest names signed to it, especially after its merger with Arista (see: Usher). They have under their influence a very large portion of the most sought-after market demographic. Even if they wanted to get something that contained the word 'fuck' - say, over a hundred times - played on the radio, I'm sure there'd be several takers that would jump at the chance (and even some who have the latitude to do it as a political statement).
That, of course, is not what we're asking. A lot of what we're arguing is based on the fact that A.D.I.D.A.S. is a fun, irreverent song without a serious navel-gazing note in its composition, and the video does nothing but reaffirm it. Yet the FCC is threatening fines for airplay because of the word 'sex.'
*takes a deep, cleansing breath*
I had a very long rant typed up after the Super Bowl about the absurdity of a woman's breast being cause for all that hoopla (because most people don't bother to muster the higher brain functions to comprehend the offensiveness of the context, the purpose, and the myriad socio-cultural outrages that truly made it offensive). The Reader's Digest version is that while we live in a world that, let's all remember back to the fourth grade now, wouldn't exist without sex. The video isn't racy. It's funny, it's tongue-in-cheek, it's fabulously tacky but won't get played because the same people don't have a sense of humor condone true raunch that degrades women and glorifies pimping, drinking, and guns because they've been properly promoted. As to the names we've been throwing around to support our stance that music with similar and raunchier content is being played - Eminem, Usher, Beyonce, Eamon - well, all I have to say is, look at the names we've been throwing around. Eminem. Usher. Beyonce. Eamon. I could quote lyrics. Heck, I could quote the latter's song title, but it's not necessary. Because it doesn't matter. Their names are too big, which means their market share is too big, to deny them pretty much anything.
JC is becoming the unwitting poster child for this election-year hypocrisy, and you know what, if that's the kind of press that's gonna come out of it (and, as
popfantastic said, it would've been a good move on the part of Jive to think a little longer and harder about pushing a song and funding a video about sex when the artist has already had cause to attract FCC concerns - unless, that is, if that bit of "promotion" on CNN etc. resulted in an album-sales boost, which might have been their logic here) I hope he embraces this platform like he did after the Pro Bowl incident, and that people listen and ask questions and take a good, hard look at what's really harming our children (and for that matter, how parents are allowing it into their lives to do so.) I hope he gets the kind of serious press he got then and makes his points just as poignantly.[Edited: Misunderstood some information. But whichever song the first single had been, even without knowledge that the Super Bowl would happen, neither of them is really any "safer" for radio, and if Jive had done its share of promotion when it first counted, if they'd released the album when they were supposed to, the Super Bowl wouldn't have mattered because both singles would've long been out by then. Didn't Jive not want Like I Love You as the first single, either?]
As everyone has said, Jive is a business. As much as we want something - Celebrity DVD, a bigger tour for JC, etc. - if it's not going to make them money, it's not going to happen. It doesn't matter that they were the ones to blame for dropping the ball with JC in the first place. I don't care about excuses of marketing trouble and whatever else. Jive pays a lot of people very hefty sums of money to work out the logistics of getting their product to its intended audience (which was handled nothing short of embarrassingly - no one I know would put his face on a box of cereal consumed by grade-school kids after hearing the very first track.)
halimede made a great point: "I sorta suspect it's because they find JC's stuff incompatible with the *NSYNC image. Very silly of them, because the *NSYNC audience is growing up too, and like Japanese pop artists they should bank on keeping their audience as they grow. It's not likely they'll appeal to the next [generation of 13-year-olds], and the next and the next. Those will be into the next new thing, not something their older siblings and/or parents were already into." Nothing anyone says will convince me that everything (release delays, inadequate marketing, little radio airplay) still would've happened without proper backing from the label, not with the size and power of the company (and record companies in general), and the utter crap (and to make this relevant, raunchy and/or explicit songs) that does get radio airplay/MTV coverage.The thing that baffles me though is there was proper promo as early as August of last year, with rumblings of a solo record dating back to May. We had more scheduled appearances, we had release dates - these are not the steps taken to promote an album a record company don't intend to support (nor one that's unfinished, which leaves me with no clue why JC was mastering the tracks in New York in December.) I think Jive very well may have counted on another success story like Justin's with JC - the question is when that attitude changed and why.
Whatever the truth, the fact remains that despite critical acclaim, the old tripe that there's only one star in any successful group has essentially held true, and that's going to have enormous consequences for the group (should the guys plan to do more than pay it lip service someday), JC, Chris, and Joey alike (as Lance remains stubbornly adamant about not wanting to sing solo in any capacity.) We'll address all this in greater detail in a little bit.
Re: Line Drama
We joke that it wouldn't be a *NSYNC-related event without line drama easily enough, but the thing is, there's no reason at all for this to be so.
Small, backwater clubs I can understand not having enough staff or just not caring enough to make sure those who get there first get in first. But an ostensibly professional venue like the House of Blues needs to get its shit together. And fuck explanations of high turnover rates or inadequately trained staff - there are such common sense, simple solutions to this problem, it boggles me that we've run into issues at every.single.venue. Every one of them! It's ludicrous to me that they haven't figured out a workable system that keeps a line orderly, that ensures early arrival = best standing room, that people can't cut in line, and that such basic questions as camera policy, entrance priority, and for that matter, an adequately secured environment for the artist are all settled long before anyone ever sets foot on their premises.
- They're called barricades and ropes. They keep people in and out.
- Have someone patrol the line so security has a rough idea of who's where and what's going on and address complaints of cutting, etc. as they arise.
- People who get there at the asscrack of dawn and sit around until security arrives at two in the afternoon deserve to get in first. Take names, as they did in Philly, or hand out numbers, as they did somewhere else, so people can get food/go to the bathroom and still be able to get back in line.
- Have a meeting with the entirety of your staff before an event if any special arrangements need to be made. Let them know about policy changes the artist has requested, go over basic questions that might arise, make sure they know how to handle situations - i.e. not groping and verbally assaulting fans under any circumstances, much less over a camera they were never told they couldn't use and never told to put away first before any further action. No, I'm not bitter at all.
- If the crowd has the potential to get rough and there's a general admission pit (whether that's because of the type of show, the type of crowd, too many people in one place, too small/young people where they shouldn't be), place your burlier bouncers in there for crowd control.
It's all so basic, I feel like an elementary schoolteacher for having to say any of it, but that's the mentality of the people security is there to control - the ones who cut, the ones who shove, the ones who are 4'11" and standing in the fourth row of a pit, the ones who grab at performers. They're such little things, and while you can't prevent or account for everything, these measures would go a long way to ensure a more satisfying and stress-free concert experience for the attendees, the performer, and the venue alike.
Re: Inappropriate Behavior Toward One's Idols
Okay, so, the girls who freak out when they see a person they idolize? The ones who burst into tears and have to be literally pushed/pulled to go up to them and then mumble through their flustered adoration? They're sweet. A little high-strung, but their intentions are good. I was amused by the story he told of the fan who got onstage at one of their concerts and just stood there in shock that she actually made it.
However, the ones who are somehow compelled to rush/assault said idol? Especially the various stories of people somehow getting onstage and grabbing them? I don't get it. No, really. What possesses a person to do that? What kind of cheap thrill that's satisfying enough to violate a person's space and dignity does one get from this? I realize that not everyone in this fandom is in it for the music, but why would you want this person you care about enough to go to his concert and walk away offended/creeped out/put off by you? Why? For something as utterly classless and meaningless as a crotch grab, in the middle of a performance no less. Have you no shame, respect, or decency? Isn't the goal for most of us to have some kind of meaningful, memorable interaction/conversation with the people we admire? I don't know what to say to you if that was your ultimate desire out of your "relationship" with this person, but congratu-friggin'-lations on making it something he won't soon forget. I hope it was everything you wanted - now get the fuck away from my fandom.
Everybody's heard the story. JC got groped last night at the San Francisco show, and we're not just talking a light squeeze in the thigh area - it was a full-on crotch grab. It happened either during Let's Go Crazy or Dear Goodbye, and given that he's much less likely to stand still long enough for such things during the former... *gnashes teeth* If it happened during the latter... I don't have the faculties to deal with that.
I'm sure... no, wait, I know for a fact, having been to all the December shows and the first four on this tour, that it took JC a while to be comfortable enough to really reach out to the audience. He didn't even slap hands much at all in December, but really warmed up to us by the time of the second Anaheim show this April, reaching out many times on both sides of the stage, singing to people, really getting us into the show. Especially considering his track record of a good part of the last fifteen years involving various degrees of scary incidents with psycho fans. I have worlds of respect for his showmanship and professionalism for not punishing that side of the audience by not going over there for the rest of the show and hope this doesn't affect the staging, only the security, of the rest of them.
Re: The Backstreet reunion
*sigh* My friendslist has Backstreet fans, many of them, and while I couldn't be happier for their happiness at getting a chance to see their boys together again, recording and performing new material, I'm immensely uncomfortable that the Boys' precedent (which in my view, despite the reaction at Wango Tango, won't be a rousing success) will likely determine whether or not there'll (let's be honest) ever be an official (i.e. records and tours, as opposed to just in our hearts and their words) *NSYNC again. Because whatever the outcome of their venture, no one can say it won't affect the decisions of Jive regarding the prospect of backing another *NSYNC album/tour.
And should I turn out to be wrong in my pessimism and the Boys go on to do the impossible and take over the world twice, I'll print out this entire section of rant and eat it. You can hold me to that.
To beat you to your first contention - I know Backstreet aren't *NSYNC. I don't know how much the rest of the world, or even their own record label, does. Two boy bands of five members, both sing pop music and dance, enjoyed immense success at their height and then relatively (to their own respective previous efforts - let's not forget *NSYNC's Celebrity was the last album to sell over one million copies in its first week before Usher's Confessions) humbling (again, relatively) final albums and tours before taking an indefinite "hiatus," etc. I know the sound grows and change and all that butterfly analogy stuff, and this upcoming album probably will be different than their previous work, but they're associated with a certain kind of music (especially since Nick's venture into rock mostly tanked) that's been on the decline for a few years now. It's also the music their "formula" (what they do and the type of audience they do it for) is based on, which will create yet more marketing troubles like Justin on Nickelodeon and JC on cereal boxes. Despite the success of Gone and Girlfriend on R&B stations as well as Justin's own solo success in the same area, even though that's what's popular, it's not the sound people expect from *NSYNC. R&B is also, obviously but notably, not the musical direction favored by the entire group.
Which brings us to my caveat - if any *NSYNC reunion is going to be treated like "Justin and the Timberlakes," either by the media or the fans, then I can say against every selfish bone in my body that I don't want to see it happen. And man, that hurt to write, but it's true. I'm happy for Justin, I like his album and I went to his concert and wish dearly I could've seen a club show, but when he's with JC, Lance, Joey, and Chris, they're *NSYNC. And I don't know if that's a possibility any more.
As a parting note, fuck you, TicketMaster. Fuck you and your fleecing ways, fuck you for charging another $19 for delivery that will cost the price of two fucking postage stamps, fuck you for not accepting the passwords of legitimate fan club members, and fuck you again just on principle.
Just, fuck. *kicks Monday*
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no subject
Date: May 17th, 2004 02:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May 17th, 2004 02:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May 17th, 2004 02:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May 17th, 2004 02:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May 17th, 2004 02:21 pm (UTC)As for the groping fan, she's not worth my time and energy. Her momma should have raised her better.
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Date: May 17th, 2004 02:39 pm (UTC)And I know. It's not any less frustrating though. Apparently, it did happen during Dear Goodbye, which. No words.
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Date: May 17th, 2004 02:42 pm (UTC)Ggrr. Really. How someone like that can call herself a fan is beyond me.
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Date: May 17th, 2004 03:09 pm (UTC)And wow, I hadn't even heard about some of the other stuff yet. Ow.
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Date: May 17th, 2004 03:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May 17th, 2004 03:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May 17th, 2004 03:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May 17th, 2004 03:35 pm (UTC)Sorry your friends got shafted. Thank God we had both a Fan Club Pin and an Nsider Pin.
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Date: May 17th, 2004 03:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May 17th, 2004 03:44 pm (UTC)The thing is, come Saturday there will probably be better tickets offered. That's how it always works.
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Date: May 17th, 2004 03:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May 17th, 2004 05:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May 17th, 2004 03:43 pm (UTC)THe large one has been locked. link is here if you want to read it.
http://p071.ezboard.com/fjjboardgeneraldiscussion.showMessage?topicID=512851.topic
I find it sick that she did that. She's a grown ass woman. I don't believe anyone should have to go through something like that.
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Date: May 17th, 2004 04:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May 17th, 2004 05:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May 17th, 2004 08:01 pm (UTC)We're not talking about the thousand sins of TicketMaster. I was on that thing lickety-split this morning, but I'm sure those who order a week before the events will get better seats. *sigh*
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Date: May 17th, 2004 05:22 pm (UTC)That about sums up my day as well - I couldn't have said it better myself.
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Date: May 17th, 2004 08:03 pm (UTC)*but still has enough energy to kick TicketMaster one more time*
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Date: May 17th, 2004 09:01 pm (UTC)Same here. :-( And right now I don't see the media portraying the reunited group as anything other than Justin and the Timberlakes. As it is, we get articles about solo!JC that refer to Justin as "the lead singer of NSYNC."
And as far as the groping thing, I'm just baffled. One of the excuses given for Smurf is that "she was drunk, and I bet if you were drunk you'd do it too." Just, wow.
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Date: May 17th, 2004 09:34 pm (UTC)Baffled is the perfect word for it. And you know what, I've been rip-roaring drunk, and still there was nothing in my judgment that would've compelled me to grab the crotch of a performer in the middle of a song. How fucking much does it upset me that this happened during Dear Goodbye, to add insult to injury? JC is apparently already the one with the creepy, stalker fans, but there are also these random, deranged gropers and it just infuriates and upsets me to no end because that's not what we're like, and they know that, too, but that's another level of accessibility they're going to be much better at restricting the next time the celebrity is in a fan situation. And all the inane comments about 'you would've too' - he's done how many other dates without any such thing happening? *sigh* You know, even with Lance, who's arguably one of the more readily touchy of them all, I was loathe to initiate more than a handshake, and even that felt like I was making demands on his personal space.
Okay, I'm done. I just don't have it in me to be any more upset at this ludicrous situation.
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Date: May 17th, 2004 11:01 pm (UTC)Could not have said it better myself. I'm so disgusted by the nerve of her to do that, there aren't words to describe it.
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Date: May 22nd, 2004 10:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May 18th, 2004 04:02 am (UTC)???
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Date: May 22nd, 2004 10:26 pm (UTC)