We Investigate Which Is The Superior Boy Band: *NSYNC Or The Backstreet Boys
It's time to settle this once and for all.
In 1999, Australia rejected the idea of becoming a republic, Pokémon took over the world, Ricky Martin struck out on his own, the Euro was created as Europe’s single currency, and we were all terrified Y2K would plunge us all into an apocalypse.
But pop culture maniacs will forever remember 1999 as the year in which the greatest rivalry in pop culture reached its peak. The Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC, both riding enormous waves of success in the late ‘90s, divided music fans across the globe.
Twenty years later, the battle is still going: As the Backstreet Boys take Las Vegas with their Larger Than Life residency at Planet Hollywood, and Justin Timberlake’s solo career continues unabated, the question of which group reigns supreme still lingers on the brain.
So we decided to settle it once and for all, by creating the Ultimate Boy Band Index. The way it works is simple: We came up with different categories, assigned points to each band based on their section-specific merits, and tallied them up at the end.
So get your head in the ’90s game, and dive in.
HEARTTHROB FACTOR
Let’s be honest: If these ten young lads weren’t attractive, they would never have been selected to form a boy band.
Whether a fan of Justin Timberlake’s perfectly curly curls, Brian Littrell’s gingy-ness or Lance Bass’ quiet confidence, one thing is certain: you’ve always had a favourite Backstreet Boy and *NSYNC-er, whose picture you’d hung up in your bedroom (my personal favourite? Brian, of course).
Which is all to say: the bands had it going on.
Backstreet Boys: 10 points
*NSYNC: 10 points
DANCE MOVES
Dancing skills are, arguably, the most important measure of boy band-ability — even more so than their vocal range (more on that later). You can only hide behind the ballerina of the group for so long, after all.
Although the Backstreet Boys’ Brian knows how to move, the power of Justin’s fluid dance moves won’t ever be forgotten. Let us not undersell the rest of *NSYNC’s moves: from JC Chasez’s seeming cool to Joey Fatone’s surprisingly proficient moves, this band’s members are clearly superior dancers.
Backstreet Boys: 8 points
*NSYNC: 10 points
Which brings us to…
GROUP CHOREOGRAPHIES
After countless hours spent re-watching all of the choreographies that had girls (and guys) screaming bloody love to the two quintets, we’ve landed on the very best one per group:
The Backstreet Boys’ iconic ‘Everybody’ dance:
*NSYNC’s’ just-as-iconic ‘Bye Bye Bye’ dance:
We’re absolutely partial to the ‘Bye Bye Bye’ choreography which, coupled with the music video’s we’re-puppets-on-a-string theme, ends up being one of the very best moments in pop culture. For that reason, it’s the winner here.
Backstreet Boys: 8 points
*NSYNC: 10 points
ALBUM NUMBERS
The Backstreet Boys have nine studio albums in the bank, one of which just dropped last week. *NSYNC, on the other hand, released a mere three.
Although, as a whole, *NSYNC’s discography is pretty solid, we have to give this one to the Backstreet Boys — mainly because of the absolute marvel that is Black & Blue, an album with all killer, no filler.
Backstreet Boys: 10 points
*NSYNC: 7 points
KARAOKE POTENTIAL
Both bands are karaoke darlings, so we’re just going to assign a point for each hit song that’s become a go-to karaoke track.
Backstreet Boys: ‘I Want It That Way’, ‘As Long As You Love Me’, ‘Everybody’, ‘Quit Playing Games’, ‘Larger Than Life’, ‘I’ll Never Break Your Heart’, ‘Get Down’, ‘The Call’ (all hail)
Total: 8 points
*NSYNC: ‘Bye Bye Bye’, ‘Tearin’ Up My Heart’, ‘It’s Gonna Be Me’, ‘I Want You Back’
Total: 4 points
BOY BAND-APPROPRIATE HAIRCUT
It’s a battle between Nick of the Backstreet Boys and Justin of *NSYNC, who would have won for his curls had he not shaved them all off at a point. Nick, you’ve got this one.
Backstreet Boys: 10 points
*NSYNC: 6 points
TOTAL REQUEST LIVE NUMBER ONES
Intricately connected to the history of boy bands is the history of MTV’s Total Request Live. Hosted by Carson Daly and airing Mondays through Thursdays from 1998 to 2008, the show featured the ten most requested music videos of the day as voted by viewers. TRL’s Number Ones were the collection of videos that reached that top spot on the daily countdown.
Needless to say, both groups dominated the list. Let’s give each band a point for each day spent at number one:
Backstreet Boys: 99
*NSYNC: 102
VOCALS
We’re being candid: singing is not these boys’ strong suit. Although Justin eventually mastered the craft, his second in command back in the ‘90s, JC, was tone deaf (he’s also come a long way: check out this 2012 performance with Richard Marx).
The Backstreet Boys, although losing their touch throughout the years, could sort of sing back in the day.
Backstreet Boys: 6 points
*NSYNC: 3 points
MOST MEMEABLE
There is a single meme that will forever trump all memes:
Backstreet Boys: 0 points
*NSYNC: 10 points
THE RESULT
Backstreet Boys: 159 points
*NSYNC: 162 points
Anna Ben Yehuda Rahmanan is a New York-based writer and editor whose words have appeared on Time Out, Forbes, Playboy, Us Weekly and more. Follow her on Twitter at @annabenyehuda.
All this week, Junkee is heading back in time to relive the greatest moments in pop culture from 1999. For more 1999 content, head here.