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Oh hey! I'm Sam Lansky, music journalist extraordinaire, and I had a poster of 98 Degrees dressed as firefighters on my bedroom wall as a little boy. (Did I say "dressed"? Because what I actually mean is "undressed.") It's Thursday, and you know what that means — time for an extra-strength dose of Pop Think, no prescription necessary.

Up this week: the possible return of the boy band to domestic shores, which I'd call a cause for celebration. But after a decade largely devoid of cheesy boy band deliciousness, are Americans ready for another boy band invasion?

The Wanted is pop princess-approved! Credit: @britneyspears

After the boy band boom at the turn of the millennium, when groups like Hanson, Backstreet Boys, and *NSYNC ruled the airwaves, things have gone relatively quiet on the boy band front -- at least Stateside, with the occasional exception of all-male pop-punk and emo outfits such as Good Charlotte and Fall Out Boy, and Disney tween pop megastars like the Jonas Brothers.

But overseas, the boy band phenomenon never really went away. In the U.K., Westlife and Take That continued to enjoy massive success throughout the '90s, and more recent discoveries such as JLS, One Direction, and The Wanted just keep the boy band relevant with hook-laden singles and endearingly goofy dance moves. (Is it just me or is there something like, intrinsically comical about a group of hot guys dancing in unison? Even if it's visually mesmerizing, I often find myself laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of dudes with chiseled jawlines and ripped abs dancing to a four-on-the-floor beat, their bodies in perfect synchronicity.)

Record labels seem to think that the United States is ready for a big boy band return -- or at least they're gambling on it, with news of new groups launching every day. Former *NSYNC member Lance Bass is mentoring a new boy band Heart2Heart, whose 2Ge+her-like video for their first single, "Facebook Official," walks a VERY fine line between parody and sincerity. Meanwhile, Lady Gaga super-producer RedOne has launched his own boy band venture as well called Midnight Red. Five meticulously coiffed dudes in skinny jeans belt out dance-pop bangers with names like "One Club At A Time." (Whether or not the club can handle Midnight Red remains to be seen.)

The most promising boy band on the horizon for Americans, though, has to be The Wanted, who have carved out a serious niche in the U.K. market with devastatingly catchy pop and an image that seems carefully calculated to project just the right balance of masculinity and sensitivity. It works, too. They're as convincing singing lovelorn ballads like "Heart Vacancy" as they are at the helm of synth-fueled house-pop such as "Lightning."

+ Read more about the return of boy bands after the jump.

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Tags Backstreet-Boys, Fall Out Boy, Good Charlotte, Hanson, Jonas Brothers, NSync, Pop Think, Take That, The Wanted, Westlife

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1.) Forget "sultry nurse" or "naughty kitten" -- be THE definition of sexy for Halloween: Dress up like Beyoncé! This music video wardrobe breakdown guarantees winning any contest, or at least the eye of a zombie dude. (MTV Style)

2.) While some reminisce about the days of getting detention with old high school pals, Justin Timberlake fondly recollects causing mayhem with Ryan Gosling during their "Mickey Mouse Club" days. Just more proof that bad boys grow up to be hunks. (PopSugar)

3.) Katy Perry's recent birthday reminds us not only to celebrate her musical successes but also her tresses. The head turner's locks have changed so much over the years that we're betting peeps can't guess her natural color. Hint: It's not pink. (TheFABlife)

4.) If all the goodies from Kelly Clarkson's recently released album, Stronger, just isn't enough to hold over devoted fans, here are some of her greatest live performances. If that's not enough, you might be addicted. (Idolator)

5.) Taylor Swift doesn't just sing (and glisten) like an angel, she lives the part. The adorable do-gooder donated 6,000 books to a struggling library near her hometown. Bookworms are officially cool all over again. (ONTD)

6.) Jessie J likes how Britney Spears smells! The singer adores Brit's "Fantasy" perfume and sprays it for good luck before every performance.That's putting pheromones to good use.(Monsters And Critics)

7.) JoJo gets inspiration from the likes of Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber and joins the cover-your-favorite-contemporary-musician trend with an acoustic version of Rihanna's "What's My Name?" Heads up: Girl does it justice. (Pop Dust)

8.) Justin Bieber may have duets with Mariah Carey and Usher, but he's not the only holiday crooner this season. The "Glee" kids are back with their second Christmas album, and it's promising the voices of the winners from this past season's "The Glee Project." (PopCrush)

9.) While most parent date nights involve splitting dessert at Applebee's, Pink leaves the kid with a babysitter and hits a jazz club stage for an impromptu performance. Watch Pink seriously KILL jazz standard "Summertime." (BuzzFeed)

10.) Those looking to relive the early millennium can thank Britney Spears. The pop princess is recruiting Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough to open for a few of her South American tour dates. (MTV News)

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Tags 10 Things To Know Now, Backstreet-Boys, Beyonce, Britney Spears, Jessie J, justin bieber, Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson, Mariah Carey, P!nk, Ryan Gosling, Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, Usher

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Truth is, the Backstreet Boys could literally put out 3 minutes of silence, and it would still be a hit song in my book. I mean, you gotta have mad respect for the trailblazers! I know I'm not the only one who's still Backstreet obsessed. Right? See? Thank you. I knew I wasn't.

Though they paired up with New Kids On The Block for the epic NKOTBSB tour, the Backstreet Boys are back to being a solo unit in "Lost In Space." A hidden gem that recently surfaced, the song is a demo from last year but sounds good enough to make it on to a future record!  Produced by Jim Jonsin, the Backstreet Boys' jam is synth-heavy and fully created in the image of clubbing. If you didn't know any better, you might think the electro-based song was one of the new tracks off David Guetta's Nothing But The Beat. Amid layers of sparkly synths and thumping club drums, the boys sing, "As the world goes round, round, round, round/Let the beat go down, down, down, down/Can we say up all night/'Cause we could sleep all day/Everybody come out to play/Let me hear you say ay, ay, ay."

True, I'd love for the Backstreet Boys to return to their "I Want It That Way" roots because that's how I like to envision them singing me to sleep every night... wait, who am I kidding, I already have "Lost In Space" on repeat.

+ Listen to the Backstreet Boys' "Lost In Space."

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+ A London music product distribution warehouse owned by Sony burned to the ground during the London riots. While the catastrophic losses are still being assessed, Arctic Monkeys' physical release for forthcoming single, "The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala," was obliterated. A limited quantity allotted for their website escaped the flames. (Guardian)

+ Gavin DeGraw was released from the hospital last night after being attacked in New York's East Village and then hit by a cab. "Honestly, I don't remember much. I only know I can recover from here. Thank u all for your genuine concern. I love u guys," he tweeted. (MTV News)

+ We already knew our fave rap stars were totes money, and Forbes' "Cash Kings" list of hip-hop's top earners confirmed it. Leading the list are Jay-Z, Sean "Diddy" Combs and Kanye West, and for the first time a Cash Queen cracks the Top 20: Nicki Minaj. Represent. (Forbes)

+ Peep the behind-the-scenes video of Selena Gomez prepping for her Teen Choice Awards performance of "We Own The Night." She says she prefers junk food, but she won a healthy five awards. (Just Jared Jr.)

+ Having caught a recent New Kids on the Block/Backstreet Boys show I can report the guys weren't exactly overdressed for the occasion, but they were definitely wearing pants. Not so on their final tour stop in London, Ontario. Undies alert! (The FW)

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Tags Arctic Monkeys, Backstreet-Boys, Buzz Bites, Celebrity, Diddy, Gavin DeGraw, Jay-Z, Kanye West, New Kids on the Block, Nicki Minaj, Selena Gomez

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+ Sorry, internet pirates, but you will not be hearing Jay-Z and Kanye West's mega collabo Watch The Throne before you're supposed to. Jay-Z's manager, John Meneilly, tweeted recently, "It is not going to leak." There ya have it. (Rap-Up)

+ Sean Kingston not only feels a lot better after his Jet Ski accident, but also after his recent weight loss: "I don't eat after 6 [p.m.], and then I really just do the treadmill..." If I could just keep that in mind the next time I scarf down brownies at 12:30 a.m. (MTV News)

+ Despite what you might have heard about what sent Demi Lovato to rehab, the singer opens up in the September issue of Elle magazine stating, "I wouldn't credit my meltdown to a guy. There was so much other stuff in my life." Jonas who? (The FABlife)

+ Even though Bruce Springsteen's iconic dance moves in his "Dancing In The Dark" video were fairly simple, apparently they required some practice. Check out recently discovered footage of the Boss literally dancing in the dark. Um, '80s Springsteen #cangetit. (ONTD)

+ Amy Winehouse's collaboration with standards legend Tony Bennett that was recorded earlier this year will be released as a charity single. Look for "Body And Soul" on Tony's upcoming album, Tony Bennett: Duets II, out this September. (Rolling Stone)

+ And now, photos of three-quarters of the Backstreet Boys going down a waterslide. (ONTD)

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Tags Amy Winehouse, Backstreet-Boys, Bruce Springsteen, Buzz Bites, Demi Lovato, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Sean Kingston, Tony Bennett

We love it when former boy banders go solo. Justin Timberlake is the obvious success story here, but we'd like to take a quick minute to highlight the underdogs. J.C. Chasez' "Some Girls" is still on our workout mix, Nick Carter's "Help Me" brings us right back to sophomore year in high school, and no matter how harshly we're judged, we'll always love Jordan Knight's "Give It To You."

Though we won't list him as an underdog quite yet (give him a minute... GOSH!) former Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough (aka Howie D), who's also one-ninth of NKOTBSB, has just released the video for his new solo single,"100," off his forthcoming album, Back To Me.

We'll admit we had our doubts (like, within the first five seconds when we were confronted by some pretty intense dance moves by the female lead in the video). But, as we pressed on, we were actually pleased with our findings. In direct contrast to his sugary pop days, Howie's gone down a more freestyle R&B throwback path, and frankly we think it suits him.

In his "100" video, Howie convincingly promises his highly enthusiastic female friend that he's "giving you 100/I hope that's enough/ I'll never give any less girl/you're worth that much." And, despite his dancing -- let's just say he's no J.C. Chasez, OK? -- we actually believe he's gonna try to be good to his gal, so we're in complete support of his foray into solo stardom. Get it, Howie D.

+ Watch Howie D's "100" video.

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Tags Backstreet-Boys, Howie Dorough, JC Chasez, Jordan Knight, Justin Timberlake, Nick Carter, NKOTBSB

Credit: Jim Spellman / Getty Images

Jordan Knight is busy selling out arenas with New Kids On The Block and Backstreet Boys on their NKOTBSB tour, promoting their companion album, AND he just released his solo album, Unfinished. Multitask much?

Last night at New York City's Canal Room, Jordan sang hits from Unfinished -- his first solo album since 2006's Love Songs -- which you can listen to here, by the way.

To our younger readers: Jordan was one of the members of early '90s boy band New Kids On The Block, a merry band of young dudes from Massachusetts, and our pal Jordan was (arguably) the group's biggest heartthrob, the Justin Bieber of his day one might say. Jordan's 41 these days, and it's great to see him still making music and remaining heartthrob-ish.

New Kids On The Block will be performing live on tour this summer with the Backstreet Boys and Jordin Sparks and Ashlyne Huff. As for Jordan, hopefully he's got a few more albums up his sleeve. It's always good to see him hangin' tough.

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Tags Backstreet-Boys, Jordan Knight, New Kids on the Block, NKOTBSB, Star Spotting

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Any elementary writing class will tell you that all stories need a beginning, a middle and an end. But, music videos? Nah. Who needs a story when you have close-ups of Nick Carter walking along the beach for three and a half minutes?

Backstreet Boy Nick Carter released his newest video, "Just One Kiss," off of his upcoming second solo record, I'm Taking Off,, and basically, it's close-ups of Nick Carter walking along the beach for three and half minutes. It's kind of like The Blair Witch Project (see: extreme close-ups!) meets the opening sequence of "Laguna Beach." But it's not like we necessarily mind -- Nick Carter's not exactly hideous or anything. And he's singing about kissing. Win-win.

And maybe we can chalk this up to our superhuman music video recognition powers, but is the pier that Nick Carter is walking along while looking thoughtful and nostalgic the same pier from Britney Spears' "Sometimes" video? If so, what does that say about us that we recognized it -- pop culture connoisseurs or losers? To-may-to, to-mah-to.

+ Watch Nick Carter's "Just One Kiss" video below.

Tags Backstreet-Boys, Nick Carter, video

Credit: Wireimage, Getty Images

Dear Nick Carter,

Um, way to go on your majorly impressive weight loss of 65 POUNDS. You are no longer Larger Than Life in that sense of the phrase. That's some Jared of Subway stuff right there.

We give you props for overcoming your ten-year addiction to drugs and alcohol and getting clean, sober, and healthy. Your solo album, slated to debut on May 24 may be titled I'm Taking Off, featuring the single, "Just One Kiss," and we give you credit for taking it ALL off -- all 65 pounds of it healthfully, through diet and exercise. You've proved once and for all that not food, nor alcohol, nor drugs are your fire NOR your one desire. Why? Because you Want It That Way. We totally think Lady Gaga would let you achieve your not-so-secret goal of kissing her. Looking good, Carter! We look forward to your seeing your new svelte bod on tour with NKOTBSB.

Toodles,

Us

Tags Backstreet-Boys, Nick Carter, NKOTBSB, We Have To Say Something

You may be too old to remember when Joey McIntyre was the youngest New Kid On The Block, but now he's all grown up and part of the boy band supergroup NKOTSBSB, which is a combination of the New Kids and the Backstreet Boys (see: amazing). So, Joey's doing pretty well for himself, especially after NKOTSBSB's single, "Don't Turn Off The Lights Now," left us extra excited for the tour, on which all nine -- nine! -- members will be embarking this summer. Two generations of crazed fans -- luckily, we were old enough to live through fold-out posters of both Joey McIntyre and Nick Carter --unite!!

And "Joey Mac," as he was better known back in the day, doesn't just sing anymore, either. Dude can act, too. Recently, Joey tweeted some photos snapped of himself dressed up like a cop for a guest appearance on the show "Psych."

We have to say that while the guy still looks adorbz, we're on team Litrell fa lyf. It's just the rules of boy band jungle, y'all.

Credit: @JoeyMcIntyre

Tags Backstreet-Boys, Joey McIntyre, New Kids on the Block, NKOTB, Star Spotting