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Interview With JC Chasez

Aired February 06, 2004 - 14:36   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The jinx of Justin? Overreaction or not, What viewers saw at the Super Bowl is changing what they're going to see at this weekend's Pro Bowl in Honolulu.
(MUSIC)

PHILLIPS: Oh, Yes, that's what fans were going to see. Justin Timberlake's former *NSYNC bandmate JC Chasez perform as a solo act. Instead, the show will look a little bit more like this.

(MUSIC)

PHILLIPS: A hunk for hula dancers? What's up with that? NFL's plan B is a Hawaiian hoopla. Hula dancers, drummers, conch shell blowers and local singers instead of JC.

But why? The punted pop sensation joins us now from Los Angeles with the scoop. Hi, JC.

JC CHASEZ, SINGER: How you doing?

PHILLIPS: Tell us what the NFL told but your act?

CHASEZ: First of all, I'm not trying to disrespect anybody doing their hula dancing. I think it's great.

But they basically got really wound up about the Super Bowl situation. And I just think that they got a little overly excited and they're just really fearful of what will could happen.

And I think you can't live your whole life in fear. One bad incident shouldn't reflect on the rest of the entertainment world.

PHILLIPS: Did they get a little anxious about the way you dance or maybe the lyrics of your music?

CHASEZ: They would pointed a finger at everything because they were in a tough situation. I understand. Originally, they hired me to sing the song "Some Girls" and they had the song for a month. They knew the routines, and you know, they were comfortable with it then.

But after the incident, you know, they asked me to change the song. I, you know, said, I understand. It's a rough spot you guys are in. Yes, no problem. They recommended what song they wanted. I agreed to do it. After they chose the song, they came back to me. They were worried about, you know, about the choreography being too sexy. I said I'll be happy to send you a tape of the performances I've done to the song.

They said it's not about that. We're worried about the lyrical content. They said listened to the track and they had problems with two words, "horny" and "naughty."

And I agreed because they were in such a tight spot, which is against an artist's integrity, but because I sympathize with the situation, I said I'll pull the words out. I called my producer in the studio. He actually went into the background tracks and pulled out anything in the backgrounds that said anything like that. We pulled it out. No harm, no foul.

They were worried about what everyone was wearing, so we agreed to wear NFL clothing. And they still...

PHILLIPS: JC, are we on the wrong track? Should singers like you who obviously a lot of young men and women look up to, should we leave out the words "horny" and "hunk" and talking about sex?

CHASEZ: Here's the deal. They're running advertisements in the whole game and they're running ads for male performance enhancements. So I mean, I don't know what to say, man. And it's just a part of life.

I mean, people, you know, music is an aphrodisiac to a certain extent. Yes, sometimes things go too far. But I think we're in a whole other era. We're in the communication age, not in the dark ages.

I think that you have to respect people's intelligence and things like that. The only thing that's getting tough now is with this whole shakedown, it's like, you know, I think they're going way overboard and artists themselves are nervous what they're going to say and it's inhibiting creativity.

PHILLIPS: Do you think artists are going to come forward and be a little more sexy, a little more rebellious? Or do you think the creativity is going to be clammed up?

CHASEZ: I think they're compromising artist's creativity with all this going on. Everybody wants to work, let's be honest. There's going to be artists going to do it anyway.

But there's going to be so many people that are also fearful of doing anything. You know, a lot of people are scared. They're worried about, you know, what happens next.

The music business is in a crazy state right now with everything going on. Everybody's worried where their next meal is going to come from.

PHILLIPS: What did you think of the NFL show? You know Justin. You spent a lot of time with him. Did he know what was going on? Did you talk to him? What did you think of the performance?

CHASEZ: I didn't ask him whether he knew what was going to happen. He did actually -- I hadn't talked to him in a couple days. It's a hurricane around him right now.

But he called me up yesterday and he just said, You know what? He goes, I just want to apologize to you. I in no way, shape, or form in my wildest dreams thought this would ever affect you.

And I said me neither. I was at home watching it like everybody else. He goes, you know, I don't know what to say. I said you don't have to say anything. You said you're sorry. It shouldn't have reflected on me. You know, I just told him to keep his chin up.

What happened happened. It's just a weird situation. I definitely don't think that the whole entertainment industry should change because of one mistake. You reprimand a mistake and then everybody moves on with their lives. You don't start looking for other mistakes and reasons to call other things a mistake. You know?

Again, it's just -- it's a little out of hand. I think everybody needs to stop, breathe and move on with their lives.

PHILLIPS: I'm told you were offered the national anthem. I guess you're not going to do it for the Pro Bowl. You want to give us a little line of the national anthem.

CHASEZ: And the home of the brave

PHILLIPS: There you have it.

CHASEZ: You have to be brave, man.

PHILLIPS: And you are. JC, what a doll. Thanks so much. We appreciate your time. Come back.

CHASEZ: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired February 6, 2004 - 14:36   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The jinx of Justin? Overreaction or not, What viewers saw at the Super Bowl is changing what they're going to see at this weekend's Pro Bowl in Honolulu.
(MUSIC)

PHILLIPS: Oh, Yes, that's what fans were going to see. Justin Timberlake's former *NSYNC bandmate JC Chasez perform as a solo act. Instead, the show will look a little bit more like this.

(MUSIC)

PHILLIPS: A hunk for hula dancers? What's up with that? NFL's plan B is a Hawaiian hoopla. Hula dancers, drummers, conch shell blowers and local singers instead of JC.

But why? The punted pop sensation joins us now from Los Angeles with the scoop. Hi, JC.

JC CHASEZ, SINGER: How you doing?

PHILLIPS: Tell us what the NFL told but your act?

CHASEZ: First of all, I'm not trying to disrespect anybody doing their hula dancing. I think it's great.

But they basically got really wound up about the Super Bowl situation. And I just think that they got a little overly excited and they're just really fearful of what will could happen.

And I think you can't live your whole life in fear. One bad incident shouldn't reflect on the rest of the entertainment world.

PHILLIPS: Did they get a little anxious about the way you dance or maybe the lyrics of your music?

CHASEZ: They would pointed a finger at everything because they were in a tough situation. I understand. Originally, they hired me to sing the song "Some Girls" and they had the song for a month. They knew the routines, and you know, they were comfortable with it then.

But after the incident, you know, they asked me to change the song. I, you know, said, I understand. It's a rough spot you guys are in. Yes, no problem. They recommended what song they wanted. I agreed to do it. After they chose the song, they came back to me. They were worried about, you know, about the choreography being too sexy. I said I'll be happy to send you a tape of the performances I've done to the song.

They said it's not about that. We're worried about the lyrical content. They said listened to the track and they had problems with two words, "horny" and "naughty."

And I agreed because they were in such a tight spot, which is against an artist's integrity, but because I sympathize with the situation, I said I'll pull the words out. I called my producer in the studio. He actually went into the background tracks and pulled out anything in the backgrounds that said anything like that. We pulled it out. No harm, no foul.

They were worried about what everyone was wearing, so we agreed to wear NFL clothing. And they still...

PHILLIPS: JC, are we on the wrong track? Should singers like you who obviously a lot of young men and women look up to, should we leave out the words "horny" and "hunk" and talking about sex?

CHASEZ: Here's the deal. They're running advertisements in the whole game and they're running ads for male performance enhancements. So I mean, I don't know what to say, man. And it's just a part of life.

I mean, people, you know, music is an aphrodisiac to a certain extent. Yes, sometimes things go too far. But I think we're in a whole other era. We're in the communication age, not in the dark ages.

I think that you have to respect people's intelligence and things like that. The only thing that's getting tough now is with this whole shakedown, it's like, you know, I think they're going way overboard and artists themselves are nervous what they're going to say and it's inhibiting creativity.

PHILLIPS: Do you think artists are going to come forward and be a little more sexy, a little more rebellious? Or do you think the creativity is going to be clammed up?

CHASEZ: I think they're compromising artist's creativity with all this going on. Everybody wants to work, let's be honest. There's going to be artists going to do it anyway.

But there's going to be so many people that are also fearful of doing anything. You know, a lot of people are scared. They're worried about, you know, what happens next.

The music business is in a crazy state right now with everything going on. Everybody's worried where their next meal is going to come from.

PHILLIPS: What did you think of the NFL show? You know Justin. You spent a lot of time with him. Did he know what was going on? Did you talk to him? What did you think of the performance?

CHASEZ: I didn't ask him whether he knew what was going to happen. He did actually -- I hadn't talked to him in a couple days. It's a hurricane around him right now.

But he called me up yesterday and he just said, You know what? He goes, I just want to apologize to you. I in no way, shape, or form in my wildest dreams thought this would ever affect you.

And I said me neither. I was at home watching it like everybody else. He goes, you know, I don't know what to say. I said you don't have to say anything. You said you're sorry. It shouldn't have reflected on me. You know, I just told him to keep his chin up.

What happened happened. It's just a weird situation. I definitely don't think that the whole entertainment industry should change because of one mistake. You reprimand a mistake and then everybody moves on with their lives. You don't start looking for other mistakes and reasons to call other things a mistake. You know?

Again, it's just -- it's a little out of hand. I think everybody needs to stop, breathe and move on with their lives.

PHILLIPS: I'm told you were offered the national anthem. I guess you're not going to do it for the Pro Bowl. You want to give us a little line of the national anthem.

CHASEZ: And the home of the brave

PHILLIPS: There you have it.

CHASEZ: You have to be brave, man.

PHILLIPS: And you are. JC, what a doll. Thanks so much. We appreciate your time. Come back.

CHASEZ: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com