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American Morning
Showbiz Today Reports: New 'N Sync Album Sells 1.9 Million Copies
Aired August 02, 2001 - 11:42 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Time to check showbiz news this morning with Laurin Sydney, who's standing by, as usual.
Good morning, Laurin.
LAURIN SYDNEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning...
(CROSSTALK)
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: ... party, huh?
SYDNEY: I had to. I flip between "West Wing" and MTV.
HARRIS: Yes, tell us about the MTV thing. We understand that some of those partiers might still be at it.
SYDNEY: Well, they definitely are, because it's right across the street from where the CNN studios are. And I actually believe that we're in year 21 now, but we're not. For this whole group of German kids who missed it because their plane was late -- they're actually standing outside now, and they told me they have no, no time when they're going to leave. Go figure.
HARRIS: Yes, go figure on that one.
SYDNEY: But since we only have three minutes, I'm going to get to what I have to say, because stars of two decades and many musical styles mixed, mingled and partied at last night's MTV 20th anniversary extravaganza in New York. Pop, rock and rap were represented musically. One of the highlights was a hip-hop medley that united Run DMC, Salt-N- Pepa and P. Diddy.
MTV's '80s era was also represented by a rocking performance by Billy Idol. It was a night for musicians whose careers owed a debt to the channel to pay their respects.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOY GEORGE, MUSICIAN: Well, at the time it was like a very colorful postcard that went around the world, so it was great. You know, it meant you didn't have to kind of tour as much, you know, because your videos kind of went before you and told people who you're about, and it was great. CYNDI LAUPER, MUSICIAN: Hey, I had to tour a lot.
GEORGE: You did?
LAUPER: Yes, they worked me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SYDNEY: Boy band 'N Sync sang happy anniversary at the MTV bash. And they have plenty to celebrate themselves: Their new album, "Celebrity," debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts. It sold 1.9 million copies in its first week. Not quite as much as their previous debut, but a very close second.
Our Sherri Sylvester was in sync with the group when they talked to her about the making of "Celebrity."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHERRI SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Rolling Stone" calls them the biggest band in the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Still in the house. Give me some; still in the house.
SYLVESTER: 'N Sync now holds the top two spots for first-week album sales.
Their last, "No Strings Attached," broke all the records with an opening-week take of 2.4 million CDs, eventually going platinum 11 times over.
And in spite of a slowdown in music sales overall, "Celebrity" has made an impressive debut; all the more impressive considering this album was not a safe-bet sequel.
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, 'N SYNC: Everybody's going to really pay attention to the music, and that's really important to us, because we had so much experimentation with this album.
SYLVESTER: They wrote 10 of the 13 tracks themselves.
(on camera): How important was it to write more of the songs, you know, up that percentage of involvement?
J.C. CHASEZ, 'N SYNC: What's great about it is all the songs are so different that they stand alone. It's not like one song kind of runs into the other as far as the vibe is concerned. You know, every song has its own distinct story.
SYLVESTER (voice-over): By all critical accounts, "Celebrity" is a more sophisticated album, a move Jive Records was willing to make.
BARRY WEISS, PRESIDENT, JIVE RECORDS: They're just an unbelievable bunch of hard-working guys. And they've gone out of their way to, once again, re-invent themselves and make an album which is probably state-of-the-art pop.
SYLVESTER: They've played live to more than 1 million fans this summer, filling venues like the Rose Bowl on their Pop Odyssey Tour.
(on camera): It must be important to you to put on a great show and to keep advancing the show.
CHASEZ: We put together everything we could possibly think of and threw it out there. So, I mean, you're going to get all the pyro from concerts that you love, you're going to get high-energy dancing, you're going to get special effects, you're going to get illusions. The show is packed full of everything.
TIMBERLAKE: We're just more hands-on. And I think we always wanted to be like this, but now we're at a place where we're doing it. So, I mean, it's cool.
SYLVESTER (voice-over): And while the Backstreet Boys are feeling the pressures of success...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stress-free. We are insane to keep sane.
SYLVESTER: But beating that boy band label may take some time.
CHASEZ: You want us all to say what size shoe we wear?
SYLVESTER: That's the flip side of celebrity.
Sherri Sylvester, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KELLEY: And the audience and the boys growing up together, still as popular, it seems.
HARRIS: Yes, and that's surprising to a lot of people, that these guys actually have some legs, Laurin.
SYDNEY: They have legs; 1.9 million worth.
But do you have it in your homes? DO your' kids listen to 'N Sync?
HARRIS: Are you kidding?
KELLEY: Yes, sure.
HARRIS: Oh my God, if I hear that "No Strings Attached" CD again I'm going to scream...
KELLEY: His daughter loves...
HARRIS: Well, that's what scares me about it, because my 7-year- old loves it. And I wonder -- that's why I wonder how good the music is, if a 7-year-old loves it, you know.
KELLEY: Well, it's so catchy, though. I mean, you know, it's just very easy and it's happy.
HARRIS: Yes.
SYDNEY: But do you remember when our parents screamed to us,turn it lower? Turn it off?
HARRIS: There you go.
KELLEY: Yes, I guess I've thought that a time or two myself.
Thanks Laurin.
HARRIS: Thanks Laurin.
SYDNEY: Bye-bye.
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