May 16, 1997

Contributed by our German correspondent, Anne Kirchberg.

Most young people in Europe, Asia and Canada have heard of Orlando, but not necessarily because of Donald or Mickey. Many are fond of Orlando because it's home to Kevin, Howie, A.J., Brian and Nick. Together these 17-25-year-old guys comprise the band, Backstreet Boys (BSB).

The four became friends while living in Central Florida and started staking their claim in the entertainment industry in the early 90's with band performances at U.S. high schools. For a while, Kevin even worked as Aladdin at the Magic Kingdom. They were soon discovered by German media promoter Oliver Oswald, and as BSB they now sing up-tempo songs and r&b ballads and are in the dreams of millions of teenagers. In the countries I named above, bands like BSB are very successful.

When you take a look at the charts in Germany, for example, you'll see at the top positions very often names like Caught in the Act, 911, Human Nature and, of course, Backstreet Boys. There are about 300 of these groups - more are still to come - and all of these bands consist of three to five young, attractive boys who think they can dance and sing marvelously. These so-called boygroups are put together by managers and their songs are written by famous producers and songwriters.

Most fans of Backstreet Boys are girls between 10-18 years of age, and they do everything for their dream men: they spend lots of money buying t-shirts, posters and magazines; they try to sleep in the same hotels as the bands or sleep in front of hotels, music halls and airports; they follow them around all the time; and they scream, cry, fight and faint at the concerts.

While their fame is decidedly international, the Backstreet Boys are still tied to Orlando in many ways. Each of the members lives in Central Florida and the band occasionally records in Orlando. Don't assume it's always Mickey's autograph those international tourists are after.

Anne Kirchberg I am a pedagogic student at the university of Heidelberg, Germany. I am 22 and I've played Softball since I was 13. I really like all kind of sports (rollerblading, tennis, swimming, surfing, running, skiing,...). I love pets also and I have a cat called Maxi. I like the sun, beaches, travelling, friends, music, the internet, cinema, Jim Carrey, Boys II Men, Pizza, Gary Sinise and Tom Hanks. I donīt like racism, war, bad music, spinach, boys who say that they will call you and you donīt ever hear from them,... Other Articles I've Written