Free Republic

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.

The pop star, formerly of the girl group Dream, accused Carter of rape. She opens up to Amy Zimmerman about the harassment, doxxing, and industry silence she’s endured since. ===================================================================== When she was 12, Melissa Schuman earned a place in Dream, a girl band that made its mark in the early aughts with hits like “This Is Me” and “He Loves U Not.” None other than Diddy signed Dream to Bad Boy Records, and they joined a pantheon of pop groups that were peaking in the 2000s. It was a whirlwind. “Basically, I was in Dream from 12 to 18,”...

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) called the concerts "a propaganda gift to Israeli apartheid.” Despite the best efforts of Roger Waters, Brian Eno, Thurston Moore, TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe and other Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) supporters, Nick Cave has played one concert in Tel Aviv and is scheduled to play another tonight. The dates are a continuation of an otherwise-Euro tour, and the Israeli headlines praising Cave are already flooding the internet with joy at the artist’s sanction breakthrough. The prince of darkness appeared at a press conference yesterday to explain...

Ex-Dream singer Melissa Schuman accused Nick Carter of rape in graphic blog She alleges that Carter performed unwanted oral sex on her in 2002 incident Schuman claims that Carter then forced her to perform oral sex on him She alleges he then took her to his bedroom and forced her to have intercourse Schuman said she told her manager about alleged rape but was told Carter had powerful legal team and if she pursued charges her career would be ruined She wrote in the blog that she came forward after a story was published about a woman alleging she...

The Backstreet Boys are saying goodbye to the oldest member of their band, according to a statement posted on the group's Web site Saturday. Kevin Richardson, 33, said he was leaving to purse other interests. "It was a very tough decision for me but one that was necessary in order to move on with the next chapter of my life," Richardson said in the statement. The Orlando-based pop band ushered in a new teen-music craze in the late 90's, buoyed by their soulful harmonies, synchronized dance steps, clean-cut good looks and charm. Their three albums sold a total of more...

How to make Confucian communists squirm Easy when you know how HUANG YIXIN and Wei Wei, two students at the Guangzhou College of Fine Arts, were hanging around their dormitory last summer and decided—as one does—to turn on their webcam, put on their Houston-Rockets jerseys and lip-synch a few of their favourite songs by the Backstreet Boys. They uploaded the clips to Google Video, a free website full of such stuff. Their grimaces are over the top, self-consciously ludicrous. And they became famous almost instantly. Astonishingly famous. Almost every Chinese internet user under a certain age has seen the “Back...

"I am sorry that anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the halftime performance of the Super Bowl," Timberlake said in a statement. "It was not intentional and is regrettable." Developing...

Amanda Latona has a voice, but she needs a sound. It is January, and she is standing in a small, closetlike recording booth in Midtown Manhattan, where she is recording part of her first album for J Records. Her handlers are still trying to decide what kind of platinum-selling pop sensation she should be. Originally, the idea was that Latona, who is 23, should be Britney Spears. Latona admires Spears, and they almost performed together in Innosense, a girl group from the home of teen pop, Orlando, Fla. Innosense was designed to be an American version of the Spice Girls,...