- Black & Blue was simultaneously certified Gold (500,000), Platinum (1,000,000), and eight-times Platinum, making it the highest debut certification of the year. Way to go, Backstreet Boys!! (I guess the *actual* first-day sales of 3.6 million were counted after all since it's only been a month....)

- The Backstreet Boys are the only ones touring next year. The one known to some as a Backstreet Brother, Aaron Carter is going on tour also. He starts February 9, 2000 and tours the country, which will include ten dates that were canceled this past year.

- Awesome, AWESOME news. According to Coming Attraction on E! Channel, Kevin will be starring in a movie called Dragon Ball Z along with Pat Morita (who'll play "Master Yoshi"; he's the old guy from the Karate Kid movies), and wrestler Goldburg (who'll play "Napa"). Kevin will be playing "Vegeta", one of the main characters.

- The Backstreet Boys will be doing a concert in Mexico on March 23rd. Happy concert-going, Mexico!! Backstreet Boys love you!!

- Christina Aguilera totally dissed the Backstreet Boys saying: "like the new Backstreet album, I don't like it at all. If I were Jive Records, I would've been embarrased to put my name on it." This was after saying she's no longer relishes the pop market like she used to. She went on to say that she thinks Jive is telling them what to do, how to act, how to dress, who to date. Goes to show how much she knows. Considering Jive offered them a 60 million dollar record contract to KEEP them, it's widely known the Boys are pulling the strings now. And if Jive was telling the Boys who to date, Brian and Kevin most likely wouldn't have been allowed to get MARRIED. Personally, I never really liked Christina. Like her, I'm more hard rock, but I put this all down to jealousy. I mean, they're the biggest-selling, most popular vocal group in the WORLD and at Jive Records. I haven't heard anything like that said about Christina.....

- Got some possible details on the Boys' video for the second single off Black & Blue, "The Call". The guys were in Los Angeles this past weekend to shoot the video and I, along with four friends, just *happened* to show up. Anyway, Brian spent close to 6 hours taping his part. He was being chased by a woman in some sort of plastic outfit. Kevin was also being chased. He ended up jumping out of a window to get away. They used a body-double for this stunt. Nick was wearing army fatigues, combat boots and a long black leather jacket. His hair was spiked. All we know about Howie was that he was hanging from a pole. Rumor has it that Outkast will also appear in the video which will feature a remixed version of The Call. And the Boys taped several different endings for it and the fans will get to choose which one will make the final cut. The single and the video should be released early next year.

- The new Teen People issue has Backstreet Boys at #1 on their "Top 10 Moments of 2000" with the Backstreet Marriages. They also have a "Now and Then" of Nick with some cool pics.

- It's finally out! The Backstreet Boys will be singing the "National Anthem" at Super Bowl XXXV on January 28th, which also happens to be Nick's 21st birthday). They will be performing after legendary Ray Charles sings "America The Beautiful". The singing of the "National Anthem" will be televised. Everything starts a 6pm EST/3pm PST on CBS. I'd watch a little early though, what with pre-game shows and stuff.

- Tickets for the Johnny No Name concert in Orlando, Florida are going on sale December 18th through Ticketmaster. AJ will be performing as his alter-ego and performing with the ORIGINAL Backstreet Band. All the proceeds will go to VH1's Save The Music Foundation.

- The first artist signed to the Backstreet Boys un-named record company, 18-year-old Krystal, will be the opening act for the 2001 Black & Blue World Tour.

- There's a new game out for all Backstreet Fans called "Backstreet Boys Around The World Game", by Patch Products. The game will have five categories: "Name That Song!", "What Comes Next!", "All About The Boys!", "Perform!", and "Dare!". The first player to get around the world with the Backstreet Boys wins!! It will be available in stores after Christmas. It's available now through the Boys online store.

- Pollyanna.web.com (Howie's sister's website) is selling angel pins for $5 each. All the proceeds will go to the Dorough Lupus Foundation. On Monday, Howie and various family members will embark on a cruise with some fans and contest winners that will also benefit the foundation.

- Show your support for the Backstreet Boys by voting for "Shape Of My Heart" for "Best Pop Single" and Black & Blue for "Best Pop Album at Dotmusic.com's poll. The Boys aren't listed so you'll have to type in their names and such. GO HERE to vote.

- Black & Blue has slipped to the #2 spot on the Billboard Charts. The Beatles outsold them by a reasonable margin. Black & Blue sold 546,696 copies this past week. Let's get them back at #1 next week.

- The Grammys are going to be on February 21st (the day after Brian's 26th birthday) in Los Angeles. This past year, the show was held at the Staples Center instead of the Shrine Auditorium. The nominations are to be announced next month, and hopefully the Boys will get nominated again.

- Another date has been added to the 2001 Black & Blue World Tour. For those fans up in Oakland, CA, another concert has been added to take place on March 1st. Tickets go on sale December 17th at 10am. Good luck!!

- Outkast is to do a remix for the Boys next single, "The Call". There will be several remixes done to broaden the Boys' audience. The Boys will be in Los Angeles this weekend to shoot the video for "The Call", where several endings will be taped and the fans will get to choose the ending.

- A "We Love You, Backstreet Boys" banner, sponsered by Artist Direct, will be passed around at all the concerts on this first leg of the tour for the fans to sign. Then at the end of the first leg, it will be presented to the Backstreet Boys. So, when you go to your concert, look for the banner and sign it!

- Vote for the Backstreet Boys in People's "Most Intriguing Person 2000" poll. Right now, the Boys are at #2 (Billy Ray Cyrus is #1) and Nick is at #9. But we want all the Backstreet Boys there, GO VOTE for them today!!

- Also, vote for the Backstreet Boys at TRL's Greatest Moments 2000. Let's support our fab fave.

- Be sure to watch Entertainment Tonight tonight at 7pm on CBS. They're doing a segment on celebrities' dressing rooms. Don't miss it.

- The very concert I got tickets to, which is the March 14th concert at the Staples Center, sold out in three minutes!! So after spending hundreds of dollars on eight tickets, two seconds after I hung up my phone, they were all gone. I guess everyone was buying in bulk this tour. Another date was scheduled for March 15th, but I don't know if that's sold out also.

- AJ is doing a Johnny No Name concert at the Hard Rock Live in Orlando on December 30th with the ORIGINAL Backstreet Band (YAY!!). Tickets will go on sale soon. Also, another Johnny No Name mini-tour similar to the last one is expected towards the end of March 2000. I caught the first show of the last Johnny No Name tour in Los Angeles and thought it was awesome. I definitely recommend seeing it.

- More dates have been added to the 2001 Black & Blue World Tour: January 24th in Ft. Lauderdale, FL; March 4th in Sacramento, CA; and March 9th in Las Vegas, NV. Tickets go onsale December 16th for all three dates.

- Speaking of AJ, he and singer Anastacia are planning on doing a duet together in the near future. Anastacia said she's hoping to talk to AJ soon, so they can discuss it further, but their schedules haven't permitted it yet. So, be expecting that.

- Brian has gone solo for the Olive Juice movie, starring his wife, Leighanne. He sings the title track, which he also co-wrote. He's also got a bit part as a horse-drawn carriage driver, while AJ will appear as a DJ. "The Perfect Fan", which Brian wrote for his mother, is also the soundtrack. It's unclear whether the soundtrack will see a CD release, but if all else fails, Brian and Leighanne will release it through their company, Brileigh Productions.

- The Boys will be in Los Angeles this coming weekend to shoot the video for their second single, "The Call". AJ called Jojo of KIIS FM, Los Angeles, and they talked about the promo tour (Jojo went with them) and the video. AJ said the Boys will be taping several different endings and the fans will be able to chose the ending.

- VH1 is having an auction where you can bid on golf game score cards signed by the Backstreet Boys. All proceeds will go to the Save The Music Foundation. The Boys played in the Fairway To Heaven Golf Tournament in Las Vegas in 1999 while this year only AJ attended. CLICK HERE to bid on the score cards.

- The Boys have been helping out with the "Helping Hands Campaign". They all drew their hands on paper, colored them, did whatever and put them up for auction. Kevin's hand went for $152.50, Brian's hand went for $2,025.00, Howie's hand went for $1,009.00, and Nick's hand went for $2,276.11. Also auctioned off was Nick's Millennium Tour outfit, signed by all the guys, and that was sold for almost $10,000!! Right now, AJ's hand is up for auction. All the proceeds go to the charities of their choices.

- Backstreet Boys pretty much ruled the Teen Scene Awards. They won: "Favorite Group", "Best Hair Styles- Male", "Favorite Boy Band", "Best Dressed- Male", "Favorite Video"- "Shape Of My Heart", Nick won "Best Body", and a bonus award, "Editor's Choice". Congratulations, guys!!

- I'M GOING TO SEE THE BACKSTREET BOYS!!! I got tickets to their concert on March 14th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. To be exact, I got EIGHT tickets, which was their limit. I had to get that many for big crew of people going with me. We checked the seating chart and got tickets as close to the stage as we could and it cost us close to $600. But to see the Backstreet Boys, it's well worth it.

- Just one thing to tell you about, but it's good. www.fashionTeen.com is having a contest called Backstreet Boys: Shape Of Your Heart. You write a story, poem, manifesto, etc, about how the Boys have shaped your heart, in 500 words or less. Then you send it to backstreetboys@fashionteen.com. The grand prize is a round-trip, two-night stay for four to Las Vegas to see the Backstreet Boys in concert on March 8th, at the MGM Grand Hotel. Transportation from & to the airport is provided. You'll have four tickets to the concert. The next 20 entrants will win a Backstreet Boys gift pack. You have to 18 years or older OR have the consent of a parent or legal guardian. You can enter the ORIGINAL entry as many times as you want up until January 31st, but only one entry per day will be counted. Entries will be accepted in EMAILS ONLY, and it must be attached as a word or text document. GOOD LUCK TO ALL WHO ENTER!!

- Black & Blue is #1 on the Billboard Charts for the second week, moving almost 700,000 copies. Way to go, Backstreet Boys and Backstreet Fans.

- Here's a couple of tour dates for Texas fans. The Boys will be stopping by in August. On August 28th, they'll be in Dallas, playing at Six Flags Over Texas. On August 29th, they'll be in Houston, playing at Cynthia Woods.

- Nick and Howie were at the 2000 Billboard Awards on Tuesday. Nick and his brother, Aaron were presenters for "Female Artist of the Year" (which went to Christina Aguilera **ha, ha, Britney**). Some friends and I were there, of course, and we grabbed seats as close to Nick, Aaron, and their mother, Jane, as we could. During a commercial, I took my niece over to see Aaron and she was so freaked out, she could barely talk. I said a few words to Nick and Jane, told Nick we thought Black & Blue was awesome, then had to go back to our seats because we were back on the air. It was cool, though. My friends and I went up to Howie during another commercial break and told him how much we LOVED Black & Blue. He was like, "Thanks" and smiled really big. After the show, my friends and dropped off my niece at our room, then headed to Studio 54 to party. It was fun!!

- The 2001 Black & Blue World Tour is projected to gross $250 million, due to the size of the venues and the prices for tickets. Since the Boys have decided to do stadiums this tour and not just arenas, they have a lot of tickets to sell. And the tour is LONG. Starting off with the 1st U.S. leg on January 22nd which will go thru to March. Then the guys will head over to Mexico and South America in April. The guys will hit Europe in May and June, then come back to the U.S for the 2nd leg which will be run through the rest of the summer. Then for October and November, it's off the the Pacific Rim, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. The Backstreet Boys are going to majorly busy next year.

- Zomba Recording Group is going to catalogue some of their artists (which include the Boys) songs on the internet. It will be a pay-per-download thing with participating online retailers only. You will need to download Liquid Audio (which you might have already done if you downloaded "The Call"). Prices are to announced soon. There will be some restrictions.

- AJ wants to pair up with Eminem and do a Limp Bizkit-type track for his Johnny No-Name alter-ego. He has yet to ask the rapper to do it, but says he will. He chose to do it without the Backstreet name due to his view of Eminem, saying he's a bad role model for younger fans. Also, AJ wants to pair up with Robbie Williams and do a show with him, as well. Still hasn't asked yet, but he says he will.

-The Backstreet Boys were asked to perform not only the "National Anthem" at the Super Bowl next month, but they were asked to perform at half-time also. But, due to staging difficulties, the Boys will only perform the "National Anthem". However, this is the first time EVER that the same artist was artist was asked to perform both the "National Anthem" and the half-time show.

- Howie was at a BBMak concert in Los Angeles this past weekend. He was sitting up in the balcony area. He was noticed by some fans, but when the attention all went to him, he left his seat until BBMak came on. He then came back and was scarcely noticed. Then some fans waited for BBMak to leave and also got to see Howie leaving.

- According to a woman who knows someone that works at Jive Records, the Backstreet Boys actually sold 3.6 million copies of Black & Blue in it's first week, as thought by many fans, and most specifically the "Mature Fan Club". But, because Jive wants to keep the fan rivalry between Backstreet Fans and 'N Sync fans, they only had 1.6 million copies reported sold. Also, concerning the controversy of No Strings Attached first-week sales, it's been reported that whenever someone bought the album, it showed on the receipt that TWO copies were purchased when only one was (I also noticed that on my receipt after buying a copy for my 7-year-old niece). The woman talked to the manager of the store she bought her copy and was told that the record company wanted it keyed in that way, that the bar code was made so two copies would be counted, not just one. So this person talked to her friend at Jive and she said she knew nothing about it until now. She said Jive wants to keep 'N Sync on top because they don't think the group will have anything left. And since Jive hasn't offered any multi-album deals, they're getting all the money out of 'N Sync they can. Everybody knows the Boys have a 5-album deal with Jive, so that's why they've downplayed their record sales. They know the Boys will last longer than 'N Sync and if they left, Jive would be out on it's ass with only 'N Sync's and Britney Spears' uncertain futures as their cash crop. When the woman was asked if the Boys knew about this, she thought they probably do 'cause they're trying to get away from that whole "boy band" thing and not saying anything might somehow help, which I think is pretty honorable of them. But what I don't think is cool is 'N Sync going around saying they sold 2.4 million records (which would only be 1.2 million, barely breaking the Boys record if this is the case) when they really didn't. But hey, that's show business for you and when this comes out, guess who's still gonna be playing sold-out shows??

- Kevin started a new foundation for the environment. The name is soon to be released, but it will help educate about the harmful things we're doing to our planet and tell of ways to help our planet. Kevin's an outdoor kind of person, so his foundation is perfect for him.

- Brian's "Healthy Heart Club" is having a drawing. If you buy a T-shirt from the Club's store, you'll be entered to win a shirt autographed by Brian. Help support Brian's foundation and go enter.

- GO VOTE for Backstreet Boys has MTV's Biggest News. The winner will be featured in the year-end wrap-up of 2000's top stories.

- Ticket's for the March 17th concert at the Staples Center in Los Angeles will go onsale December 10th, according to 102.7 KIIS FM, Los Angeles. Also, the station will be giving away tickets.

- Ticket's for the March 5th concert at the Arco Arena in Sacramento will go onsale on December 9th. Good luck!!

- I just found out that the Rolling Stone's "2000 Reader's Poll" end tomorrow, so go and vote for the Backstreet Boys in every catergory you can. GO HERE to vote.

- Yesterday, the Backstreet Boys were Rolling Stone Daily's "Artist of the Day". Way to go, Boys!!

- I don't know about the rest of the Boys, but Nick is going to be at the 2000 Billboard Awards (which means, so will I). Nick and his brother Aaron are going to be presenters. The Billboard Awards will be on December 5th at 8pm on FOX.

- Tickets for all California tour dates will NOT be going on sale tomorrow. Somehow, Sacramento got left out of the tour, so a little rescheduling is being done. When tickets for the California dates go on sale, I'll let you know.

**All of November's new has been removed, but if you'd like to check back on something, there's a link below you can visit.**