Teenage Dream
A new bevy of boy bands are conquering the music charts—and the hearts of little girls everywhere.
These four future princes of R&B—still in their early teens—were made into a group by Vincent Herbert, the impresario who “discovered” Lady Gaga. They sing about missed curfews and innocent texts, but they already have a Top 10 record and know how to gyrate like Ushers-in-training. Dress code: Wifebeaters and black leather jackets, worn with dark sunglasses in da club. Dance party: Impressive bumping and grinding, popping and locking. Fan base: Shorties and ex-Beliebers who feel Biebs is over-the-hill.
The Nickelodeon show Big Time Rush follows four Minnesota hockey players trying to make it as a boy band; incredibly, the show has led to a hit album—not to mention a public squabble with a rival group called, sadly, All Time Low. Dress code: Singer James Maslow’s blow-dried coif suggests a lesbian Chace Crawford. Dance party: The lack of precision in their choreography would’ve gotten them fired from 98°. Fan base: Nickelodeon viewers, nannies, and one young girl who jumped out of a plane with a btr-emblazoned parachute.
After auditioning as solo acts for The X Factor in the U.K., five boys joined forces to inflict upon an unsuspecting public their PG-rated paeans, garnering both Mom’s approval and waves of teenage puppy love. Dress code: Safe. One’s first impulse is to reward them with treats. Dance party: Lots of energetic, aimless strutting, à la Menudo. Fan base: Directioners, as their unruly fans are known, have succumbed to everything from fainting spells to an inability to stop shrieking—hence the band’s reported 100-strong security detail.