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WANT TO DATE THE BACKSTREET BOYS?
By TEO PAU LIN IN CLEVELAND, OHIO 

The guys do not back off when they are asked questions which they may have heard a 1,000 times. 

Backstreet Boys may be the biggest boyband around, with Grammy nominations to their name, but still staying on top means
they have to go through PR events, just like anybody else in the music trade. 

Sunday Plus listens in on a meet-the-fans session with the American band -- made up of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian
Littrell, A. J. McLean and Kevin Richardson -- in Cleveland last week. 

As if to echo the sentiment of their hit, I Want It That Way, fans from Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hongkong, Japan and
France demanded, and got, answers for their questions. 

Q: How did you meet your fiancees? (Richardson and Littrell got engaged recently, breaking millions of hearts.) 

Kevin: She's someone I've dated on and off for eight years. I met her in Disneyworld, where I was working as a Ninja
Turtle and she was a dancer. I met her in a cafeteria, and when she walked into the room, she swept me off my feet. 

Then, I asked her out on a date. She stuck by me all through these crazy years. And so I decided it's time to make her my
wife. 

Brian: I met her while making the video for As Long As You Love Me. It's been two years, 10 months and 13 days. 

I just decided to get on with my life and do other things that make me happy. 

Q: What do you think of rival band N'Sync? 

Kevin: They're nice, talented guys. We do not have anything against them personally. The media blew it all out of
proportion. 

As long as they do their own thing, and not do our thing, we're okay with it. 

Q: Would you date a fan? 

Nick: Why not? Fans are like any ordinary person. But the question is whether or not they can handle us being in a band,
being on the road twenty-four seven. 

It all depends on whether or not they can handle it. 

Q: A.J., which is more painful -- getting a tattoo or not winning any Grammys this year? 

A.J.: Getting a tattoo. Even though we didn't win any Grammys, we went back to continue our tour knowing that we proved
to our peers that we aren't just any boyband. We showed that we are maturing, we're growing up and we are a vocal group.
You don't need any visible thing to walk away with. 

Q: What are your favourite things? 

A.J.: My new house, which I decorated myself. And my car. 

Nick: I got a house too. Video games and basketball. 

Howie: Spending time with my family, being on the road, trying new food, new nightclubs. Cattle-herding in Arizona. 

Kevin: I'm beginning to enjoy travelling now that we're able to spend more than just eight hours in any city. When I'm in LA,
I go snowboarding, and out in nature. And my fiancee. 

Brian: My health, my family, sports and my soon-to-be house. 

Q: What is your ultimate dream? 

Brian: To some day become a Dad, running around and chasing my kids, changing diapers. And play golf. 

Howie: Just being able to go out one day and rent an island, and party with my family and friends. I also wanna meet the
Pope. 

Nick: I would like to play basketball in college or in a league overseas. 

I wanna learn martial arts and sail around the world. 

A.J.: I wanna be a teacher or do theatre, preferably in New York University. Be involved as a head of an organisation with
multiple charities, like what U2 and REM are doing. 

Because we've in the public eye, people look up to us. It'd be cool. 

Kevin: Operate my own record label.