Source: Yahoo! News
By Thiane Loureiro
SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - The cracked, dirty parking lot of Sao Paulo's Anhembi Convention Center is hardly the ideal setting for a summer camp. But hundreds of Brazilian (news - web sites) teeny-boppers have pitched their tents here to wait for the Backstreet Boys (news - web sites)' show next week.
Just a stone's throw from the toxic Tiete River that snakes its way through Latin America's biggest city, the girls started camping out a month before the concert, lounging in beach chairs all day and dining on jelly sandwiches with Coca-Cola.
Like the ``Dead heads'' in the United States, the fervent followers of the Grateful Dead who used to pack parking lots to commune before performances of the band, these young girls are willing to do just about anything to get close to their favorite ``boyband''.
``I am going to fail in school because I'm going to miss important tests while I'm here,'' said Daniela, 16, who is camping with her friends in front of Anhembi, where the band will appear for their first Sao Paulo show on May 5 and 6.
The five-boy band, which only has one teen-ager, will also play at Rio de Janeiro's giant Maracana stadium on May 3.
While the Backstreet Boys are used to causing mayhem wherever they go, in Brazil, the world's fifth biggest music market, the idol worship has reached a fever pitch among the country's millions of teen-agers who will get their first-ever chance to see the band live.
Similarly, when Britney Spears and N'Sync played in Rio at the beginning of the year, they headed the most popular night by far of a seven-day rock festival.
Selling Cans, Quitting Jobs
Failing a test may be one of the smaller sacrifices that these girls and their indulgent parents make, however, considering that the $40 ticket price is more than a third of Brazil's monthly minimum wage.
``I collected soda cans so I can sell them for 75 cents per kilo to pay back the money I borrowed to buy tickets for the two Sao Paulo shows,'' said Daniela.
Vanessa, 20, was working as an assistant at a bank to save money for the Boys' visit: ``I quit my job when my boss said that I couldn't get some days off. And I will quit college because I will surely fail this year.'' A big fan of A.J., the 22-year-old ``bad boy'' of the group, Vanessa -- who was wearing a bandanna, '70s-styled jeans and a white T-shirt -- is already planning to find another temporary job to get money to see A.J. in Orlando, Florida, where he will perform as Johnny No Name, his solo project.
But unlike the unbridled parking lot parties that accompanied rock shows in the 1960s and 1970s, these girls are disciplined. They organize themselves in shifts so some of them can go home to take a shower, say hello to their parents and get supplies while others watch over the tents.
Still, many of the girls have traveled too far to run home on errands. Tais, 18, quit her tourism course at college and traveled more than eight hours by bus to Sao Paulo when she heard about the show. She was the first person to pitch her tent in Anhembi, a full month before the concert.
``I haven't had a bath lately so stay away,'' she joked. ``I may go to my grandmother's house to have a shower this week. I don't give a damn and I will do everything to see them.''
Lenient Parents
Although these teens had to go through some hard times to save up the money to make their dreams come true, Heloisa Fleury, president of the Brazilian Federation of Psychodrama, thinks parents should exercise more control.
``The fact that those girls are actually camping and leaving other responsibilities behind shows their parent's inability to say no,'' said the psychologist.
While the teens argue they can ``do what we want since the money is ours'', Fleury insists their parents have to exercise more control. ``Nowadays parents value their kid's vitality and idealism too much. They should not lose control of their authority as parents,'' she said.
While Brazilian fans claim they are the most die-hard followers of their pop idols, the adoration is hardly confined to the South American country.
Last February, when the Boys performed in Toronto, fans blocked the city streets all morning to catch a glimpse of them. In Mexico City, hundreds of girls camped out for days at airports to welcome the group, which has sold more than 55 million albums.
This week in neighboring Argentina, similar commotion can be seen in front of the River Plate stadium in Buenos Aires, where the Boys will play this weekend.
``Sometimes it's tough to be here. It was raining the other day and the tents got all wet. Now I have a cold, but it doesn't matter,'' said Ani, 18.
Elizabeth, 15, said: ``I can't miss school anymore so my father picks me up everyday to take me to school. I just wanted to have the opportunity to talk to them... if that happened, it would be a dream'' come true.