US5: an Overview, or Why Do People Allow Their Teenaged Children Anywhere Near Lou Pearlman?
So, I just want to go on record as saying that wistful_fever is a bad (by which I mean fabulous) influence and has managed to get me hooked on a new... thing. Friends of mine, meet US5:
From left to right: Izzy, Jay, Richie, Mikel, and Chris. Izzy and Richie are American, Jay is British, and Mikel and Chris are German. No, I don't know why, except that they are a Lou Pearlman fabrication. And no, despite the weird hair, they are not an emo boyband. They are a normal, pop boyband and they are fabulous.
Lou is a creepy fuck, but you know what? The man knew how to put together a boyband.
They've had a couple #1 songs and top 10 songs in Germany and some other European countries, and I guess they're pretty big across the pond, but of course, no one here has ever heard of them and now that Lou is in jail, who knows what'll happen to them? Which makes it all so much more interesting! There will be fic about these guys, whether y'all want to read it or not. I mean, they even had a gay intra-band bathroom blowjob scandal! So yes, there will be fic.
This is their debut single, 'Maria.' They all look really young because they are. They're like, 17-19 in this video. And I fucking LOVE this song. Yes, that is Lou Pearlman driving the limo. Try to ignore him.
Rhythm of Life, which is from their second album, I think. Or something. It came out in 2007, anyway. I love this song! I love how it manages to rip off Justin Timberlake so obviously, and yet still leave me loving it. Jay RAPS, WTF. And there's a DANCE OFF. You cannot beat a video with a freaking DANCE OFF in it. I also like the giant words. I think that's so the Germans understand the lyrics better. Also, this song is about nothing. *draws hearts*
For some reason, they decided to rip off an entire BSB video while wearing JC's jacket from the Grammy 'Girlfriend' performance and doing the Michael Jackson 'Thriller' dance. To a BALLAD. \o/ Naturally, I love this.
In Da Club. Bottle full of bub? Not so much. But some very good dancing. Seriously, they are really good dancers.
One Night with You. So. I can't find the making of off hand, but it's pretty hilarious. Richie explains that the video, for some reason he can't fathom, is about him hiring a group of assassins to take out his bandmates. Think 'The Call', but less creepy. Another ballad with a weird-ass video that doesn't match at all. Much like BSB, when they do videos for ballads, they tend to stand around a lot. I like the dancing better.
So that's US5. There's a German television show about them, some of which can be youtubed, but it's in GERMAN. I understood maybe 1/4 of what was going on. All the guys (except Richie, I think) speak German, and they speak German to the cameras and to each other (except Richie, obviously), so it's hard to really get. Yeah, even the second American guy speaks German. Izzy. He's awesome.
The downside of the show, aside from all the German, is that it heavily features Lou, who is really hard to look at. I haven't gotten to watch the entire show yet because the site I was downloading it from uses megaupload and I'd exceeded my download allowance or something (grrr argh), but what I saw was really enough.
There will be fic. Prepare yourselves. Or at least, prepare yourselves to do some scrolling.
From left to right: Izzy, Jay, Richie, Mikel, and Chris. Izzy and Richie are American, Jay is British, and Mikel and Chris are German. No, I don't know why, except that they are a Lou Pearlman fabrication. And no, despite the weird hair, they are not an emo boyband. They are a normal, pop boyband and they are fabulous.
Lou is a creepy fuck, but you know what? The man knew how to put together a boyband.
They've had a couple #1 songs and top 10 songs in Germany and some other European countries, and I guess they're pretty big across the pond, but of course, no one here has ever heard of them and now that Lou is in jail, who knows what'll happen to them? Which makes it all so much more interesting! There will be fic about these guys, whether y'all want to read it or not. I mean, they even had a gay intra-band bathroom blowjob scandal! So yes, there will be fic.
Click to viewThis is their debut single, 'Maria.' They all look really young because they are. They're like, 17-19 in this video. And I fucking LOVE this song. Yes, that is Lou Pearlman driving the limo. Try to ignore him.
Rhythm of Life, which is from their second album, I think. Or something. It came out in 2007, anyway. I love this song! I love how it manages to rip off Justin Timberlake so obviously, and yet still leave me loving it. Jay RAPS, WTF. And there's a DANCE OFF. You cannot beat a video with a freaking DANCE OFF in it. I also like the giant words. I think that's so the Germans understand the lyrics better. Also, this song is about nothing. *draws hearts*
For some reason, they decided to rip off an entire BSB video while wearing JC's jacket from the Grammy 'Girlfriend' performance and doing the Michael Jackson 'Thriller' dance. To a BALLAD. \o/ Naturally, I love this.
In Da Club. Bottle full of bub? Not so much. But some very good dancing. Seriously, they are really good dancers.
One Night with You. So. I can't find the making of off hand, but it's pretty hilarious. Richie explains that the video, for some reason he can't fathom, is about him hiring a group of assassins to take out his bandmates. Think 'The Call', but less creepy. Another ballad with a weird-ass video that doesn't match at all. Much like BSB, when they do videos for ballads, they tend to stand around a lot. I like the dancing better.
So that's US5. There's a German television show about them, some of which can be youtubed, but it's in GERMAN. I understood maybe 1/4 of what was going on. All the guys (except Richie, I think) speak German, and they speak German to the cameras and to each other (except Richie, obviously), so it's hard to really get. Yeah, even the second American guy speaks German. Izzy. He's awesome.
The downside of the show, aside from all the German, is that it heavily features Lou, who is really hard to look at. I haven't gotten to watch the entire show yet because the site I was downloading it from uses megaupload and I'd exceeded my download allowance or something (grrr argh), but what I saw was really enough.
There will be fic. Prepare yourselves. Or at least, prepare yourselves to do some scrolling.