This article was printed in the Oregonian on the day that the Backstreet Boys visited Portland to perform at the Rose Garden. If you have any comments about this article, please e-mail me and I'll post your comments. Underlined words are words I want you to pay special attention to.

Here's the article by Byron Beck of The Oregonian staff. I want you to note that all Oregonians aren't like this guy Beck, so don't get all mad at us Oregonians 'cuz it's not our fault!:

The Backstreet Boys are to music what the Happy Meal is to McDonalds: fun for the kids, easy to swallow, and-like all great junk food-devoid of any nutritional value. This has been a summer of certifiably puffed-up, sugarcoated stadium concerts packaged as neatly as a cereal box-from the super-slickness of Boyz II Men to the Spice Girls, complete with commersials and screen credits. Tonight, the Backstreet Boys, the five poster pin-ups of pop, will unveil their version of the sweet Fruit-Loopy stuff yo a nearly sold-out crowd at the Rose Garden. Expect their feverent fans-mainly hormonally charged and phenomenally challenged preteen girls-to rock the Rice Krispies right off the roof. Topping the charts with such hits as "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)", "As Long As You Love Me", and "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)," these Spice Boys are riding a wave of teeny-bop hysteria not seen since Menudo and the Monkees. And much to the chargrin of critics-and a few parents- who fing their prefabricated pop pap and their baby-beefcake appeal a little too sexual, these boys seem to have found an audience that will follow them anywhere, including the next millenium. It wasn't always that way. The Backstreet Boys- Nick Carter, Howie Dorough,, Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean and Kevin Richardson range in age from 18 to 27. The group formed only four short years ago as an R&B pop trio in Orlando, Fla. Over time, additional members joined to form the group's patented five-part harmonies (none of them play insturments). After a life of singing everywhere from high school gyms to Sea World, the group signed with Jive Records in 1995-but somehow eluded an American audience. So like other hopeful hitmakers, they turned to the more pop-heavy European market and hit big later that year as a "boy group," dominating pop charts and selling millions of records. It wasn't until last summer that the BSBs cought on in the States. Their self-titled debut album, released in August 1997, has sold more than 5 million U.S. copies. But don't expect to hear much of the album tonight. "It" boy Carter-the youngest, the tallest, most popular, and, yes, the cutest-will be within shouting distance, It's safe to say that the screaming will overpower even the most powerful of arena sound systems.