Roxor Blog

The New Kids on the Block played a huge role in late 80’s/early 90’s music scene. They were the original “boy band”, and helped pave the way for the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync. Loyal NKOTB fans still love them, 20 years later. Joey McIntyre promises to bring a “big show” to the old and new NKOTB fans alike.

The group is hitting the road next month to promote their first album in over a decade. The album, which is titled “The Block”, includes the singles “Summertime” and “Single”. The Block has just been recently released this Tuesday, September 2. These new songs, as well as classic NKTOB favorites, are going to be performed during their upcoming tour.

“There’s not gonna be any ferris wheels or trapezes,” Joey has recently stated to Billboard.com. “We’re sticking to the basics.” The New Kids will have some backup dancers, but Joey promises that he and the other New Kids will be “dancing their asses off” as well.

NKOTB have recently finished most rehearsals and they are currently doing interviews and making appearances in order to promote “The Block”. The group will meet up in Toronto on September 15 to practice rehearsals one last time before the start of the tour. They will be practicing for three days before the start of the tour on September 18 at the Air Canada Center.

Joey claims the New Kids will also be playing for a month in Europe next year, and that they are also taking Asia, Australia, and New Zealand into consideration. Rumors are also spreading that they will be touring North America some next summer.

All though NKOTB fans are ecstatic about their reunion, Joey appears to be cautious about a long-term reunion. “The challenge is,” he asks, “How do you keep it fresh and how do you keep it new?” Fans have been asking him and the other New Kids “What are [NKOTB] going to do next?” “…We’ll see”, Joey answers. If the NKOTB can still remain popular after twenty years, we can only hope they’ll have another twenty years left in them.

Despite Britney’s train wreck fiasco from last year’s MTV Video Music Awards, she’s back again this year to kick off the show. Britney has been confirmed to be this year’s show opener. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the MTV VMA’s, and Spears feels honored with her opportunity to kick the show off. “MTV has long played an important role in my career. How can I not be there to kick of their 25th VMA’s?” Britney also claims to feel “excited” about opening “the entire show”.

Spears, who has had a rough and controversial time this past year, finally appears to have cleaned up her act. Britney is not scheduled to perform this year, but she still has an “exciting surprise” planned for her fans. She is nominated, however, for three VMA’s, including Video of the Year for her song “Piece of Me.”

Her embarrassing performance last year with her song “Gimme More,” was the lowest point of her career. MTV has been criticized by other artists, including Kanye West, for “exploiting her” and “ruining her career”. This year, since cleaning up her act, Britney has a chance to prove all of her critics wrong, and perhaps MTV will be redeemed for allowing her to perform in such a horrible fashion last year.

MTV Networks Music Group President Van Toffler stated “It feels like it’s her year. It’s our 25th anniversary of the VMAs and she’s been such a critical piece of MTV’s history.”

Perhaps this year Britney will actually *WIN* an award. Despite being nominated 17 times in the past, she has unfortunately never won. If this is truly “her year” as Toffler has mentioned, hopefully she’ll finally win.

Britney Spears has come a long way from her horrible fiascos from last year. We can only hope that she’ll have better fortune and success this year.

Country superstar Toby Keith claims that his new album, That Don’t Make Me a Bad Guy, will contain “some very different” songs. The upcoming album, set to be released on October 28, is rumored to feature some “steamy love songs”, which Toby describes as being “kind of out of character” for him.

The album’s first single, “She Never Cried in Front of Me”, is already in the Billboard’s Hot 10 Country Songs chart. Bobby Pinson co-wrote it, as well as other songs on the album. Toby credits Bobby for his “creative and inspring style”.

Other possible upcoming singles for the multi-platinum country superstar include “Missin’ Me Some You”, which is inspired by his recent visit to the troops in Iraq, and a Southern rock track called “Cry of the Creole Woman”. “Cry of the Creole Woman” is said to be about “a girl from a bar in Louisiana putting mojo and a curse on a guy”. The song sounds like something that bluegrass legend Robert Johnson would conjure up!

Toby Keith has also been promoting his film, Beer for My Horses, which is based on his 2003 hit song of the same title. The hit song included a duet with country legend, Willie Nelson. Willie Nelson also makes an appearance in the film, along with fellow music legend, Ted Nuget. Toby Keith co-wrote the screen play, which is said to have taken “10 months” to complete. Actress Claire Forlani co-stars along with Toby.

With both a full length, feature film and a new album under his belt, Toby Keith is going to be in the news for some time to come. The album hasn’t even been released yet and is already getting rave reviews from the critics. Fans are also happy so far with the single, “She Never Cried in Front of Me”. Whether you like him or not, Toby Keith is here to stay.