I always struggled in deciding which boy band I loved more: ‘N Sync or the Backstreet Boys. ‘N Sync’s No String Attached tour was the first concert I ever attended and they had songs you could really dance to. But the Backstreet Boys also had such great, catchy ballads. Such a dilemma. Today, January 28, is both Joey Fatone and Nick Carter’s birthday.

In honor of the aging of these two boy band members, CollegeCandy is hosting a showdown to finally determine the best boy band.

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So now that you’ve calculated who we think won the battle of the boy bands, what do you think?

Part of me just wants to sing to the lyrics right now but I will refrain. Partly because I’m not sure I would sound as good on paper, partly because you might hate me by the time I’ve finished. But what better way to spread Christmas cheer than by singing loudly for all to hear?

Okay maybe my voice is terrible. So, I will just have N*Sync tell you everything I want you to hear.

Merry Christ-ma-as, Merry Christ-ma-as and Hap-ee Hol-i-daaaaysss!

No chance for a NSYNC reunion…sorry guys

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The shocker about our favorite crooner, Adele

Sadly, some of our favorite childhood boy band studs…that we fawned over and fantasized about marrying…have fallen from grace. We know not everyone is Justin Timberlake (or Trousersnake as Amanda Seyfried calls him) and therefore can’t transition out of the boy band life. He managed to become a successful actor, hilarious host of SNL and bring sexy back at the same time. Few others have done as well as JT, which is pretty depressing. I mean, we hoped these Bieber forefathers would stick around until we were old enough to be with them. But, that dream is gone.

Case-in-point: Lance Bass created a boy band called Heart2Heart that has just released a video for their song Facebook Official. Yeah, it’s not a joke. I sincerely hoped it was. Our favorite boy band members are just embarrassing themselves all over the place…

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Boy-bands: back in the ’90s, we were their biggest fans. We rocked out to every one of their songs, hung posters of their seemingly perfect pre-pubescent faces on our walls, and daydreamed of our secret romances with them. That inevitable feeling of nostalgia whenever we hear a classic Hanson song, or relive the “Battle of the Acrobatic Boy Band Videos” (featuring none other than *Nsync and the Backstreet Boys). I must admit, I was always a bigger BSB fan, and was secretly screaming like a tween again when I heard they were going on tour this summer!

So what are our other favorite boy bands up to these days? Let’s take a trip down memory lane with our Where Are They Now: 90s Boy-Band Edition.

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Remember the days when we had to wait in huge lines of squirming and screaming girls outside of Best Buy for the midnight release of the new Backstreet Boys CD so they wouldn’t be sold out when we hit up the store in the morning? Those were the days…sort of. But really, I have never been nearly as excited for an album release as I was for NSync’s Celebrity in 2001.

Why did we all love boy bands so much? Was it the frosted tips? Was it the matching outfits and super-coordinated dance moves? Was it the denim cargo pants and diamond earrings? Yes, in fact, it was all of that. And so much more.

I could go on forever, but instead I’ll turn you over to one of our favorite former boy banders so he can tell you exactly what it is that he misses from his glory days with his musical crew.

Here’s the sitch:
Cords are all over this season.

And at first I was like, “Helllllo, 1998! Nice to see you again! But you were awkward enough the first time around and, like a certain *Nsync song from the same year, I don’t want you back.”

But we all love a good ’90s reunion and after a bit of getting used to, I’m all, like, “Um, get those cords up in here. Please and thanks.”

Because this time, instead of the mom-tushie or the super duper bell bottoms that the cords of yore were notorious for, cords this season are not only coming in a plethora of colors, but a plethora of cuts. From skinny (great for boots) to ankle (great for booties) to boot cut (great for pumps) and on and on and on.

And the best part is, you don’t need much to make these pants look gooood; add a simple top and out you go. Just please don’t take a cue from 1998 and rock ‘em with Steve Madden loafers or Doc Martens. My eyes thank you.

Top Row: JCrew, $29.99; Urban Outfitters, $49; Gap, $59.50.
Bottom Row: Charlotte Russe, $29.50; JCrew, $29.99; Urban Outfitters, $54.

Need even more fashion (on a budget) ideas? We’ve got ‘em all right here.

Forget the iPad, iPhone, iPod, and any other device that starts with a lowercase i, because today is all about celebrating the CD player. For those that may have forgotten, it was the bulky device we shoved in our JanSports as we rode the bus to elementary school. The one that came with a 10-pound binder, filled with discs (most of which only contained 2 or 3 songs we actually wanted to listen to).

In honor of nostalgia and the beloved CD player, the device that not too long ago provided us with much needed musical entertainment (and frustrated us with scratches and skips), it’s time to look back at the greatest CDs to ever spin violently inside. Well more like the CDs that made me force my mom to forget the carpool kids and go straight to the store. Because if I wasn’t playing all the chart topping hits from TRL, I was sitting alone at lunch.

No Strings Attached, 2000, *NSYNC: Every generation has a big decision to make that will change their lives forever. For us, it was choosing between BSB and *NSYNC. And my loyalties lay with JT. So I covered every inch of white in my room with posters of the oh so dreamy and so much cooler, Justin, JC, Joey, Lance, and Chris. So when the boys that stole my 2^nd grade heart, singing about tearin’ up hearts in matching white shirts, announced the release of a new album, I could barely contain my excitement. And with doll versions of themselves singing about going Bye, Bye, Bye and proclaiming It’s Gonna Be Me, the album definitely didn’t disappoint.

Oops!… I Did It Again, 2000, Britney Spears: Rewind ten years, back to the time when Britney wasn’t walking barefoot in gas stations, shaving her head, and having quickie weddings. A time when she was hanging out in school gyms dressed barely-there-inappropriate outfits, singing about getting hit with signs, one more time. So when the time came for my favorite pop princess to come out with something new, I was thrilled. And from being stronger than yesterday to the fact that even a star had reason to cry, cry, cry, this Britney album taught elementary school me A LOT.

The Eminem Show, 2002, Eminem: Now this album wasn’t one I could ask my parents for. In fact had they known that I spent my free time listening to strings of curse words (as my dad not-so-lovingly referred to it), I would probably have never seen a CD player again. But from acting up in mental institutions to the bleach blonde hair, no one could deny the draw of Slim Shady. And once my favorite rapper’s (and only rapper I knew at the time) CDs starting playing in my good old CD player, I realized exactly what he meant in Without Me; the world’s just different without Eminem and not in a good way.

Spiceworld, 1997, Spice Girls: From buying tens of hundred of lollipops to collect all the possible stickers to performing as them in my third grade talent show, the Spice Girls had me hypnotized. And being a Spice Girl fanatic, my world became complete with the release of Spiceworld. Till this day I believe that people of the world just need to slam it the left and shake it to the right and spice up their life.

So with that, thank you, CD player; you were responsible for the soundtrack to my childhood and for that I’ll be forever grateful.

It might be 2010, but here at CollegeCandy we’re still stuck in the ’90s. All you have to do is say Chumbawhumba and we’re off and running on a ’90s nostalgia debate that lasts the entire day. We know we’re not the only people out there that still rock out to N’Sync and still remember the desperation you felt when you lost your favorite Pogs slammer. So instead of constantly arguing amongst the CollegeCandy team, we decided to throw the question out to our readers and choose, once and for all, what is the best thing to come from the ’90s (besides our many devoted readers, of course).

So, in the fashion of every guy’s wet dream, March Madness, we’ve created an “I Love the ’90s” bracket. We’ve been narrowing down the best of the best of our favorite decade for over a week now and things are getting serious. I mean, who knew people loved Cory and Topanga more than N*SYNC? I’m sure I’m not the only one who didn’t see that coming (but I am now wondering when we’ll get a Boy Meets World reunion up in herrrre). And gel pens SMOKING the Bedazzler? I guess milky colors beat out rhinestone studded jackets any day. And maybe that’s a good thing.

But that’s the whole reason we’re doing this (sorry, Doug Funny!) and we’re excited to narrow it down even further today. We’re looking at top 16 choices from all 4 sections. Who’s gonna make it to round 5? Will America’s fave couple (Cory and Topanga) be able to stand up against everyone’s favorite twins? Can the Tamagatchi creep past Skip-it? We won’t know until you cast your vote.

So vote now and then come back every Monday and Thursday this month so you can keep letting us know what is the best thing to ever come from the 1990 and beyond.

Get a closer look at the competition: Entertainment. Trends. Recreation. Events.

Ready to vote? Pick your favorite from each match-up below. We’ll tally the scores and let you know who won when we gear up for the next round of votes on Thursday! And don’t forget to take a trip down memory lane and sound off in the comments!

Polls are closed on this portion of the bracket, but vote on Pastimes and Events right here.

It might be 2010, but here at CollegeCandy we’re still stuck in the ’90s. All you have to do is say Chumbawhumba and we’re off and running on a ’90s nostalgia debate that lasts the entire day. We know we’re not the only people out there that still rock out to N’Sync and still remember the desperation you felt when you lost your favorite Pogs slammer. So instead of constantly arguing amongst the CollegeCandy team, we decided to throw the question out to our readers and choose, once and for all, what is the best thing to come from the ’90s (besides our many devoted readers, of course).

So, in the fashion of every guy’s wet dream, March Madness, we’ve created an “I Love the ’90s” bracket. Today we’re voting on the best of entertainment and trends from our favorite decade, and on Thursday we’ll narrow down our ’90s pastimes and events. Keep checking back every Monday and Thursday this month so you can keep letting us know what is the best thing to ever come from the 1990 and beyond.

P.S. We know, we know – we’re missing a lot. It was a hard decision narrowing it down to 64 awesome things and we’re still upset that there’s no face-off between Britney and Christina. Did we miss something major? Let us know in the comments.

Get an up-close and personal look at Entertainment and Trends.
And take a little sneak peek at what you’ll be voting on (Recreation and Events) Thursday.

Ready to vote? Pick your favorite from each match-up below. We’ll tally the scores and let you know who won when we gear up for the next round of votes on Thursday! And don’t forget to take a trip down memory lane and sound off in the comments!