N Sync Music Group

You've been dreading it, and now it's here. It seemed like a good idea when you bought the tickets in December, but lately you're grinning through gritted teeth as your daughter gives you the daily countdown. "Mom, only 10 days until 'N Sync!" Then there's MTV--where the boy band's drippy ballads play, oh, every five minutes or so. And why is it that all the Web page bookmarks on your home computer now lead to those same five, fresh-scrubbed faces? "Dad, only one week until 'N Sync!"

As his Next Big Thing takes the concert stage, music mogul Louis J. Pearlman ambles through the swirling smoke and throngs of screeching young girls until he finds a spot to watch the show and, more important, the crowd. On stage, David Perez, a bass singer with a chiseled face and frame, is spinning through a dance routine with the other three members of C-Note, a new harmony group created and crafted under the watchful eye of Pearlman, a 44-year-old millionaire.