As you walk in the door you notice that you are standing on your front porch. Howie drives up in a dark red 1999 mustang convertable.

He is wearing a black/red/and yellow Tommy Hilfiger shirt and black Tommy jeans. He walks up to you and asks if you are ready.

You and him are going out dancing at the local dance club.

You guys get in the car and Howie starts asking you questions about you, and you ask him how he got started.

"So you want to know about me huh?" he asks.

"Well, my name is Howard Dwaine Dorough. But my friends and family call me Howie. I was born on August 22, 1973 in Orlando, Florida."

He also tells you, "I like water sports like water skiing and also working out. I had odd jobs like at Zaro's Bread Basket in New York one summer. I mopped floors...I also worked at Universal Studios as a tour guide."

"How did you get started in with the Backstreet Boys?" you ask.

For dark, swoon-worthy Howie Dorough, show business was totally in the blood!

He began when he was a tiny tike, jumping upon his grandma's bed and singing "Babyface". By the age of seven, Howie was already appearing on stage--in a production of The Wizard of Oz, staged in Atlanta's southern music mall. "I was a munchkin with pants that were three sizes too big for me," he remembers. "I was holding up my pants the whole time. I was following my sister Polly, who was in high school at the time. She got the role of Glenda the good witch, and I was a munchkin." At seven, Howie was also taking voice lessons and appearing in dinner theater productions of The Sound of Music and Camelot.

Since Howie was born and raised in Orlando (home of Disney World and Universal Studios), he was able to take advantage of a bunch of showbiz opportunities. He began appearing in Nickelodeon shows (Nickelodeon films it's shows at Universal) and commercials. Always, his romantic good looks maded an immediate impression.

But it would be singing, not acting, that would become Howie's true calling. Howie would become one of the original Backstreet Boys--along with A.J. and Nick. (Kevin and Brian would join later). As Howie recalls: "It was like fate. I auditioned, and ths women who was holding the audtition asked if I knew someone named A.J., and I said yes, because A.J. and I had done some acting together. So it was me, A.J. and Nicky and two other guys who, inevitably, didn't work out."

What did work out was Howie's immediate chemistry with the other BSB. Every guy is tottally effusive in their praise for the dark, soulful eyed crooner who hits a falsetto high note like nobody's business. "He's like my bro, he's so cool," says A.J. and Kevin counters, "He's always calm, no matter what."

Howie attributes his upbeat and easy going temperment to his parents and his upbringing. "My parents always stressed hard work and doing your best," he says. "So that's what I try to do everyday. But I also don't stress out over things, because I know in the end, everything will work out for the best. It always does."

Another attribute Howie has in abundance--a love of all things romantic. He's totally into wooing a girl with flowers and serenades, or cooking a special dinner for two. "I love girls, and I love showing them affection," he says. "I don't think there's anything corny about romance. I think it's beutiful."

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