I knew their songs, talked to them on the phone and could match their names to their faces with no problem, but I never met Brian, Nick, Kevin, Howie and AJ in person. So when their record company invited me to spend a weekend with them in Canada, what could I say but, "When's my flight?"

After my 10-hour flight from Los Angeles, California to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, I checked into the hotel and talked with Denise Mclean, AJ's mom. Denise handles the group's scheduling so she told me to meet the guys in the room of their manager, Donna Wright, at 10 am the next day.

When I arrived at Donna's room the next morning, Nick, Howie and AJ were eating bagels and drinking coffee and tea. We all introduced ourselves, and before I knew it, I was talking with them like I'd known them forever! Then when Brian and Kevin arrived (they're the sleepy heads of the group), we really had a gab-fest goin' on. Nick, Brian and Howie definately the most talkative, but Kevin and AJ are far from shy. Some of the stuff we talked about included clothes: They all like wearing clothes by Tommy Hilfiger and they feel it's important that they look nice because they're always in the public eye. And, of course, the subject of girls came up. None of the guys have ever dated the same girl, although they've more than once spotted the same girl in the audience that they'd like to date. Nick and Howie admitted they like being pursued by girls, while the other three like doing they pursuing.

I probably could have talked to them all day, but they had to meet a bunch of other reporters for lunch so they had to get dressed and made-up by makeup artist Angie. (Yes, the guys wear a little makeup when they're going to be photograped.)

I hooked up with the guys about an hour later at a banquet room in their hotel. We had lunch and, you guessed it, gabbed some more. Unlike me, they had no problem eating (with perfect table maners, mind you) and talking at the same time.

After lunch they taped their electronic press kit, which included group and individual interviews and a recording of them singing "I'll Never Break Your Heart" on camera. Then we said we'd meet them a few hours later at their sound check at the Molson Centre.

Talk about an impressive arena! When we arrived at the Molson Centre, they had three humongous screens up for the show that night. The guys were psyched about the screens and the fact that all 14,000 seats would be occupied by their fans in three hours! After the initial excitement wore off, they tested their instruments and mikes and headed back to the hotel to get ready for the show.

I had dinner with them, their musicians and the crew backstage before the show. What a spread! There was a full buffet table of salads, pastas, mashed potatoes, roast, beans and desserts. Were the guys nervous at this point you wonder? Not one bit! They posed for pics with fans, accepted a plaque commemorating their multi-platinum album (which had been released in Canada and Europe) and just kind of hung out with everyone. But, when the lights went off and the music went on, Brian, Nick, Kevin, Howie and AJ transformed themselves from kick-back to kick-butt!

For those of you who have never seen a Backstreet Boys concert, the only way I can explain it is high energy! It's total non-stop dancing, singing and, oh yeah, flirting from beginning to end. The two-hour concert flew by, and when they finally did their encore, I, like the rest of the crowd, was sad to see them go.

It was a great trip and I'm glad I got to spend as much time as I did with them. I can't wait until they come to Los Angeles!