'N Sync VMA reunion was Timberlake's idea, some wish it was longer - Los Angeles Times
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‘N Sync VMA reunion was Timberlake’s idea, some wish it was longer

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So dreams came true when former boy band ‘N Sync reunited at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday.

The throwback to millennium glory happened during former frontman Justin Timberlake’s 15-minute medley performance for the annual Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award.

“I don’t deserve the award, but I’m not going to give it back,” Timberlake said during his acceptance speech. “Half of the Moon Men I’ve ever won, I won with those four guys. So above all else, I’m going to share this — we can keep it at my house — but I’m going to share this award with them.”

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JC Chasez, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick joined the “Suit & Tie” crooner for the first time in 11 years when they emerged from the stage floor in a spectacle of smoke to perform bits of their hits “Gone,” “Girlfriend” and “Bye Bye Bye” for about two minutes.

“It was just a matter of time,” Chasez said Monday on “On Air with Ryan Seacrest.” “Everybody would ask us, ‘When are you guys going to do something.’ First of all, it was the worst-kept secret ever, [but] Justin gave me a buzz and he said, ‘Hey, man, listen. I’m getting this award and they have given me a pile of time to perform and we started our careers at MTV and I think we should get the band back together.”

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“So we all decided to do it,” he added.

The performance was widely rumored to be on tap the week leading to the awards, and fuel was added to the fire when the band’s official Twitter account popped up for the first time Saturday.

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The guys also tweeted their excitement after the reunion too.

“I think I just caught my breath... That was an unforgettable night for me. Thank you forever, @MTV,” Timberlake, the newly proclaimed “President of Pop,” tweeted after the show.

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“Thank u guys so much for all the love u are showing for myself and the guys ... Can’t tell u how much we appreciate all of u .. Much love !” Fatone wrote.

“That was for you!!! Best. Fans. Ever! Love you all! #VMA2013 @nsync,” Bass said, adding, “I wonder if @jtimberlake has noticed his moon man is missing yet? He did say he was sharing this right?!”

“We have the best fans ever!!!!,” Kirkpatrick tweeted, later saying, “Was so great to be with the greatest 4 guys on the planet!!!!!”

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Despite their excitement and fan glee, Chasez said there wouldn’t be a reunion tour, despite other disbanded contemporary acts such as the Backstreet Boys, Destiny’s Child and 98 Degrees getting back together recently.

“No,” he said. “It was just about five guys who were great friends who spent 10 or 15 years together touring and we … wanted to give that back to our fans, but we were there mainly to support Justin.”

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However, it’s no secret that Timberlake’s bandmates have not seen the same success as he has since the group broke up. Some members reportedly wished for a longer reunion. (And so did every girl who as a teen rushed home to watch them on MTV’s “TRL” in middle and high school.)

“They were pushing for more,” a source told Us Weekly. “While [Timberlake] was thrilled they could come for him, he didn’t want the reunion to be the whole thing. They originally were told that it was going to be more of their old hits, not just ‘Bye Bye Bye’ -- but then Justin reworked it.”

“The guys wished it could have been more songs,” the source added. “He told them to trust him, he was going to make it great.”

And great it was, albeit short-lived.

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