Today, I delivered a persuasive speech in my Comm 210 class about why the Backstreet Boys are better than One Direction. It may be the most accurate thing I've ever written (except for anything I ever did at the Olympics, because, let's be real, Alex probably would have killed me if we published any false facts. That would be a tragedy on par with Shark Week being cancelled).

Before I get started with my speech, I just want to warn you that it's a pretty serious topic. For awhile, it'e been a fairly heated debate, especially among the teenage girls and young women of the United States. It's an issue where there is no grey area: you can only pick one side and whichever side you pick essentially defines you as a human being and how people will view you for the rest of your life.

Today, I will be delving into the multitude of reasons why Backstreet Boys are better than One Direction. I'll talk about how both boy bands got their start and why that makes a huge difference in their careers. I'll talk about how the eras of the reigns signifies that the Backstreet Boys presence is more substantial and, therefore, more important, as well as the difference in the lyrical composition of their songs and other facts that clearly show One Direction being in the minority.

Growing up, cousins Brian and Kevin sung together at all local church choirs and festivals. After graduation, Kevin realized music was his passion and left his family to move to Florida to start a music career. He was hired as a performing cast member at Disney. Brian, being four years younger, stayed behind in Lexington, Kentucky.

Around this same time in the early 1990s, there were three students living in Orlando. Their sole dream was to sing professionally. The oldest was eighteen; the youngest was twelve. None of them knew each other.

At this point, both Disney and MGM Studios had established very high profiles and were providing a lot of audio auditions for movies and commercials. All three boys began attending multiple auditions and started to recognize each other. After getting to know one another better, they realized they were all interested in singing, and one day, began to harmonize.

The boys, named Howie, AJ and Nick, immediately decided to form a trio.

According to the book, "Contemporary Musicians" by Gerald E. Brennen, Howie, Aj and Nick were happy with the way their voices sounded, but felt "they needed two more voices to add range and depth to their sound." A Disney employee overheard their discussion and introduced them to Kevin, who was working as a Disney performer, alternating between being Aladdin and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (so, basically, he had the best job ever).

Now, the boys were just searching for that one more voice. Without it, they were Incomplete.

In 1992, manager Lou Pearlman placed an ad in the Orlando Sentinel, looking to compose a vocal group. AJ was the first to audition and became the group's first member. After an open casting call attracted hundreds of performers, Pearlman eventually decided on adding the rest of the three boys. Still searching for that fifth member, Kevin called his cousin in Kentucky, now a senior in high school. Brian auditioned for Lou over the phone and, on April 20, 1993, he officially moved to Orlando. It was then that the Backstreet Boys were born.

Now, One Direction's formation began in a completely different manner. In 2010, all of the members auditioned as solo candidates on the seventh series of the hit British show, "The X Factor." All of them were cut.

The judges didn't feel that the candidates were strong enough individually to qualify for the solo competition, but, on a whim, decided to combine them and place them within the "Groups" category. After four weeks together, the boys finished the show in third place. Shortly after, they were signed by Simon Cowell.

Let's back track for a minute. The Backstreet Boys auditioned against hundreds of aspiring performers for a spot in their group, while every single member of One Direction was cut from the competition in the third round. Then, after being resurrected and thrown together in a jumbled group, they only placed third. Which one sounds like the more successful start to you?

Right off the bat, One Direction was given huge exposure. While they got their start from flashing their smiles to an audience of 12.6 million viewers every week, the Backstreet Boys had to climb their way to the top. Their first performance were in shopping malls, restaurants, schools and charity events. They experienced the struggle of building a fan base and trying to get a record deal. In fact, it took the Backstreet Boys nine months to get a record deal, whereas One Direction was handed it in a matter of weeks.

Now, you may be thinking that because the boys of One Direction sealed a record deal faster than the Backstreet Boys, they are the better band. However, I would disagree. The struggle made the Backstreet Boys work harder for what they have and appreciate their success. They gambled so much more than the members of One Direction ever did for their fame. Brian, Nick and AJ all dropped out of high school to join the Backstreet Boys, which was a huge risk, especially considering that they didn't get their big break until further along in their career. While One Direction was practically handed their fame, the Backstreet Boy's earlier struggles prove that they are more dedicated in their art.

The Backstreet Boys are also clearly the better boy group because they reigned during the Era of the Boy Band. The mid-1990s were filled with a plethora of male groups crooning with gelled hair, jean jackets and frosted tips. Nsync, LFO, Hanson, 98 Degrees and, of course, Backstreet Boys, were all competing against each other for the title of America's favorite boy band. To quote writer Chelsea Fagan, the Backstreet Boys "sat atop a musical dynasty."

By 1996, less than three years after they had been signed, the Backstreet Boys had already earned their first platinum record. As of 2013, the group had received seven Grammy nominations, two American Music Awards, seven Billboard Music Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, among many others. When "I Want It That Way" was released in 1999, the single broke the record for the most radio station adds in its first week. The Backstreet Boys also hold the title of the best-selling boy band of all time, with 130 million records sold. Despite all the heavy competition, the Boys had a complete reign of the era. While One Direction is clearly popular, they don't have the direct competition that the Backstreet Boys did to prove their worth.

One of the most unique things about the Backstreet Boys that sets them apart from more generic boy bands is in their artistry. The band was originally formed because of the harmonization of Nick, AJ, and Howie and that is a fact that is "Never Gone." In an interview with Noah Michaelson from June 2010, AJ states:

"You can call us a boy band... but, we've always prided ourselves in just being a vocal harmony group. And, we fought tooth and nail for the first five, six years of our actual careers to claim that name."

In the same interview, Brian agrees:

"We're comfortable being the Backstreet Boys. We're comfortable making music that is what it is. We do have a sort of 'magical sound' when we all sing together; it's something that's special and has lasted us a long time. We're not trying to be anything we're not."

Because the five guys are so comfortable in their ability to harmonize together and make music, it's rare that the Backstreet Boys use Auto-tune. The boys of One Direction, however, are famously known for it. While the Backstreet Boys depend on their natural voices, One Direction's music is characterized as being "rock-inherited pop, with bright synthesizers and pitch-correcting software." Their reliance on the software proves that the boys don't yet have the confidence that their older counterparts did.

In fact, even One Direction's main songwriter, Savan Kotecha, understands that the Backstreet Boys will always have an overarching power over the boy band industry. In the past, Kotecha has actually studied the Backstreet Boys in order to produce better hits. In an interview with Time magazine, he states: "The Backstreet Boy's late-90s hits inspired the way I frame One Direction's voices. Harry's got that raspy thing that AJ had and Liam's got the Nick Carter kind of reliability." By providing this quote, Kotecha seems to support the claim that the Backstreet Boys are individualistic, whereas One Direction is just a carbon copy.

To prove that One Direction is basically just a knock-off of the Backstreet Boys, TMZ showed that, on One Direction's freshman album, almost every title of their songs correlated to a Backstreet Boy's song. For example:

Since we're discussing songs, let's explore the difference between the two band's lyrics. First, the Backstreet Boy's song, "Shape of My Heart."

Now, the One Direction song, "Rock Me."

I think it's pretty clear that the Backstreet Boys went a little more in-depth with their lyrics. They already had the image and the popularity, but wanted to prove themselves as artists as well. One Direction, on the other hand, has lyrics that are catchy, but simple. Their typical teenage beats don't show off their abilities as musicians and artists. As Chelsea Fagan states, "The Backstreet Boys didn't have time to worry about whether or not their girlfriend knew she was beautiful. They were too busy trying to put together the broken pieces of their soul."

Now, One Direction definitely does have one thing that gives them an advantage over the Backstreet Boys and that is their British accents. In a poll done by the BBC, it was found that people rated celebrities with British accents higher than celebrities from other countries. American's these days are obsessed with British culture, not only because of the appeal of accents, but because of the forms of entertainment that are becoming increasingly popular, like Downtown Abbey and everyone's current obsession with Kate Middleton. One Direction was able to latch on to the cultural phenomenon and their Britishness has attributed to at least some of their success.

However, the Backstreet Boys are still "Larger Than Life" because they didn't need cute accents to convince us of their worthiness. When they began their career, America was obsessed with Pokemon and the Macarena, neither of which they used to jumpstart their success. They were able to make a name for themselves by relying solely on their talent.

If you still aren't convinced that Backstreet Boys will always have more to offer than One Direction, I'll leave you with this important fact: the Backstreet Boys are at least partially responsible for Aaron Carter, and, as Chelsea Fagan slightly exaggerates, "We loved the song 'Aaron's Party' more than most people love their own children."

The Backstreet Boys taught us what boy bands were supposed to be about. We respected them for their determination and hard work, which led them from the bottom to the very top. We loved their harmonization, original lyrics and ability to be comfortable with themselves. And, let's be real, we all loved Aaron Carter. while One Direction will try to measure up to the success of Nick, Brian, AJ, Howie and Kevin, the Backstreet Boys will always be The One. And, really, we should all Want It That Way.

The Backstreet Boys Will Always Be Better Than One Direction

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