NKOTB News for November 30

Here is a photo Joey shared of him and his sons at the airport heading to Boston.

Here is a short article from Contact Music about Joey and his sister Carol:

New Kids On The Block star Joey Mcintyre has teamed up with his big sister to record a track on his new holiday album.

The singer used to perform with his sibling, Carol, when he was a kid and she was the first person he asked to join him in the studio while recording festive tunes for Come Home For Christmas.

The McIntyres, who share the same New Year's Eve birthday 10 years apart, collaborated on festive standard Do You Hear What I Hear?

The pop star says, "It was very special to sing with my sister. I would not have been where I am in my career without her first holding my hand and leading me on stage. It made performing a very safe and natural experience. And now the stage is home to me.

"I have to say we sound great together on Do You Hear What I Hear?"

Joey McIntyre interview with MSOPR.com

Here is an interview with Joey from MSOPR.com

With his COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS due out today, singer, songwriter and performer JOEY McINTYRE talks about holiday traditions, his Boston upbringing in a house of nine children, his NKOTB roots and his duet with Mario Cantone on “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”

You’ve done quite a lot to this point in your career. Why did you decide to make a Christmas record now?

JM: Well, to be honest I was itchy, creatively. I had been off the road for a couple of months and wanted to make a record. And “my Christmas album” has always had a prominent place on the back burner. It was in late September this year that I decided to do it and I just went for it. I knew time was tight, but if God was ever gonna help me out on a record, I figured it would be this one. I was lucky enough to have my producing partner Rob Lewis for this. Together we started on the same page and jumped right in.



This CD really seems to be a labor of love for you with you self-producing and self-releasing. How has the process been for you to be the artist, producer and label?

JM: I feel a sense of pride with this album that I haven’t felt with other albums I made. I am always very hands on in the creating of my music and writing. But these songs are special and I think I handled them with great care. From a producing side, I feel that I molded this with my hands.



You sing a duet with your sister Carol, with whom you say you sang your first onstage duet. Were you raised in a musical household? What was it like to sing with her again?

JM: It was very special to sing with my sister. I would not have been where I am in my career without her first holding my hand and leading me on stage. It made performing a very safe and natural experience. And now the stage is home to me. I have to say we sound great together on “Do You Hear What I Hear.” We have the same birthday (New Year’s Eve) ten years apart, we look alike and we sound a lot alike too



You come from a large family, are there any special holiday traditions or memories that stand out from your childhood?

JM: The holiday theme in a house full of nine kids in Boston was “survival of the fittest.” It was like a platoon camped out in our living room. But we were lucky to have each other. There were lots of good times, in between all the fights.



Let’s talk for a minute about the other duets with Jordan and Mario. How were those songs decided on?

JM: Well, I sang “Peace on Earth” with my sister Carol before and always loved singing the song. I thought it would be a nice match for me and Jordan. I was afraid that Jordan might not like it, but he thought it was cool and maybe a little off the beaten track of Christmas songs. Jordan suggested that we share the lead part that was once sung by David Bowie. I like how it turned out–true to the standard but modern enough.

And with Mario, I just knew a version of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” would be a hoot. (I call him Buddy instead of Baby in this rendition.) Mario is a powerhouse. He’s done it all. We both love to perform and “go for it,” so it was a real thrill to see it come together.



Your versions of many of these holiday classics evoke classic renditions, yet they sound modern and updated. How did you decide on which songs to record?

JM: There are a ton of songs to pick from, but I think the song list came from a comfort level I have with them. These songs kind of roll off my tongue…or off my heart.



What was the recording process like? Did you set a mood in the studio to make it feel Christmas-y?

JM: Well, the cool thing about deciding in October to do this was that it at least felt like the holidays were around the corner. We did some recording in New York and in Boston, my hometown. I got all my nieces and nephews to sing on a couple of songs and that made for a fun and festive atmosphere in the studio.



Living in Los Angeles now, do you do anything special to make it feel more like home during the holidays? How will you celebrate the holiday season?

JM: Well, it’s nice if we get a few days of rain. I make believe its snow and make a fire. I also have my tradition of grilled ham and cheeses on challah raisin bread by the fire…with a good glass of red wine. Other than that I miss Boston desperately during the holidays.



What’s next for Joey McIntyre?

JM: Well, we have the juggernaut that is NKOTB–thanks to having the greatest fans on earth. We will be touring the UK and Europe and Australia in the spring of ’12 and then planning for some dates here in the states for the summer.

Personally, I am focusing on acting with some cool guest spots–CSI: NY and Psych–and a nice part in one of the year’s holiday movies “New Year’s Eve.” All the while having my hands full with two boys–4 and almost 2 years old–and a beautiful little six-month old girl, who can do no wrong.

NKOTB News for November 29 (Happy Birthday Jonathan Knight!)

Don't forget Joey's new Christmas album "Come home for Christmas" is now available on iTunes. Last I checked it was #79 on the iTunes album chart.

WatchMojo.com has a video comparing NKOTB and BSB and singing abilities, dancing skills, album sales, the quality of their music videos and longevity.
Click here to watch!

And speaking of WatchMojo, in this video Nick Carter talks about NKOTBSB and if Backstreet Boys will continue to work with NKOTB:


Video courtesy of WatchMojo

Happy Birthday Jonathan Knight!

NKOTB News for November 28

There are some more details about Joey and Jordan's appearance at the CHUM FM Wish Breakfast on December 16 posted at the Chum FM website.

All the info about on sale and pre-sale times for the Australian dates are now posted at NKOTB.com.

Joey was Tracked down "checking out the Carlos Mencia show at The Wilbur after the tree lighting at Macy’s in Downtown Crossing".

Danny shared a favorite holiday recipe: his mom's Coffee Cake Recipe:

Batter-
1 1/2 sticks or 3/4 cup of margarine or butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups flour, divided
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 pinch salt
Secret ingredient

Sugar mixture-
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat over to 325 degrees. Spray your pan with cooking spray. Cream butter/margarine and sugar together in a mixer. Sift all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. After butter/margarine and sugar is creamy, add half of the dry mixture, eggs, vanilla and sour cream and mix. Add the other half of the dry mixture and mix until batter is smooth. Pour half the batter in to the pan, then sprinkle half of the sugar mixture over the batter. Pour second half of the batter, then top with remaining sugar mixture. Bake for 50 - 60 minutes.

Jordan Knight and Joey McIntyre in Toronto December 16

From CHUM FM in Toronto: Mark Dec. 16 in your calendars because we're hosting our annual CHUM Christmas Wish breakfast! ...this year we'll have Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, and Lights there to perform and special guest Mario Cantone from Sex and the City!

Joey McIntyre's latest blog

Here is Joey's latest blog. He announces that Jordan will be joining him at his December 1st appearance in Boston and that he'll be on The View on Dec 23rd.

'Tis the season...for lots of things. Lots of those things can be stressful. The idea is to balance them out with as many fun things as possible. Like making the effort to get out the Christmas ornaments early...I'm convincing myself as I write this. Maybe thinking of gifts for people early in the season- little gifts go a long way and if you start earlier, chances are the gifts you get for loved ones are more thoughtful. (What am I a Christmas guru now cuz I made a Christmas album??! Uh...well, I gotta start somewhere. That would be awesome. Just come out during the holidays and spread some cheer and then GTFO.) Thanksgiving was nice this year, but there was a bug going around my house and I was the last to get it...just in time for dinner on Thursday- wasn't that bad but I had no appetite, so I'm trying to make up for it on the left-overs. That's going pretty well so far. The Macy's Tree Lighting in Boston was really really nice. I used to go to downtown crossing in Boston with my mom all the time and especially at Christmas time (when the building that Macy's is in was Jordan Marsh, or as we would say it: Jawdin Mahsh.) So once again "the memories come floodin' back" and I feel so lucky to be back in my hometown doing what I love and sharing it with you. I was able to get my two nieces and nephew up on stage and sing Jingle Bells with me. They were great! Their dad Tommy was way more nervous than they were. We had some help from the really fun and energetic kids from The Boston Children's Chorus that I had just met. We rehearsed for about 5 minutes and they were total pros and really made the performance extra special. Then a got to see so many of you up close and personal. Thanks for coming in to see me :) And now next up is the Boston Common Tree Lighting on December 1st. That's gonna be even more fun. Hope you can make it down to the Common and if not you can see it on Channel 5 in Boston WCVB (might be somewhere on youtube?). I'm gonna be singing "Peace on Earth" with Jordan Knight and a couple more songs myself with ma dude Rob Lewis. Gonna be a great night cuz that's only the beginning. We got the "extra special Joe Show". I wish I picked a bigger spot cuz I keep getting asked about how to get tix, but I guess that's what makes it extra extra special. There may be a few more that I can dig up :) And then from there, I go back to LA for the "New Year's Eve" premiere on Dec 5th and then back to NYC for the taping of The View (airs Dec 23rd) and the NYC intimate/free/secret/Joe Show and more fun stuff that I'm thinking of. Can't wait to chill for a bit in the Big Apple during the holidays. OH! And I almost forgot my Christmas Album is on itunes this Tuesday 11/29!!! Let's have some fun. 'Tis the season, baby!!

More tour dates for NKOTBSB in Australia!

A Live Nation press release with the rest of the Australian NKOTBSB tour dates was posted at Ticketek website:

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK AND BACKSTREET BOYS Tickets on sale Thu 8 Dec, 2pm Presented by: Live Nation AUSTRALIA GET READY
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK AND BACKSTREET BOYS

Tickets on sale Thu 8 Dec, 2pm

Presented by: Live Nation

With the continued and insatiable fan demand, the unstoppable phenomenon that is NKOTBSB will officially bring their show down under! In May, New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys will come to Australia for four shows only, stopping in Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney.

“If our fans want us down under, we’ll go down under,” saidNew Kids’ Donnie Wahlberg. “Our international fans have been flying to see us stateside for years, so now we are bringing the show to them. Get ready Australia, we are coming to you!”

The Australian leg will bring the historic NKOTBSB tour for a limited four show run, giving fans across the globe chances to catch their favorite groups on one stage.

NKOTBSB first shocked and delighted fans when they took the stage together for a medley at the sold out NKOTB Radio City Music Hall show. The two groups wowed audiences again in their first joint televised performance at the American Music Awards almost a year ago in November 2010 and have toured consistently through 2011 since coming together.

With over 200 million albums sold between both bands, and smash hit after smash hit, these two pop sensations have dominated the music scene for over three decades. Aiming to please, these guys are giving concert goers and diehard fans everywhere the ultimate “night out” experience.

TOUR DATES*:

19 May - Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

21 May - Adelaide Entertainment Centre

23 May - Brisbane Entertainment Centre

26 May - Allphones Arena, Sydney

*Ticketek is selling for the above venues only

Herald Sun in Australia interviews Jordan and announces first Australian tour date

Here is an interview Jordan Knight did with the Herald Sun in Australia. It says NKOTBSB, will visit Australia in May and one of the dates is Rod Laver Arena on May 19. Here's the article...

New Kids are back on the block with the boys from Backstreet. NUI TE KOHA reports

NEW Kids On The Block frontman Jordan Knight is a boy band icon.

But try telling that to his son, Dante, 12.

Jordan smiles: "I was at home today doing bicep curls and my son just shook his head.

"He looked at me like: 'Why are you working out? What is that?'

"He sees me as his dad - and that's it."

Knight jokes his wife Evelyn and boys Dante and Eric suffer through his pre-tour preparation of boot camps and bum notes.

"They see and hear all the mistakes," he says, laughing.

"When I get on stage, I'm polished. But they know who I am, really."

Knight has been a pop star since 1988. Really.
He joined New Kids On The Block, a boy band created by hitmaker and producer, Maurice Starr, in 1984. Knight was only 14 years old.

"I was really optimistic," he says. "The whole idea of working in the studio, putting a show together, entertaining girls - that stuff was fun.

"I was young and wide-eyed for sure, but it was an incredible experience."

Hits - including You Got It (The Right Stuff), Hangin' Tough and Step By Step - and hysteria soon followed.

They toured the world, topped a Forbes magazine rich list and during a visit to Melbourne were given the keys to the city.

Knight vaguely recalls the event, but offers slickly: "I hope the keys still work and nobody has changed the locks."

Never. Once upon a time, New Kids rocked every block.

"Our goal was to conquer the world," Knight says. "When it happened, it was like a dream come true.

He sighs: "Then, there has to be a backlash.

"If you get so many people loving you, ultimately, the opposite happens.

"Yet, through it all, we were the same five guys from Boston. We knew what was going on - and why."

That said, media scrutiny and celebrity culture wasn't intense back then, either.

"There weren't as many outlets, but there were definitely paparazzi outside the clubs," Knight says.

However, he argues celebrity culture and the relentless news cycle has demystified pop stars.

"If you did something back then that was a little imperfect, it would get magnified," Knight says.

"But, now, it seems that imperfection is in.

"I could go on YouTube, fart at the camera, and it would be funny.

"If I did that 20 years ago, it would be all over the news.

"I think the internet and the access to celebrities has made them more human. That's reality - and I'm glad it's happened."

New Kids split in 1995 and Knight enjoyed a solo career.

Meanwhile, a new generation of boy bands, including Backstreet Boys (above, with NKOTB) and NSync, arrived.

After several attempts to reunite New Kids, they reformed as NKOTB three years ago. Last year, NKOTB announced a tour with Backstreet Boys.

That tour, NKOTBSB, will visit Australia in May.

Knight said they made a pact to ensure a collaborative success.

"We had to be on the same wavelength," he says.

"We didn't want it to be any kind of show that made us rivals and we didn't want to try to upstage each other.

"This is a collaboration and celebration of music that we do."

Knight admits he was always a Backstreet Boys fan.

He says, enthused: "Man, they can really sing.

"They all have different voices, but when they sing together, it creates a blend that is really unique and their own.

"There is no mistaking a Backstreet Boys song."

So who's better: NKOTB or BSB?

"Honestly, collectively, I think they're much better vocally," Knight replies.

"I think, pound for pound, they are a vocal group. New Kids are known more for being entertainers.

"I'm not saying we can't sing. I'm not saying that at all. I'm saying Backstreet Boys' forte, to me, is harmonies, blending and singing. Ours is entertaining."

Indeed, Knight is thrilled to still be performing in the Bieber era, almost 30 years after joining New Kids.

"I recognize the reaction Justin Bieber is getting," he says. "It's the same as what happened with us. He's talented, he's got the girls wrapped around his finger, and it looks like he'll keep going and going and going."

Knight knows pop is cyclical.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same," he says.

"We want to recreate memories for people - and create new ones. That's our job."

New Kids On The Block and Backstreet Boys, Rod Laver Arena, May 19. Book it: 132 849.

Joey to perform at the Boston Annual Children's Hospital concert on December 20

According to Don411.com, Joey will be a guest vocalist with members of the Pops at the Boston Annual Children's Hospital concert on December 20.

Joey McIntyre at the "Light up the Night" event at Macy's in Boston

Here are a couple videos of Joey at the "Light up the Night" event at Macy's in Boston!

Update: Original videos have been deleted, but here's another one I found:

Video courtesy of Melanie D

NKOTB news for November 23

I started typing up this post before the biggest news of the day came out.... Here's the rest of the NKOTB news for November 23:

Joey's CD is now available for pre-order on iTunes. If you ordered it through Joey's website, you should get getting it very soon.

Here is a photo Donnie sent out of him and Jennifer Esposito on the set of Blue Bloods

DonnieWahlberg: Latest Gossip... @DonnieWahlberg and @JennifersWayJE go undercover as 80's gym owners SHENA & REX on Blue Bloods!

Blue Bloods is the 12th most watched TV show of the week.

Danny shared photos of the food he made for Thanksgiving with his Twitter followers.

NKOTB's New Year's Eve Concert Cancelled

The New Kids on the Block have cancelled their concert in New York on New Year's Eve. Here is the statement posted on the official website:

Wow what a year for all of us.

It started by ringing in the New Year with Ryan Seacrest and Dick Clark in Times Square and another sold out cruise that created memories that will last a lifetime. The US leg of the NKOTBSB tour played to a record 55 shows and over 600,000 people including the gig of our lives at Fenway Park that we got to share with all of you.

As you know, no New Kids event is complete without the chance to share it with our fans. On that note, after significant consideration, we have decided to cancel the New Years Eve event in New York City. The reason for this is while it’s apparent some of you could join us, a vast majority of you couldn’t due other obligations that you have on this holiday. We heard from so many of you that this date just couldn’t work. We’re sorry for any inconvience. It’s just so important to us that these events can be shared with all of you.

We’re so excited for the year ahead which will include our first trip back to Europe since 2009, additional NKOTBSB tour legs soon to be announced, another sold out cruise and additional NKOTB North American touring plans and very special events. We would be nothing without your love and support and appreciate your understanding on this needed change. Should anyone be unable to get out of any travel obligations, please send an email to nyetravel@nkotb.com and we will do our best to assist you.

We wish you the happiest of holidays. Spend it with your loved ones and we’ll see you in 2012!

-NKOTB

Get tickets to Joey's Boston and NY shows

From Joey:

OK! email jmchristmasshow@gmail.com and tell me in 20 words why u (plus a guest) have to be at the Bos 12/1 show or NYC 12/14 show!

Joey McIntyre interview with Female First

Joey did an interview with FemaleFirst:


Interview: Joey McIntyre (New Kids On The Block)

Joey talks to us about the band's collaboration with the Backstreet Boys, their upcoming joint tour and a boyband revival.

Next year, New Kids On The Block and Backstreet Boys will bring their NKOTBSB collaboration to the UK.

We spoke to NKOTB member Joey McIntyre about the tour, their joint Greatest Hits and much more.

-How has it been touring with Backstreet Boys in the States? Do you all get along well?
Yeah, like I said, we got along marvoulously. It was a blast. We're just a bunch of guys getting to do what we love every night - performing, on the road, to sold-out arenas. It doesn't really get much better than that!

It is also a challenge, as lucky as it is, you have to stay on your game, you're away from home, away from your families. There's sacrifices along the way, but we're playing at the height of the game. It's an awesome thing.

-What can fans expect from the live show itself?
Do you guys have Billboard Magazine over there? Well, they're doing an article, the making of the home run - how we changed the game of how bands tour together. It's funny, sometimes the simplist thing becomes brilliant.

We decided to make it one big show, instead of "one band goes on for an hour, then another band goes on for an hour". We combined the two groups to make one big, awesome rollercoaster of a show.

Like I said, we feed off it, and they feed off it - and the fans feed off it. It's definitely, for a pop concert, it's in overdrive - it's awesome. It's something that I don't think a lot of people have experience, as far as pop shows go, with two great bands trading off.

-You've released a combined Greatest Hits. How was the track-list put together?
What we did was, we let the fans decide. So, it wasn't difficult because we let the fans decide. They voted, and whatever the top 5 songs were for each band, is what made it. It was kinda easy in that respect.

-How's the reaction been to 'Turn Out The Lights'?
I think it's a great song. To have both groups on one record, it's cool. It's a bit of pop history, and getting together like that was very cool. It's a great song, it's great to have something like that to play live every night. It's a special and fun moment in the show. It was kinda written specifically for that moment in the show. It's always fun to write something for a specific spot. The reaction's been great - it was an important piece of the puzzle.

-With your supergroup, and Take That's success, what do you think is the reason for this recent boyband revival?
I can't speak specifically for the Take That thing cos I don't know it that well. They came a little bit after us, and got back together a little bit before us. When you are a teen idol sensation, it's a moment in time in your fans' lives.

They got absolutely bananas, they lose their minds, and then they grow up and get their own boyfriends. They go to college, they have life experiences and we all move on.

Specifically for New Kids fans, I think, you know, they're at a different place in their life. They've jumped into a career, or they've got married and had kids. Now they can look back on that time with...more of an open heart. They can really embrace the past.

The cool thing is we're still young enough, so there's plenty of nostalgia, but it's still fun, current, exciting.

Obviously Take That has proven that - even though it's something from the past, it's still very current. You can't argue with the success, but timing is everything.

Our fans were ready to come back, and we were ready to come back. Going through all that we did, we needed a lot of time off and we've done stuff on our own now.

-How did the collaboration with Backstreet Boys come about initially?
Well, the New Kids got back together in 2008, had a huge arena tour. If you call it a comeback, it was an amazing comeback. Our fans stepped up, it was...it was really something to be a part of it. It was amazing.

Over the past few years we've been having a blast with our fans, and trying to keep it fresh or new. We didn't wanna get old. We don't want it to get old.

I know that the five of us...we're not going to do it if it's not something new and exciting to us. We've been able to do that. In that thinking, we've feeded off each other. One group does a few songs, the other does a few. It's very energetic - it's worked.

-Last year, Brian said that he'd been writing new material with Donny. Can we expect more from the supergroup in the future?
I don't know. Right now, we're looking forward to this tour. You know, you've got two groups, each group has its plans and aspirations - and then, within those two groups, you have 9 individuals that have careers, families and dreams.

Right now, there's nothing on the table for both groups together. What we've done here, so far, is really special. We hold it in high regard - whatever it is, we want to keep it that way. All doors are open, so we'll see.

-Along with the tour, you've also got your annual New Kids On the Block cruise. Can you tell us a bit about that?
Well, I guess this is number four - it sold out in minutes and it's becoming it's own little phenomenom, the New Kids Cruise. It's a blast - it's a microcosm of the New Kids nation, and what we do.

People have taken four days out of their life to fly to Miami, get on a boat and have the time of their lives. It's a blast, but we take it very seriously. We want it to be fulfilling and special.

We sit around, every time we put another one sale, like...is it still gonna sell out? It keeps selling out faster. Than we think...how can we top that? It's a fun little chapter in the New Kids story.

-Are you excited to bring the NKOTBSB tour to the UK?
Oh, of course! We're thrilled. We've been so fortunate to do what we're doing. To bring it to the UK is a whole different energy. Being from the States, we know what it was like for our fans there...I think it's going to be heightened.

I know the Backstreet Boys have spent a lot more time there than we have. I think that's going to add to the excitement, and bring out more New Kids fans because of that as well. It's like a snowball. We feed off each other, it's really cool. It becomes one fanbase, once the tour starts.

NKOTB News for November 21

Photos from Jordan's meet and greet in Virginia are now available here (update: removed dead link).

The City of Boston posted some more details about Joey's appearance at the Official Tree Lighting in the Boston Common. Channel 5 in Boston will be broadcasting the event live.

Donnie Wahlberg is a subject in a new fiction book called The Donnie Wahlberg Drinking Game.

Midnight Red performs "Step by Step":

Video courtesy of LupeMarquezx

Jordan Knight and Deborah Cox Serenade

Deborah Cox and Jordan Knight sum up their Cover Me Canada experience in song.

Video courtesy of kjrichmond

Jordan Knight interview with Canadian Top 20

Here is an interview Jordan did with Canadian Top 20:

Jordan Knight interview with Christal Blue on 99.3 The VIBE

Jordan Knight interview with Christal Blue on 99.3 The VIBE

ChristalBlue · JordanKnight interview wChristalBlue 99.3 TheVIBE 111811

Boston.com: Walburgers in Hingham: Fun and satisfying food

Here is an article about Wahlburgers from Boston.com:

News of Hingham’s new burger joint exploded this summer in a Hollywood-powered media blitz that was hard to miss.

Even before the coverage on TV, newspapers, Us and People magazines, there was lots of local scuttlebutt: a deal for a reality show on the place; a green initiative, somehow linked to the White House, was under way; plans for a nationwide chain.

Whether or not these rumors come to pass, the brilliantly named Wahlburgers is lending some of Hollywood’s bright light to the Launch at Hingham Shipyard complex.

The 80-seat (there are another 40 on the patio) über-fast-food restaurant and bar is owned by longtime South Shore chef Paul Wahlberg and his celebrity brothers Donnie and Mark Wahlberg.

In June 2010, when Chef Paul opened his first restaurant, Alma Nove, across the street from the Wahlburgers site, his brothers were investors but quietly so. Now, with Alma Nove’s success, the brothers have put their star power and family story on proud display.

The retro-modern diner-inspired décor is filled with movie memorabilia and the family focus is graphically encapsulated in the restaurant’s highly visible logo — Wahlburgers: Our Family, Our Story, Our Burgers.

That story — written on the rear wall in large letters — is a familiar Boston tale: Nine kids in a triple-decker in Dorchester didn’t have much but one another.

The bright, windowed space is a large V-shape (or maybe half a W?) with an open kitchen between the two rectangular wings. One side offers table service with seating either at large communal tables for 10, or at the bar.

On the other side, people order at the counter and either sit at a booth or a two-top, or get the food to go. In warm weather, there’s great patio seating.

Since it opened last month, Wahlburgers has been packed. On four recent visits, timed to avoid peak hours, the place was still crowded. The owners, who also include family friend Ed St. Croix, have created a clever business by including a full bar and making it the only place in the area that’s open seven days a week until 1 a.m.

The option, too, for self-service nicely removes the cost of a tip, as do the credit card receipts, which offer no line for writing in a tip.

Wahlburgers isn’t really about the food. It’s about fun and filling up on satisfying comforts in a lively, easy environment.

Eight flat-screens line the walls above the bar; the brothers are big Boston sports fans. Music, too, is important to the lads (Donnie got his start in the ’80s in the boy group New Kids on the Block), so the sound system is great and the play list widely varied.

The menu is small but well thought out. There are nicely seasoned turkey burgers ($6.25) and three main beef burgers — the cheapest being the single-decker at $4.50, and the most expensive, the triple-decker at $9.

The sandwiches have a grilled toasted bun and can be ordered with a large selection of toppings that include fresh jalapeños, smoked tomato salsa, and sriracha hot sauce. A single- or double-decker with, say, ketchup, mayo, mustard, pickles, tomato, and the ‘‘government’’ (American) cheese the Wahlbergs grew up on, delivers mouthfuls of hard-to-resist, classic fast-food burger flavor.

Three burgers with set toppings are offered as specialty choices. The Thanksgiving turkey burger ($7.50) is topped with stuffing, cranberry sauce, roasted squash, and mayo. It is sweet, savory, and gooey — in a good way.

The beef is all antibiotic- and hormone-free, a nice boon, and healthier burgers, including salmon and mushroom, are to debut soon.

The kids’menu has good Bell & Evans hormone- and antibiotic-free chicken fingers with fries for $5; a simple grilled cheese on thick white bread with fries ($4); ‘‘smahlburgers’’ with fries ($5); and kid-sized sodas for a buck. There are also tater tots ($3) and sweet potato tots ($3), which are fine but I’d rather have the fries ($3).

I love (God forgive me) Wahlburger’s hot dog ($4), with its snappy bite, the choice of some good sauerkraut, and its grilled roll. I don’t know where else around here I could get as good a dirty water dog as this one.

We also found the skinny onion rings outstanding, and one hard pull on the thick chocolate frappe ($4.65), made with ice cream from Nona’s Homemade Ice Cream, brings on flashes of pure childhood goodness.

The chef’s ingrained hospitality is evident in little touches aimed to please a variety of guests: good French roast coffee, house-made lemonade, locally sourced Hornstra Farms chocolate milk, and caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms, and avocado as optional burger add-ons ($1).

Noticeable, too, are a pair of salt and pepper shakers on each table — no need for paper packets of S&P at Wahlburgers.

Very retro.

Jordan Knight interview with OhSoCosmoTV

Here is an interview Jordan did with OhSoCosmoTV:

Jordan Knight in Virginia

Here are some links to photos from Jordan's autograph signing in Virginia today:

JORDANs_VAgirl's photos

Audio from Christal Blue's interview with Jordan will be posted on the 99.3 VIBE website on Monday, but here is a short preview .

More Joey McIntyre Appearances?

According to MarketWatch, Joey will be on the Red carpet for the premiere of "New Year's Eve" on December 5th at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

Also, Joey posted this on Twitter:

Free intimate Christmas shows in Boston 12/1 and NYC 12/14 - I'll pick peeps on twitter. Gonna be fun and festive w/ ma dude, @IamRobLewis

Wahlburgers Grand Opening Video Clip

Here is another look at the Wahlburgers opening from a few weeks ago from Producer/Editor James Clark:

Update: Video has been deleted, does anyone have it saved?

Press Release for Joey McIntyre's Christmas Album

Here is a press release for Joey's Christmas album. He announced the album will be available on iTunes on November 29 and he will be making appearances in Boston on November 25 and December 1st.

SINGER-SONGWRITER-PERFORMER
JOEY McINTYRE
TO RELEASE
DEBUT CHRISTMAS ALBUM
‘COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS’
AVAILABLE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29
ON iTUNES

SET TO PERFORM AT
CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTINGS IN BOSTON
NOVEMBER 25 AND DECEMBER 1

“I’ve always known I would record a Christmas album,” says multi-platinum singer, songwriter and performer JOEY McINTYRE of his soon-to-be released COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS full-length album, available Tuesday, November 29 on iTunes. “These wonderful standards have a warm special place in my heart. I have enjoyed singing them on so many snowy walks through my childhood hometown of Boston and they have soothed my homesickness out in Hollywood during the holidays.”

For the holiday standards that make up the self-released COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS, the NKOTB singer set out to record versions of some of his favorites that evoke holiday memories and yet still retain their traditional sound. Highlights include: a fun duet with actor-comedian Mario Cantone on “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” the classic “Peace On Earth” on which he is joined by “one of my good friends and mentors,” NKOTB’s Jordan Knight, and a moving version of “Do You Hear What I Hear?” which features his sister Carol Gallagher, “with whom I sang my first-ever song on stage when I was six-years-old.” JOEY produced and arranged the album with long time collaborater Rob Lewis, which was recorded in Los Angeles, Boston and New York.

To celebrate the release of “COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS”, JOEY will head home to Boston for the Friday, November 25 Tree Lighting Ceremony at Macy’s Boston Downtown Crossing where he’ll perform two of the album’s tracks. Immediately following the lighting and performance, JOEY will also do an in-store CD signing. The CD will also be available at that Macy’s location during the holiday season at Macy’s stores. Then on December 1, he’ll again be in Boston for the official annual City of Boston Tree Lighting on Boston Common, which is televised throughout New England.

As part of the never-ending pop phenomenon that is NKOTB, JOEY became an icon, with over 80 million albums sold and countless sold out shows worldwide. However, on his solo material, he truly gets the chance to shine. In 1998, JOEY dropped his debut, Stay the Same. Elevated by the chart-topping title track, the record quickly exceeded platinum status. Joey followed it up with fan favorite Meet Joe Mac in 2001. He continued to tour the world incessantly. However, he found the time to release 8:09 in 2004 and a very personal collection of cover tunes, Talk to Me, in 2006. His fifth release, the Here We Go Again EP, was issued in 2009.

The COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS track listing is as follows:
“I’ll Be Home For Christmas”
“Jingle Bells”
“O Come All Ye Faithful”
“Winter Wonderland”
“Peace on Earth” featuring Jordan Knight
“Christmas Don’t Be Late” (The Chipmunk song) featuring Griffin McIntyre
“Do You Hear What I Hear?” featuring Carol Gallagher
“Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town”
“Baby It’s Cold Outside” featuring Mario Cantone
“O Holy Night”
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”

NKOTB News for November 15

You can get the MP3 of the performance of "Don't Forget Me" by Jordan Knight and Deborah Cox on Canadian iTunes.

Wahlburgers is mentioned in this week's People Magazine. Here is the image from the Wahlburgers Facebook page:

The Official Jordan Knight 2012 Calendar!

I receieved this email today and am passing it along...

Available for pre-order now, this 12 month calendar boasts some rare and never-before-seen photos of Jordan Knight. Keep track of birthdays and holidays while enjoying these amazing pictures of Jordan all year long!

We have been working closely with Jordan to produce this exciting new calendar for your viewing pleasure. What do you think of this teaser photo? Imagine that masterpiece and eleven others hanging on your wall!

Only a limited number of calendars will be available, so reserve yours now!

To sweeten the deal, Jordan will be signing 250 calendars which will be shipped at random to some very lucky customers! This would make a great gift for anybody you know!

Visit jordanknight.com to order. 

Jordan Knight interview with 91.5 The Beat

Here is an interview Jordan did with 91.5 The Beat in Toronto:

NKOTBSB adds Geneva, Switzerland to European Tour

NKOTBSB will be coming to the Geneva Arena in Geneva, Switzerland on May 3rd 2011!

Block Nation Presales and Block Nation VIP Nation Presales: Thursday, November 17th - See NKOTB.com for specific times and passwords.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, November 18th at 8am CET.

Jordan Knight on Cover Me Canada Finale

Here are the highlights from tonight's episode of Cover Me Canada. It includes a performance of "Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone" by Jordan, Deborah Cox, Ron Fair and some of the Cover Me Canada contestants.



Video courtesy of yikes77

More details about NKOTB and Boyz II Men in NYC

Join NKOTB for the party of the year, with very special guests Boyz II Men, and DJ Cheapshot as they ring in the New Year in NYC at Roseland Ballroom. Tickets on sale Friday Nov. 18, 2011 @ 10am ET, special Block Nation pre sale on Wednesday Nov. 16, @ 10am ET. For more info, please visit nkotb.com.

From nkotb.com: NKOTB New Year’s Eve VIP Package – packages will be EXTREMELY limited – so don’t miss out

Package includes:

* One General Admission ticket in VIP viewing area
* Meet and Greet & Individual photo op with NKOTB (1 photo per person)*
* Exclusive access to VIP open bar
* Early priority entrance into venue
* Specially designed NKOTB-NYE T-shirt
* NKOTB NYE VIP commemorative laminate
* Commemorative NKOTB - NYE VIP ticket
* Crowd-free merchandise shopping
* On-site VIP host

*Please note there is 1 individual photo per package - no props or special requests will be honored

Joey McIntyre appearance at Macy's on November 25th

Joey is scheduled to attend the "Light up the Night" event at Macy's in Boston on November 25th. He will be performing before the Tree Lighting festivities at the Summer Street Entrance. He will also be signing autographs of his new holiday CD "Come Home For Christmas" for the first 250 people to make a Lacoste fragrance purchase.

Updates from the Jordan Knight show in Detroit

Update: all the videos and photos have since been deleted, but I’ll leave this post up for the set list below:

Here is the unoffical set list (from what I saw on Twitter)
Let's go higher
One more night
Broken By You
Tender Love
I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man
I Wish
Inside
OFace
Up & Down
Rockstar
Like A Wave
Stingy
The Right Stuff

MyFoxDETROIT interview with Jordan Knight

Here is a video of Jordan's interview with MyFoxDETROIT.com. He talks about performing solo, Twitter, the NKOTB Cruise, NKOTBSB going to Europe, Australia and South East Asia next year and more.


Video courtesy of Eleen Jordan

Jordan Knight and Deborah Cox to remake "Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone" by Glass Tiger

Jordan will be performing a remake of Glass Tiger's "Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone" with Deborah Cox on tomorrow night's episode of Cover Me Canada. The song will also be available on iTunes. Ron Fair will do the producing on the song.

Here is the original Glass Tiger song:

NKOTB Concert with Boyz II Men in New York on New Year's Eve

NKOTB.com posted a graphic stating the New Kids on the Block will be performing a show at Roseland Ballroom in New York City on new year's eve. Their special guest will be Boyz II Men. The image was removed, but here is a screen shot:

Donnie Wahlberg Taking Over Blue Bloods - Videos and photos from the set

Donnie will be sending tweets from @BlueBloods_CBS on Twitter today/tonight. Here are some photos he has sent so far:

Happy Veteran Days! We hosted vets on set with Service Nations Mission Serve

Donut Break compliments of @DunkinDonuts

Wardrobe fitting in the trailer. Why is this guy taking a picture of the marshmallow?

Nothing a little liquid stitches can’t fix

Me and the prettiest sister around!

Me and @AJCalloway taping @ExtraTV on set at the Reagan House

Sitting w/ Director Robert Harmon in the same booth as Robert De Niro & Ray Liotta in #Goodfellas.

Joey McIntyre at "Celebrity Parents Talk Sleep"

Joey McIntyre attended "Celebrity Parents Talk Sleep" With Children's Hospital Boston's Dr. Richard Ferber on November 9 at Sunset Tower in West Hollywood. Here are some photos.

Blue Bloods Preview - "Lonely Hearts Club"

Here is a preview of tonight's episode of Blue Bloods:





Video courtesy of televisionpromos

Boston North's video clip of Wahlburgers opening

Here is a video clip from BostonNorth.com at the opening of Wahlburgers.



Video courtesy of kenkinna

Billboard.biz: Stories Behind Success of NKOTBSB Tour Revealed at Billboard Touring Conference

Here is an article from Billboard.biz about NKOTBSB and the Billboard Touring Conference that Jonathan attended yesterday:

Stories Behind Success of NKOTBSB Tour Revealed at Billboard Touring Conference

2011 was in need of a good comeback story, and it came in the form of NKOTBSB. The New Kids on The Block-Backstreet Boys super-group exceeded industry expectations this year when their combined tour sold out arenas and stadiums across the country and sold more than 500,000 combined tickets. Dates for an upcoming spring 2012 run in the U.K. and European Union are still selling out in just minutes' time.

Five of the project's key players spoke with Billboard's Ray Waddell at a panel at Billboard's Touring Conference Wednesday afternoon to reveal how the mega-tour came to be. Panelists included Backstreet Boys manager Peter Katsis of Prospect Park, New Kids manager Jared Paul of AGPS, Creative Artists Agency's Daryl Eaton, Live Nation VP Brad Wavra and New Kid himself Jonathan Knight.

A logistical nightmare on paper -- two bands, nine members, two giant music catalogs, two managers -- was quickly streamlined from the get-go. The NKOTBSB team quickly assigned one creative director and one production manager to centralize the creative strategy, while Sony quickly stepped up to combine the bands' respective catalogs for a retrospective album and license new songs.

New Kids manager Paul said more than a half million dollars of national marketing spend went into promoting the tour, in addition to a series of high-profile media appearances. "The idea that both management companies would take the time to get their guys to fly to San Francisco to do a radio show then stand up in Times Square and do 'New Year's Rockin' Eve' then go back and do 'Dancing With The Stars,' it does add up. But in the end it's all part of the success."

Backstreet Boys manager Katsis looked to similar tours like Elton John and Billy Joel as evidence that combined tours can be big draws. "We won't be able to compare ourselves musically to them, sure. But compare them and they're both one plus one equals three," he said.

Ego deflation played a big part, too, in getting the two grown-up boy bands to unite forces. "I didn't want to walk into a room and say, 'Who's bigger than the other?' Let's do something different," Katsis said.

New Kids' Knight added, "I think with my group and I'm sure it's the same with Backstreet, we were just brought up to be very down to earth, humble people. We appreciate everything that's come our way. A lot of that attitude we had came out in the creative process."

The success of the U.S. tour and the early sell-outs from the upcoming European leg prompted several panelists to indicate that more dates may soon be added. "I'm 51% sure it will happen," Knight teased.

But Katsis has other plans, too. "It's really important that the bands do go back to headline status on their own tours. We have some plans for that."

Wahlberg brothers make plans to open a new pizzeria

According to an article from The Patriot Ledger, the Wahlbergs have plans to open a 3rd restaurant in Hingham Shipyard: a pizza place called Pizzeria Diccianove. They plan to renovate the former Pizzapalooza building and open next spring. Here is the article:

Wahlberg brothers cook up plans for a new pizzeria at the Hingham Shipyard
When chef Paul Wahlberg was about to open his first restaurant back in June 2010, he told me he was taking a big risk launching a business during a rough economy.

Today, I’m sure he would say that gamble has paid off, big time. Wahlberg’s first restaurant, Alma Nove, opened in the redeveloped Hingham Shipyard, and almost instantly became one of the busiest restaurants on the South Shore.

He obviously had some help from the star power of brothers Mark Wahlberg and Donnie Wahlberg. The Wahlberg brothers and friend Ed St. Croix teamed up this fall to open a second restaurant in the shipyard, Wahlburgers. That restaurant has also been quite busy in its first few weeks.

But the partners aren’t stopping there. They are now moving ahead with plans to open a pizza place at the Hingham Shipyard, in the home of the short-lived Pizzapalooza. Leslie Cohen, senior vice president of development for landlord Samuels & Associates, says Pizzapalooza closed in May after roughly a year in business, and the Wahlberg team has taken over the lease.

The Wahlbergs, Cohen says, are now shooting for a spring opening for Pizzeria Diccianove. She says the name – Italian for 19 – has a simple origin: It’s the address for the pizzeria. The name also echoes Alma Nove, a name that refers to the Wahlbergs’ mother and her nine children.

Cohen says the pizza shop has been in the works for some time, but the Wahlbergs decided to focus first on getting the burger joint open. She says the Wahlbergs still need to renovate the 1,800-square-foot interior, but she expects that will be done in time for a spring opening.

Cohen says Paul Wahlberg will bring the same attention to quality to the new pizzeria that he has brought to the other two restaurants. She also says he’ll reap the benefits of some economies of scale from having three restaurants in the same complex.

Second NKOTBSB Show in London

NKOTBSB has added a second London date at the O2 Arena on April 29th

Tickets are now on sale to Block Nation Full Service members - Go to NKOTB.com to order

Block Nation Full Service VIP Nation Presale: Thursday, November 10th at 6pm GMT
Block Nation Premium VIP Nation Presale: Thursday, November 10th at 6:30pm GMT
Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, November 11th at 9am GMT.

Jonathan Knight at the 2011 Billboard Magazine Touring Conference

Jonathan attended the 2011 Billboard Magazine Touring Conference today. He was on a panel to talk about the success of the NKOTBSB tour. Here are some photos.

Peter Katsis, Jared Paul, Darryl Eaton, Jonathan Knight and Brad Wavra

Click here for more photos from Getty Images.

Photo from billboard.

Joey McIntyre blogs about Heavy D

Joey shares his memories about Heavy D in his most recent blog:

11/09/2011 - Heavy Indeed
We lost a wonderful man yesterday. Heavy D was, is and always will be a part of who I am. That's where I got my hip-pop- from Heavy and groups like De La Soul and Tribe Called Quest. They talked about where they came from, the realities of their environment, they "kept it real" but they somehow did something that rappers and hip-pop artists don't seem to do very often these days: they were positive. They looked to a higher calling. All while making great music. Funky music, soulful music. Its the norm today to quickly canonize the famous that have past. We use the term hero loosely at times, but I don't think its a stretch to call Heavy D a hero, when you shine the light on the kind of man he was. I didn't know him very well. I was lucky enough to spend a quick moment with him from time to time over the years. The first time being in the basement/green room of the great Apollo Theatre in Harlem. I was walking through a maze of hip-hop giants- Chuck D, Flava FLav, Kool Moe Dee, and I was stopped by a big guy in a beautifully tailored suit- probably his favorite yellow or maybe purple. He pointed down at me (I was probably 5'4" and he seemed bigger than 6'2") and he said, 'now, this dude right hear can sing." And I think he even sang a few bars of Please Don't Go Girl. My face lit up. He was one of my idols. Just a year earlier I had changed the words to his song "Mr. Big Stuff (Oh, yeah)" to "Eight Grade"- a song for our 8th grade graduation. And here he was singing our song. To say "it was different back then" makes one sound like an old fogie. But it was true. The sense of community in the music scene back then was special. And it was leaders like Heavy D that set the tone. So if we glorify fallen hip-hop heroes like Tupac and Biggie, lets hold up Heavy in his own special light. Yes, Tupac and Biggie were special. They changed the game in their own way. They spoke their truth and it touched millions and continues to, but they made their choices. Lets glorify the simple, yet challenging, but still positive choices that Heavy made. He proved that you can be a really good guy and still make bad ass music. In the last year I had bumped into him a few times. He always gave me that big beautiful smile and when I saw him for the first time in years last year he gave me the best hug. He was sporting a big scruffy beard and I felt it on my cheek. It felt like getting a hug from Santa Claus. I felt so rosy after that I had to fight myself not to tweet about it- I was afraid it would hurt my chances of getting another. After he hugged me and I was walking away he said, "God bless you." And he meant it. Just like everything else he did. He meant it. God bless you, Heav'. God bless you.

CBCtv interview with Jordan Knight

Here is a video with a few clips of Jordan talking about Cover Me Canada and reading people's tweets on Twitter:

Update: video has been deleted

Jordan Knight interviewed in Green Room at The Morning Show

Here is an interview with Jordan while he was in the Green Room at The Morning Show

Update: video has been deleted, does anyone have it saved?

Jordan Knight autograph signing in Fredericksburg, VA on November 19

According to the Spotsylvania Towne Centre website, Jordan will be doing an autograph signing on November 19 at their mall.

Jordan Knight and Deborah Cox in the studio

Jordan shared some video clips of him and Deborah Cox being silly in the studio.

Danny Wood attends opening of Vic & Angelo’s in South Beach

Danny was one of the guests at the official opening of Vic and Angelo’s in South Beach on Friday night. Here are some photos from WireImage and Film Magic.

Order the Joey McIntyre Christmas Album

You can now pre order Joey's CD on his website!

Update: It's not on his website anymore, but here's the link to get it on Amazon!

Watch Jordan Knight on Global Morning News

Here is the video clip of Jordan Knight on Global Morning News (Toronto)

Video courtesy of yikes77

Jordan dancing and Donnie flying

Here's some fun videos for Monday morning:

Jordan Knight and Deborah Cox dance during a commercial break on Cover Me Canada:

Video courtesy of vesperpeeps

Here are some videos of Donnie's helicopter ride yesterday:
Update: video has been deleted, does anyone have it saved?

Jordan Knight to appear on The Morning Show in Canada this morning

Jordan will appear on The Morning Show tomorrow on Global TV at 730am this morning.

Jordan Knight on Cover Me Canada - Episode 8

Here is Jordan Knight on tonight's episode of "Cover Me Canada"


Video courtesy of yikes77

Donnie Wahlberg's Ford Cares Commercial

Here is the "Ford Cares" commercial featuring Donnie Wahlberg that aired during Friday's Blue Bloods:


Video courtesy of DDUBsCelticGirl

New Kids on the Block nominated for Boston Music Award

NKOTB is up a for Boston Music Award in R&B/Soul category. You can help the win by voting at the Boston Music Awards website until November 9th. The Boston Music Awards take place at the Liberty Hotel on Sunday, November 20, 2011.

Listen to more clips Joey McIntyre's "Come Home for Christmas"

Joey shared more clips from his new Christmas album! Listen to the clips here! He even features his son Griffin on one of the songs:)

Here is the track list for "Come Home for Christmas" by Joey McIntyre :

I'll be home for Christmas
Jingle bells
O come all ye faithful
Winter Wonderland
Peace on Earth featuring Jordan Knight
The Chipmunk Song featuring Griffin McIntyre
Do you hear what I hear? featuring Carol Gallagher
Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
Baby its cold outside featuring Mario Cantone
O Holy Night
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Boston Herald: New Kid taps ‘Buddy’ for Christmas duet

Here is an article from the Boston Herald with some more details about Joey McIntyre's upcoming Christmas Album:

New Kid taps ‘Buddy’ for Christmas duet

Don’t say we told you so, but New Kid on the Block Joey McIntyre will team up with Stoneham’s Mario Cantone of “Sex and the City” fame for one of the tunes on Joe’s upcoming Christmas CD — a single-sex version of the classic “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” redubbed “Buddy, It’s Cold Outside!”

“It’s kind of a different take on it,” laughed Joey, who has known Mario for many moons, ever since he co-starred with Cantone’s hubby, Jerry Dixon, off-Broadway in “Tick, Tick ... Boom!” in 2001.

“I don’t know where it popped into my head,” said the very-straight New Kid. “But I thought it was a cool idea.”

Joey Mac has other guests contributing vocals on the new holiday album, including a pack of his nieces and nephews and his sis, Carol.

“It’s going to have the vibe of an old-time radio show,” he said. “Like ding-dong, look who just showed up. Let’s sing!”

As for Mario, he recently revealed on “The View” that he and Jerry tied the knot after 20 years of unwedded bliss.

“We’re older now. We’ve been together 20 years. After 20 years you’re like, ‘Thanks for the anticlimactic honeymoon, government!’ ” Cantone told the ABC chatfest ladies.

The wedding was officiated by pastor Jay Bakker, son of the late Tammy Faye Bakker Messner.

“It was beautiful, just my family there,” Cantone said. “I love him. He’s a good man.”

Hope Jerry doesn’t get toooo jealous when he hears Joey crooning to Mario!

Philly.com: For 'Blue Bloods' and Wahlberg, success is easy as pie

Philly.com has an written article/interview with Donnie to go along with their 5 Questions with Donnie Wahlberg video. They talk about Blue Bloods, growing up in the Wahlberg family, and Donnie's recent visit to Philadelphia.

For 'Blue Bloods' and Wahlberg, success is easy as pie

NEW YORK - There are a number of theories on why Blue Bloods has been able to carve out such a substantial audience on Fridays, a night when viewers are hard to come by.

Some say the CBS series, now in its second season, is attracting an average of 13.6 million viewers because of its stellar cast, headed up by TV royalty, Tom Selleck.

Some say it's the gritty, streets-of-New York crime stories.

The sentimental majority opinion holds that it's the show's weekly dinner scene, during which four generations of Reagans - presided over by the patriarch (Len Cariou) - bicker, spar, and celebrate one another.

"That scene is the favorite of so many people," says Blue Bloods' executive producer, Leonard Goldberg. "Italian people, Jewish people, Greek people - they all say the same thing: 'That's my family.' "

On this morning, as the cast runs through take after take at the long dinner table, one thing is abundantly clear: Donnie Wahlberg, who plays flinty N.Y.P.D. detective Danny Reagan, can really put it away.

While the other actors are saying their lines, playing to the cameras, Wahlberg is shoveling in forkfuls of apple pie. With gusto. There's a crew member devoted to refilling Wahlberg's plate every time the director yells "Cut!"

Afterward in his dressing room, Wahlberg notes, "In the very next scene, which we already shot last week, I eat another slice of pie. The whole show is going to be me eating pie."

When you grow up, as Wahlberg did, the eighth of nine children in a poor working-class family in Boston's hardscrabble Dorchester neighborhood, the prospect of all-you-can-eat never loses its appeal.

So how would Sunday dinner at the Wahlbergs' differ from the atmosphere at the Reagans'?

"Wahlberg family dinner?" Donnie says with a snicker. "My old man would not be sitting at the table. He'd be sitting in the corner on a stool with a Schlitz in his hand, and if we started laughing he'd be screaming at us to shut up.

"We'd be fighting over who got the last piece of chicken. There wouldn't be any pie. There wouldn't be any dessert at all."

It was show business that airlifted Wahlberg out of some grim prospects. At 14, when most of his friends were learning the finer points of boosting cars, Donnie became the charter member of the proto-boy band New Kids on the Block.

"I was very lucky," he says. "I was the only one who didn't go down that road. I loved to perform. I had aspirations."

Nearly three decades later, the New Kids are still very much a going concern. In fact, three days before this interview, Wahlberg, 42, made an appearance at McFadden's in Northern Liberties.

"They ended up selling out to New Kids on the Block fans," he says. "It was a madhouse, but it was great. I'm pretty sure I took a picture with every single person in the place."

That gig may have escaped your notice. The advent of social media has allowed the New Kids to bypass advertising entirely (except for stadium tours).

"If we're doing an event, I'll just tweet," Wahlberg says. "It's unbelievable. It actually creates a little bit more of a fervor than the first time around. It's just a controlled, manageable fervor.

"It's not 14-year-old girls outside my house. I can stir up a woman in her cubicle at work in Baltimore and another one who's still lying in bed in Los Angeles and everyone in between."

The performance at McFadden's was recompense for a favor.

Back in August, Wahlberg, a single father, brought his older son, Xavier, 18, to Philadelphia for a distinctly un-New Kids concert.

"It was a 12-hour festival called "This Is Hardcore." I was thinking I was going to find him that night with two broken arms and a broken nose. I had 10 hours to kill."

While he was hanging at McFadden's, the owner took him to Citizens Bank Park, where the Phillies had a home game.

"They walked me right into the clubhouse with all the players," he says. "I was telling jokes with Shane Victorino and talking to Ryan Howard. Jimmy Rollins is like my favorite player outside of Boston. I like his game."

If you're getting the idea that Wahlberg is a big sports fan, multiply that by eight (Carl Yastrzemski's old number).

During the interview, Wahlberg has ESPN on the large flat-screen TV in his dressing room. The sound is muted, but his eyes flick up every minute or so to see if a SportsCenter report concerns his beloved Beantown teams.

"I'm Boston all the way," he says. "Patriots, Bruins, Celtics, Red Sox. I love the Boston-Philly rivalries because the two cities respect each other. We both live in the shadow of New York."

It so happens that Wahlberg had a role in one of the biggest Philadelphia films of all time. He was the disturbed patient who attacked Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense, setting the bi-level plot in motion.

Wahlberg's career has taken him from the acclaimed mini-series Band of Brothers to three of the Saw splatter films. He has acted alongside everyone from Tupac Shakur to Robert De Niro, James Franco to Mel Gibson.

No part has ever fit him as perfectly as Blue Bloods' intense Danny Reagan, an Iraq war vet who takes his jobs as a cop, husband, and father very seriously.

"When he works on this show, he is Emmy material," says Amy Carlson, who plays his wife, Linda. "He lives this character in such a visceral way, it really resonates on the screen."

"Tom is the face of the show," says Bridget Moynihan, who plays Danny's sister, Erin, "but Donnie is the engine that keeps everything going."

Of course, you have to stoke an engine.

"The whole cast, they're all really good actors, committed actors," says Selleck. "Donnie leads by example. You saw him at the dinner table. He eats a lot. He's got boundless energy."

Wahlberg is often asked whether he is envious of his younger brother, Mark, who has achieved enormous success as an actor and producer in Hollywood.

He maintains he's eternally grateful that he was able to give Mark's career a kick-start back when it seemed that the youngest of the Wahlbergs was destined to become the baddest seed in the clan.

"I always say I'd rather visit him in a 25,000-foot mansion than in a 10-foot prison cell. I literally have had moments where I sit around thinking 'what if' and I get a pit in my stomach at the thought of my baby brother being locked up somewhere," Wahlberg says, voice catching, eyes misting.

Besides, he's pretty content with the measure of success he's achieved for himself.

"Hey, I just played a sold-out arena tour, a sold-out Fenway Park," he says, grinning. "I'm shooting one of the 20 most-watched television shows in the country, seen in 25 countries around the world.

"And I can still put on shades and baseball cap and walk into Target with my kids and nobody knows who I am. I love that. Love it."

What kid from Dorchester wouldn't be satisfied? Donnie Wahlberg has found a way to have his pie and eat it, too.

Preview Joey McIntyre's new album "Come Home for Christmas"

Joey's Christmas album "Come Home for Christmas" will be available to pre-order on November 7. It includes duets with Jordan Knight, Mario Cantone and Joey's sister, Carol. Joey shared some preview clips of some songs from the album!

Here is a blog Joey posted about the album:

I've always known I would record a Christmas album. These wonderful standards have a warm special place in my heart. I have enjoyed singing them on so many snowy walks through my childhood hometown of Boston and they have soothed my homesickness out in Hollywood during the holidays. I hope these renditions make you feel at home as well.

I am a blessed man- evidenced by the wonderful and talented people I get to create music with. They came to the rescue once again (as I decided to do this album in early October). But I had great faith that it would be something special. It was thrilling to make and frankly a thrill to listen to. I got to sing a song with one of my good friends and mentors, Jordan Knight. And had some fun with the powerhouse that is Mario Cantone. And finally, a song with a singer with whom I sang my first ever song on stage when I was 6 years old- my sister Carol. So special. I want to thank all the blessed artists that made this album come to life. Special thanks to Kevin Cofield who was there to help lay the foundation and Brent Paschke, who lent his Midas touch. And last but not least, ma' dude, Rob Lewis. You are so thoroughly talented with such an open heart. You give me great confidence knowing I have your support. Your talent and touch and heart is all over this record. Thank you, buddy.

And thanks to YOU. For all you have given me. I am so lucky to be able to make music and know that there is someone out there that wants to hear it. I hope you get that same warm glow from these songs that I got on those wonderful wintery walks in Boston.

Pre-orders start Nov. 7th.

5 Questions with Donnie Wahlberg

Philly.com did an interview with Donnie. He talks about still-devoted NKOTB fans, meeting Tom Selleck for the first time, how he would handle getting pulled over by a real cop and more.

Update: video has been deleted, does anyone have it saved?

Watch Joey McIntyre on Psych

Here are the scenes featuring Joey McIntyre from last night's episode of Psych:

Video that was originally on this post has been deleted, but here's a clip from the show:

 

Video courtesy of N. Psych Lopedia

Joey McIntyre on Access Hollywood Live

Joey was on Access Hollywood Live today to talk about his appearance on Psych, NKOTBSB and he also shares photos of his kids. 

Videos courtesy of New Kids News