Backstreet Boys Unlock New Pop Possibilities at Sphere: Inside ‘Into the Millennium’ Vegas Residency as First Wave Wraps

As the first pop headliner at the Las Vegas Sphere, Backstreet Boys were able to bring a brand-new sense of fun, nostalgia and Y2K whimsy to the cutting-edge venue.

Onstage at their Into the Millennium residency — which began last month and wrapped its first wave on Sunday night (before kicking off 14 additional dates starting in December) — BSB promised to put the crowd into a “time machine” back to the late-’90s heyday of boy bands and bubblegum pop. Katie was in the orb for the 21st show over the weekend, and on the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, she tells Keith all about her spaceship ride back to the turn of the millennium.

After witnessing visual feats from U2, Eagles and Dead & Company, the thing that stuck out the most to Katie was how fun this go-round at the Sphere was — especially the boy band’s use of the rumbling seats and floor for big-bang moments and the way the group’s trademark choreography was blown up to supersize on the floor-to-ceiling screen, highlighting all the dance moves we learned in our living rooms while watching MTV’s TRL.

Hear our full discussion about the Backstreet Boys spectacle on the podcast below:

Also on the show, as Morgan Wallen sits tight at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, Conan Gray and Billie Eilish shake up the top 10, while Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department returns to the top 10 in the wake of the news of her forthcoming album. Plus, on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, we now have four songs from the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack in the top 10. When was the last time a soundtrack had four top 10s? And has any soundtrack ever had four hits in the top 10 at the same time?

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)