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Shania Twain
Timothy White

All About

Shania Twain

During Manhattan radio station Z100's sold-out Jingle Ball concert at Madison Square Garden last Thursday night, hordes of prepubescent girls screamed along to chart-topping hits by such acts as 'N Sync and 98 Degrees. And for the young guys? It was all about Shania.

Drew of 98 Degrees told EW Online, "We have a personal fondness for Shania Twain. I think that's pretty much a general consensus." And Lance of 'N Sync mentioned "searching for Shania Twain" as his guilty pleasure of the night.

Backstage at the charity concert (which benefited lupus and THE social cause of 1998, breast cancer), Lance would have found the petite, gorgeous country gal decked out in a black leather vest and pants, swinging to Brian Setzer's set. "I wanted so badly to go up on the stage and swing, to show everyone how hip and cool and fun this music is," Twain enthused. Later, she had her chance to shine during the night's longest set, her 35-minute turn on the stage.

Meanwhile, Shawn Mullins was desperately seeking a soul mate in another Canadian diva. "Where's Celine Dion when you need her?" he asked, finding himself in unfamiliar territory on top of the charts with his soulful "Lullaby" and needing advice before singing to the 20,000 or so in the audience. He said the night was a far cry from the "crowd" of five or six fans he once played to in L.A. Dion wasn't scheduled to appear -- but her spirit was invoked in the Barenaked Ladies' hilarious medley which included "My Heart Will Go On" and "The Boy Is Mine."

Edwin McCain, another long-suffering musician pleased by his newfound popularity, let it be known that when he wrote "I'll Be," his nose ran. Which, by the way, is a good thing. "When my nose runs, the song's all right. That's how I pick singles, by when my nose gets snotty." He didn't disclose the sniffle status of his follow-up single, which will appear on the soundtrack to the upcoming "Message in a Bottle" starring Kevin Costner and Paul Newman.

Goo Goo Dolls' lead singer John Rzeznik, who's used to the perks that accrue to a chart-topper, said he'll be busy prepping for the millennium by stuffing all his cash in a mattress. "You're all gonna come crawling to me for water and cash," he joked. Precocious hitmaker Monica, though, had the most ambitious plan for 1999. "I want to go into the year with a positive mind," she said. "It seems like dealing with success should be the easiest part of music, but it's actually the hardest part."

Having their own difficulties with success, Boyz II Men almost didn't make the show. Stuck in traffic a few blocks from the Garden, they got out of their bus and ran onto the stage to sing their (just barely) prescient new single... "I Will Get There."

It was close to one in the morning by the time the concert ended. Most of the girls had already gone home. The Boyz, however, were still milling around backstage. "I love Shania's voice," gushed Shawn Stockman. "I just love her voice."


Posted Dec 22, 1998 | Order Article Reprints