I see. I'll have to disagree with you there too (re: N Sync). Take That are definitely better. And they are better than One Direction too (though they had some cracking hits, I must say).

As for girl bands, Girls Aloud were probably my favourite group between 2000 and 2009. So many great singles - Sound of the Underground, No Good Advice, Love Machine, The Show, Biology, Call the Shots, Can't Speak French, The Promise, The Loving Kind, etc, etc. Some great B-sides too. (How was Memory of You not an A-side? How????)