by Mark Guarino 2001 - By now, we all know the story about the boys named Backstreet. They are puppets. They are a product. They are five pretty faces propped up to sell merchandise to children. They are part of a machine that writes, produces and hypes their music to such an overwhelming degree even sherpas in Nepal who haven't seen a human in six months find themselves whistling their tunes. Blah, blah, blah. Although that all may well be true, Kevin Richardson, Howie Dorough, A.J. McLean, Brian Littrell and Nick Carter - and their powerful management company - know teenpop is nearing the completion of its life span. The oldest of the bunch is in his late twenties, and already, their album sales are not what they once were. So at their show at the Allstate Arena Monday, there were traces - subtle traces - that they yearn to make the transition from Boys to men. That wasn't the case during their last visit to Chicago when they wore goofy intergalactic space outfits and jiggled and wiggled as if auditioning for the Sugar Shack. This time around, there was much less choreography. And blatant advertising from the stage. Strutting out in solid white butler outfits, the fivesome stood their ground to sing oh-so-serious love ballads that poised the question every young girl must have screamed to them Monday: "How Did I Fall In Love With You?" Supported by a seven piece band that hid in the shadows, the Backstreet Boys harmonized with committed sincerity, even if the oozing sentiments in their songs was tough to scrub off. Stage time was obviously refocused to showcase their songs - some more gracefully than others. On "More Than That," all five stood high on risers while below, four ballet dancers rose from the floor and, one by one, wove between each other in pretty, lissome choreography. Even "I Want It That Way," their pop chestnut, was performed without the typical jive aerobics or tired come-ons. Of course, all of this had nothing to do with the blockbuster start of the show which was similar to a school play but with the budget of Bill Gates. Borrowing from the movies "Armageddon" and "The Matrix," it included pounding thunder, pyrotechnics, dancers in pagan monk costumes pretending to be struck by flying asteroids, and finally the Boys rising high from the ashes looking like five hard edge Keanu Reeves types but without the bad diction. Well, Boys will be boys.