Nickelodeon Boy Band "Big Time Rush" Voted Best Boy Band In 'Parade Magazine' Poll

From Examiner.com:

Parade mag's 'Best Boy Band' poll names Big Time Rush No. 1, One Direction No. 2

Liam Payne of 1D, Logan Henderson of BTR, Louis Tomlinson of 1D, Kendall Schmidt of BTR, Harry Styles of 1D, Carlos Pena Jr. of BTR, Zayn Malik of 1D, James Maslow of BTR and Niall Horan of 1D; Credits: Getty Images
The results of Parade magazine and Wetpaint Entertainment's first "Best Boy Band" poll have now been announced: Big Time Rush (which stars in a Nickelodeon sitcom of the same name) came in at No. 1, while One Direction (which was created on "The X Factor" U.K. in 2010) came in at No. 2. The poll closed in June 2012, but Parade announced the results on August 2, 2012. Parade said that more than 800,000 votes were cast online in the poll. Because of winning the poll, Big Time Rush graces the cover of Parade's issue that will be in U.S. newspapers on August 5, 2012.

The poll asked people to vote for which boy band they consider "the best." Voters were given three choices: Big Time Rush, One Direction and The Wanted.

Parade did not reveal which percentage of votes each group received in the final results. The results of this poll are sure to be controversial with many One Direction fans, since One Direction has more fans than Big Time Rush does, based on music sales and fans on social media.

In February and March 2012, One Direction did its first North American tour as the opening for Big Time Rush, but music reviewers noted that One Direction outshone Big Time Rush, in terms of audience response. Many reviewers also reported that numerous people in the audience left the concerts after One Direction performed, leaving Big Time Rush to perform to sometimes half-empty venues.

Even though they are competitors on the charts, One Direction and Big Time Rush have said in interviews that they have a friendly relationship with each other. The ages of One Direction's members currently range from 18 to 20, while the members of Big Time Rush are currently 21 or 22.

One Direction signed a development deal with Nickelodeon, but sources say that One Direction will not be starring in a scripted show on the network.

In May and June 2012, One Direction headlined its first North American tour. Like all of One Direction's headlining tours, it sold out within minutes.

One Direction came in third place on "The X Factor" U.K. in 2010. The group's members (Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik) originally auditioned for the show as solo singers, but they were rejected as solo singers and then put in a group together by "The X Factor" executive producer Simon Cowell and other "X Factor" decision makers. Cowell was One Direction's mentor when he was a judge on the show. He also signed One Direction to Syco Music, the record company that is co-owned by Cowell and Sony Music.

One Direction has been spending most of the summer of 2012 working on the group's second album, which will be the follow-up to the One Direction's chart-topping debut album, "Up All Night."

Big Time Rush is headlining a summer 2012 tour of North America. Australian teen idol Cody Simpson and former "X Factor" U.S. finalist Rachel Crow are the opening acts on the tour.

One Direction has had No. 1 hits in several countries, while Big Time Rush has never had a No. 1 hit on any country's album or singles charts

Here are some other statistics comparing One Direction and Big Time Rush:

U.S. album certifications

One Direction - "Up All Night" (released in 2012), platinum certification of 1 million shipments

Big Time Rush -"BTR" (released in 2010), gold certification of 500,000 shipments. "Elevate" (released in 2011) has no gold or platinum certifications.

Biggest hit song in the U.S.

One Direction - "What Makes You Beautiful," No. 4 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart in 2012; more than 3 million in sales so far

Big Time Rush - "Boyfriend" (featuring Snoop Dogg), No. 72 on Billboard's Hot 100 in 2010; more than 500,000 in sales

Twitter followers on official band Twitter account (as of August 2, 2012)

One Direction - More than 5.5 million

Big Time Rush - More than 890,000

Number of "likes" on official band Facebook page (as of August 2, 2012)

One Direction - More than 8.4 million

Big Time Rush - More than 4.5 million