Justin Timberlake performs his 'FutureSex/ LoveShow' concert Monday night at 8 on HBO.

What's gone around is coming around, thanks to Justin Timberlake. To close out Labour Day weekend, one of today's top music stars gives HBO his FutureSex/LoveShow concert Monday, September 3. Taped in August during the tour's New York stop at Madison Square Garden, the heavily visual performance showcases such recent Timberlake hits as My Love, SexyBack and What Goes Around, plus earlier material from a career the four-time Grammy winner launched in the boy bandNSYNC.

"You look at all the artistes who have done this before, like U2 and the (Rolling) Stones," Timberlake reflects of televised single-act concerts. "Also, everyone at HBO has been very supportive of me in all I've done. When they came to me with the idea for this, I figured, 'Why not?'

"The beautiful thing about something like this," he adds, "is that they format everything to fit you. You don't have to change anything to meet some sort of standard. It's not regular TV, and it's funny that's their slogan. They hired a director, Marty Callner, who's done this sort of thing plenty of times." In fact, Callner directed anNSYNC special, along with other HBO showcases for stars ranging from Bette Midler to Robin Williams.

Timberlake's hometown

With that end covered, Timberlake could stay focused on the music rather than have to worry about the technical aspects as well. He says Callner attended "probably 10 different shows" on the FutureSex/ LoveShow tour, which was in Europe for part of its first phase; it resumed in Timberlake's hometown, Memphis, Tennessee, in early August.

Timberlake reports Callner "watched it from every different angle and figured out every camera move he needed. I think this show plays well for television anyway. We have some technological elements that have never been done before onstage. The lighting, specifically, is pretty theatrical. It's one of those things where you just need to capture it the right way."

The tour has gone "great" overall, Timberlake claims. "The crowds have been even more diverse than I thought they'd be, and they come ready to have a good time. That's as much as you can ask for. It's a pretty well-oiled machine at this point, but when you know you're taping a special, you want to raise the bar even more. After you've done it so many times, you have to stop and step outside and say, 'OK, how can we clean this up? How can we make this sound even better, or make the video projection look better?' It's constantly being refined.

"I love touring," Timberlake notes, "but at a certain point, it does begin to run your life. I'm completely thankful - I can't believe we started this in January, and we keep going until probably the end of November - but that doesn't go without a lot of hard work. You just get weary when you're constantly living out of a bag. You get to a place where almost every hotel room looks the same. It's fun, but it is work."

Live concert

Early consideration of doing the HBO concert live didn't last long, Timberlake explains. "It was really (Callner) who spoke up and said, 'I think we're going to get more out of this if I have two days to shoot it. I'm going to need to watch the show from one side one night and the other side the next night.' The (view from the) seats on the floor are completely different from the seats one riser up, and so forth. I would be excited to do it either way, but so that we didn't miss anything, I agreed with him."

Timberlake is starting September nicely. With seven bids including male artiste of the year, he's the leading nominee (along with Beyoncé) in this year's MTV Video Music Awards, to be presented September 9. He's pleased with his current place in music, reasoning that "to step outside the box sometimes is fun, and if that starts something new, that's great. I think people like Kanye West and Timbaland do things like that; someone like Madonna, who I was lucky enough to just work with, also continues to.

"There are all these new sounds out there, from Amy Winehouse to Linkin Park on their new album. I don't mean to dissect music as much as (process) the way that I hear it. We do what we do and put on a show and try all these different things, but at the end of the day, I'm really just a fan."

An Emmy Award also may be in Timberlake's immediate future, since he's nominated for 'D--- in a Box', a Saturday Night Live rap parody that's had a separate life on YouTube. Also encompassing the controversial 2004 Super Bowl half-time performance with Janet Jackson, his link to television dates back to his days alongside Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Keri Russell on an updated Mickey Mouse Club.

Amazing experience

"It was the first professional job I ever had," he recalls, "but at the root of it, I was just a 10-year-old. I look back and wonder how I actually performed the work they asked me to, because all I really cared about was going to the (Walt Disney World) theme park and riding the Tower of Terror. It really was an amazing experience, though. It's funny how much it prepared me for the work I do as an adult."

Whether being tracked with reported current girlfriend Jessica Biel or spotted occasionally with ex-flame Cameron Diaz, Timberlake seems under 24/7 watch by the media. He says he's got used to it: "You just have to live your life. I've gone through all types of emotions about how to deal with it, and I've made my mistakes being too stern or being too accommodating. What's worked for me and what's made me happy, at least this past year, is just to say what you are and are not comfortable with.

"I don't want to sound like some sort of guru about it, but you have to get to a place in your mind where it's not something that exists for you. I grew up in a middle-class household where you worked, then you were off, and I still apply that now. If there are certain things I'm going to that are considered work, you know the attention is going to be there. "

- Jay Bobbin, Zap2it