Fans of the music group Backstreet Boys got a surprise in the most unexpected of places – a lift. (Or did they?)

On a visit to the TRL studios in New York, the band’s Brian Littrell was alone during the lift ride when three women wearing Backstreet Boys T-shirts entered. He was soon joined by the other four members, Howir Dorough, Kevin Richardson, AJ McLean and Nick Carter, and the women realised that the entire thing was staged.

The excited fans whipped out their mobile phones to capture videos as the band began singing several of their hits, including I Want It That Way and As Long As You Love Me. The entire concert was also captured on elevator cameras and posted on YouTube by TRL.

All of which may suggest there was nothing impromptu about either the concert or the fans’ “reactions”.