It was nearly all gay semi-stalkers and overstuffed tartlets at Lance Bass's book party at Midtown East lounge Azza on Tuesday evening, but finding a bona fide fan of the *NSync-er still proved a difficult task. Most claimed to be there as a "plus-one" looking for free booze—kind of like when *NSync's eponymous first album went diamond but no one would actually fess up to owning it.

"So, are you a Lance fan?" Radar asked one party-goer. "Not hugely," came the response. "I work for Us Weekly, and my friend invited me. We cover him sometimes."

Another man had a similar response. "My wife works for 20/20. They just did a story on Lance, and it was really good. It aired on Friday ... it was really good. But I don't know Lance's work all that well."

[More pics after the jump!]

Amidst the nonchalance, though, we did manage to identify five former members of the *NSync fan club. "We love Lance and we're here to support him," said one guy who works in "entertainment" and was able to bring along four plus-ones. "We're psychotic Lance fans," gushed a female companion. "One of us slept in the street for four days to see Lance on the Today show. We just want to see him, or talk to him."

"I want to turn him straight," confessed another in the group. "He has good morals and a deep voice."

And what of the homo-stronaut himself? After much back-and-forth with his publicist, we finally edged up next to the man of the hour with a question that was entirely ignored.

"I haven't done interviews in a long time," Lance said, "but I wanted to encourage people to come out. I couldn't be happier."

Photos: Jason Rodgers