11.17.11

Westlife on QVC (UK)

Westlife interviews on QVC UK

Keeping their title as the biggest international selling band of the decade, Westlife popped into QVC especially to perform for one of the last times together since the news of their split to promote their brand new 'Greatest Hits' album which sold out within an astounding 9 minutes!

The powerful performances included their new single 'Lighthouse' and one of their 14 number ones, 'What About Now'. When asked about their career and their new album, Westlife said, "It's almost hard to believe that we've been doing this for as long as we have. We're incredibly proud of what we've achieved and are looking forward to releasing our Greatest Hits, and doing a final Greatest Hits Farewell Tour next year, as a special thank you to our fans who have supported us throughout our career. We are really excited to be returning to QVC again and we hope you enjoy our performance".

The song they're most proud of is 'Flying Without Wings' and when talking about the delivery of their performances, Kian even nicked Louis Walsh's phrase from the X-Factor, joking, "We're a bit like postmen, we deliver every time."!

When asked if there's anything they haven't done in their Westlife career they wished they had, Shane answered, "I haven't skydived"!!

Talking about how the band formed, Shane said - "We put the band together ourselves when we were 15/16 years old then we auditioned and got Nicky and Brian when we met Louis Walsh and found two Dublin boys and the rest is history".

When asked what they enjoy most, Shane answered, "the live tours". "We've done 10 massive live tours and every year you're looking forward to the next one and you're excited about it. It's the biggest fun we have definitely".

Westlife interview on the Mirror

After 14 years of sell-out tours, No.1 hits and screaming fans, Westlife have decided to call it a day - but they are not about to go quietly. Westlife are lining up a farewell tour following the release of their Greatest Hits album next week, have a couple of things they want to get off their chest. For starters, their goodbye gigs will NOT be a Take That/Robbie Williams style reunion with Brian McFadden, who quit the band in 2004, being welcomed back with open arms.

Far from it. In fact, the mere mention of Brian's possible return to neatly bookend their career, causes a rare break in the lively banter among the group. Kian, 31, finally breaks the silence, asking cagily: "Do you think he should come back? The thing is. Some people do look at it like that, but the four of us have spent the past eight years working our asses off to keep it together. And he hasn't. Maybe a random gig. Or we could just get drunk together."

Someone else who probably won't be invited to hang out with Westlife backstage is former mentor Simon Cowell. Feeling largely "unloved" by Simon, they parted company from his record label Syco back in March - and signed up to his Sony rival, RCA.

Nicky, 33, explains: "Leaving Syco was us trying to patch up cracks. We felt unloved because we were making albums with that particular label and we were having to make our own decisions. It makes you implode. So we thought, 'Let's get away to a new label and see what it's like there'. But when we got to the new label we were still imploding. It felt like we had done it for long enough."

Simon, it appears, had left them to fend for themselves. The man who first signed them in 1998 seemed to have taken his eye off Westlife, who have sold 45 million records, had 14 No.1 singles, and performed on 10 sell-out tours. The boys have their own theory - Simon became too much of a celebrity himself to be bothered with them. During the decade and a half of their fame, Simon went from the unknown A&R man behind the careers of 5ive, Robson & Jerome and, Zig and Zag to TV's Mr Nasty as a judge on Simon Fuller's Pop Idol (as well as American Idol). It catapulted him into the public eye, and he went on to create The X Factor which has become a hit both sides of the Atlantic.

Nicky says: "Simon WAS the best thing that ever happened to us, with Louis Walsh, in the beginning. Without Simon Cowell we wouldn't have had the career the way we've had it. He picked every single and it's the singles that make you successful. He's a very talented man at what he does. Especially picking songs. But then Syco Music... records... whatever. That whole machine exploded for him in the States. I don't think for one minute, 'Why is he gonna worry about little old Westlife when he's over in the States?'"

Laughing, Shane, 32, chips in with: "Nicky tells it like it is. 'Little old Westlife'." Nicky continues: "He did love us. But I remember going to America when Simon had just become a superstar." Shane: "He was like Brad Pitt, he was." Nicky: "We went to this club and obviously nobody in the States knew who we were. We were used to getting all the attention, but in this club everyone - including men - were queueing to get to him. We were edging closer, trying to stand beside him. All these people wanted to talk to him, and he'd just sit there and wink at us. He could be sitting with Oprah Winfrey and he'd turn and give you that wink."

Mark, 31, interrupts with: "He's not winking any more - his eyes don't move." Botox jokes aside, Westlife were reportedly annoyed with Cowell for the way Gravity, their last album released through Syco, had been marketed. Kian says: "I think we would have been a happier band if we'd released more singles from Gravity." Nicky agrees: "Gravity is a fantastic album. But there wasn't any more singles, so we were slipping and slipping."

So they parted company with Syco, but it just wasn't enough to save the band and last month they decided to call it a day. Shane explains: "One of the things that did it was the fact that we're doing a Greatest Hits album. Over the past couple of years we were doing new albums, so we all thought, 'Maybe another year, maybe another year'. Doing our Greatest Hits, it kinda felt like now was the time. It was a conversation we didn't like admitting. But we all did admit it."

Kian adds: "Over the years, we've tried to look at all the little things that were cracking and all the little things that were going wrong, thinking maybe we could change this or that. But none of them really had anything to do with it. I think it was just a case of wear and tear. We'd been doing it for so long, and the pressure and the stress of continuously trying to make it happen. And make the right decisions. It was down to the four of us continuously pushing, pushing, pushing to make it happen. Whether it was RCA, Universal..."

Apart from anything else, those fresh-faced lads starting out on the road to fame 14 years ago are now grown men who have settled down. Nicky is married to Georgina and is the father of twin sons. Shane and wife Gillian have three children. Kian, who plans to open a surf shop, and his wife Jodi Albert, who sings in Wonderland, are expecting their first child. And Mark is engaged to long-term partner Kevin McDaid. In many ways it now feels right to leave their boyband days behind them.

Mark agrees: "It's a natural progression. It naturally feels like it's time to do this. We could have gone on and on like other people sometimes do - they're not sensible enough to realise there's a time to let go. They almost spoil it and it's not special any more. Nobody wants them any more. We're still on the top. We're still selling out tours, and we're still releasing albums, and selling millions of albums across the world. That's how we want to remember Westlife - not as something that stuck around a little bit too long. We want to remember it as the amazing, huge thing that it is now. We're gonna have this huge tour to celebrate the last 14 years. We're looking back at something amazing."

They joke that they are already being asked about a comeback - before the split has even happened. Mark says: "It's so funny, for the last eight years, since Brian left, we've been asked are we splitting up."Now we're finally splitting up, they're asking are we getting back together! We're splitting up and that's it. Full stop." An ITV1 special, Westlife: For The Last Time, is on in December.

11.16.11

Westlife break up

(from independent.ie)

When Take That announced their split in 1996, helplines were famously set up to provide counselling to distraught teenagers. Life for these girls without their focal point was such a bleak prospect that suicide threats were issued. The reaction to Westlife's split this week has not been met with the same levels of devastation -- there are no fans crying in the street; no tearful eulogies being spoken into news microphones

Vicki Notaro, deputy editor with Irish teen magazine Kiss, believes the different reaction is simply down to different circumstances. "Westlife have been around for 14 years, and their audience has grown with them," she says. "But when Take That split, they had only been around for five years, and super-popular for about three. They were still very much in their prime. The Westlife fans who have been there since the beginning are now in their mid- to late-20s, and just aren't as fanatical as teenagers."

When Take That split, the roadmap to success had already been marked out for its former members -- and in particular, Gary Barlow. The coverage of their break-up in 1996 was dominated by tributes to his songwriting abilities. And who was going to argue? This was, after all, the man who had written 'Back For Good'. And sure enough, things started off as expected when Barlow's first two singles went straight to number one. Robbie Williams was nipping at his heels with a brace of number-two singles, but he was still very much regarded as the band's also-ran. That all changed with the release of 'Angels', which kicked off the most successful leg of his career and catapulted Robbie to stratospheric levels of fame as well as garnering critical acclaim.

Even after his solo career faltered, his reunion with the band last year marked the high point of what was already a hugely successful comeback. Boyzone's five members never hit the same heights as their contemporaries across the water, but they did follow a far more predictable path -- the band's main man Ronan Keating rose to the top, scoring a few hits around the turn of the century. The struggle for second place was weakly contested. Mikey Graham and the late Stephen Gately released solo efforts that went largely unnoticed, while Keith Duffy and Shane Lynch paired off into a rap duo called -- wait for it -- Keith'n'Shane. Duffy later took up a job on Coronation Street, as charming Irish stock character Ciaran McCarthy. And he was joined in his acting endeavours by Mikey Graham, who 'starred' in the cult hit Fatal Deviation -- now regarded as one of the worst films ever made. The band's reunion was cut short by the tragic death of Gately two years ago and the remaining four have largely remained outside of the public eye.

When Irish group Six broke up, the members' future occupations included RTÉ children's presenter (Emma O'Driscoll), Jedward's road manager (Liam McKenna) and deputy mayor of Cobh (Sinéad Sheppard). But one ex-member was enjoying even greater things. Nadine Coyle, who had been selected for the band via the Irish version of Popstars, was sacked when it was revealed that she'd lied about her age. Undeterred, she auditioned on the UK version of the show -- and went on to become a member of the biggest girl band since the Spice Girls.

When Girls Aloud went on hiatus in 2009, however, there was a two-way battle for solo success between Coyle and Cheryl Cole. That battle was won by Cole; her single 'Fight For This Love' was a smash hit, while Coyle's 'Insatiable' peaked at just number 26 in the UK charts. So who would have believed that Nicola Roberts, the oft-maligned redhead member of the group, would sneak up and take a share of the spoils? Her album, the tellingly titled Cinderella's Eyes, was lauded by critics -- and Roberts will enjoy a much more respectable role in the group if they reunite next year.

So, it's fairly hard to say from the outset how members will fare on their own in the big bad world -- but are there any signs as to what the future could hold for the Westlife boys?

Shane: The group's most prominent member when it comes to vocal duties, the diminutive Sligo man is currently working on a solo album. But if history has shown us anything, it's that the dark horse usually triumphs in the battle for success. So the burden of being favourite may well weigh heavily on Filan. Filan also has a track record in the property game, and while that might sound like a laughable prospect right now, it at least serves as a reminder that this is a man who has more than one string to his bow.

Mark: There are reports that Mark was the driving force behind the group's demise combined with his ambition to write songs for other acts would suggest that he will emerge as the main musical man to come from the group. Happy to keep a low profile, and known for being a genuine music buff, this is his chance to spread his wings -- but chances are that his next pursuit won't see him come within 10 feet of a microphone.

Nicky: Bertie's son-in-law had a career before he joined Westlife, as a goalkeeper with Leeds United's youth team, and it looks like he has another career already lined up for after the band. "I heard Nicky is going into radio, which I think would be perfect for him," says Vicki Notaro. "I think Nicky will do really well in whatever he chooses, as people like and respond to him."

Kian: Just as Ronan Keating joined Louis Walsh in managing Westlife during the early days, Kian has done the same for Walsh's girlband project Wonderland -- which included his wife, former model Jodi Albert. That, combined with his upcoming role as a judge on The Voice of Ireland, would suggest that he feels he's learned a lot over the last 14 years -- and now it's time to put that experience to good use. The Wonderland project may have been a disaster, but few would be surprised if Kian used his role on the talent show to kickstart a career behind the scenes.

Brian McFadden: In Brian's case, it's not so much a question of 'Where will he go next?' as 'Where is he now?' Having left the band in 2004, McFadden showed sparks of solo success with his debut album, but a series of PR gaffes led to his decision to relocate to Australia. He's currently a talent show judge there -- a recurring theme among his type -- and is enjoying a high-profile romance with Irish reality TV star Vogue Williams. But will this Irish Son return to roost? Not according to Notaro. "He has too much baggage here."

And what about Louis Walsh? Don't forget the sixth member, and the man who made it all happen. The demise of Westlife could well be the end of Louis's reign in pop music -- unless Jedward really step up to the mark. But is this really the end? Could the four (or five) boys already have one eye on a big reunion? Well, to suggest that would just be cynical. But let's not forget, the longer those white suits are left in the wardrobe, the more dust they'll gather . . .

Louis Walsh devastated by Westlife split

Nicky has revealed that Louis Walsh is devastated by their plans to break up next year. He said: "We're worried we'll have to set up a helpline for Louis because he wasn't happy about it all. He is devastated - genuinely. We met with him a few different times and he said 'You're your own guys but I don't think you should break up but it's not my decision.'"

Nicky further explained that Louis is still refusing to accept that the band will go their separate ways in 2012 after 14 years together. Speaking to The Irish Daily Star newspaper he said: "We did a show the other night, a show to be aired at Christmas, billed as our last TV show and I said to Louis, 'So how are you feeling?' he said 'I don't want to talk about it'." He added: "So he's not there yet, but he understands."

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