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Latest Westlife News note: thanks to the following websites for providing some of the news items found on this site - MTVasia | dotMusic | The Sun | BBC | WENN The Westlife news archives can be found at the bottom of the page For the month of April, the latest news will be found in the news forum of this site. It already has a huge archive of articles and gossip from the internet from March, posted in our forums by one of our dedicated members. westlife.org
- News Forum 8/02/04 Bryan slams Westlife Bryan's debut solo single reveals how much he hated being in boyband Westlife. Despite claiming he was best mates with the other members when he left in March and just wanted to spend more time with wife Kerry McFadden and their two children, the lyrics to his new song, Real To Me, suggest he was disillusioned and desperate to leave the group for a long time. Bryan, who is changing his name back to its original spelling of Brian, told the Daily Mirror: “It’s everything I hated about being in Westlife, from the hectic schedule, showbiz parties and non-stop travelling all over the place, and boring record company meetings. It’s about feeling trapped everywhere I went, from the cars to the hotel rooms. It’s only now I have kids that I realise what the important things in life are.” The track, which was written by Robbie William’s former songwriting partner Guy Chambers, is due for release on September 6. Lyrics include: “Bull**it dinners and the free champagne/men in suits who think they know it all/No one knows me but they know my name/None of it’s real to me. Hotel lobby to the airplane/another country but they all look the same.” No mention of the millions of pounds in the bank though… editorial: Bryan's debut solo single makes me wonder what he really is up to. It's one thing to leave a group to spend time with his children. That's an honorable reason. But to leave the group, and then say 'oh, i really hated my time there' and oh by the way, I'm starting a solo musical career...come on. How hypocritical. Especially since he's picking up with a singing career that will lead to the same scheduling and record company meetings and showbiz parties. And what's up with that name change. Anyways, enough of my spouting. Thousands enjoy Westlife spectacle It was yet another highlight in a spectacular summer of music in East Anglia. Hot off the heels of Elton John performing in front of 25,000 at Portman Road in Ipswich in June, and Busted taking Christchurch Park by storm two weeks ago, Irish chart-toppers Westlife wowed a huge crowd in the town's Chantry Park on Saturday night. It was their first visit to Ipswich, but one which will live long in the memory of all those who attended – who will also be hoping it is not long before they make a return visit. It was a perfect evening in Chantry Park – you could sense the anticipation and excitement throughout. Those who went may have expected to see a crowd dominated by "teeny-boppers" – but that was not the case. While Westlife – Kian Egan, Shane Filan, Mark Feehily and Nicky Byrne – have many young fans, there were also couples and lots of middle-aged women. As a prelude to the main event, concert-goers were treated to performances by Stephanie Stretton, a competition winner from Chantry High School in Ipswich, followed by Peter Andre, 5Boyz, Pop! and Blazin' Squad. In particular Peter Andre was a hit with the crowd, his hit song Mysterious Girl getting everyone up and dancing. Once Blazin' Squad had finished there was then a 45-minute wait until Westlife were due to make an appearance. The park seemed to fill-up by the second with everyone jostling for the prime positions. They needn't have worried. From the moment Westlife appeared, as if from nowhere, with their cream pinstripe suits and hats, singing Turnaround, they sang their hearts out (and won a few too) making sure that everyone felt included, even those at the back. Turnaround was then followed by the classic My Girl and What Makes A Man. The myth that all they do is sit on stools and sing cheesy love songs was soon put to rest with some dance moves they seemed keen to show off. The foursome then mentioned that this was their first visit to Ipswich but said they were very impressed and now have plans to re-visit. One major highlight of Saturday's show was the melody of old songs that they put together such as Help!, I'll Be There For You and Everybody Needs Somebody. Shane even changed the lyrics of Uptown Girl to Ipswich Girl. There was also a heart-warming moment at the end of the show when all the "thank-you's" had been said. A young lady called Rebecca was brought out to sit with on stage, and they sang My Love to the courageous girl. A fantastic night was seemingly had by all – with the fireworks at the end providing a spectacular end to the evening. Posh is no dancing queen...neither are WestlifeLondon - Victoria Beckham aka Posh Spice has been crowned the worst dancer in pop. She joins fellow Spice Girls Emma Bunton (third worst) and Geri Halliwell (fifth), in the poll. The Girls Aloud quintet, Nadine Coyle, Cheryl Tweedy, Sarah Harding, Kimberley Walsh and Nicola Roberts, came fourth, while Kelly Osbourne came second. The poll, to mark the launch of a new dance reality TV show, also rooted out the worst male dancers. Comeback kid Peter Andre was crowned the most awful male dancer, followed by Robbie Williams. Pop Idol's Gareth Gates came third, followed by the boys from Westlife, and Anthony Costa and Duncan, from Blue. While British stars dominate the worst dancer categories, Americans apparently have more rhythm. Jennifer Lopez came first in the best dancer poll, followed by Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and Beyonce Knowles. Westlife looks for a female fan for a duet
Their former producer and Pop Idol's Mr Nasty - Simon Cowell - came up with the scheme for the band. Wannabes can ring a hotline number to leave their details and sing a song. Westlife will choose a shortlist of candidates in time for auditions in London and Manchester on August 24 and 25. The winner will be revealed on a TV special - You're the One - later this year. The band's Nicky Byrne said: "It's a great opportunity to bond with our fans and to give someone the amazing opportunity that we were given." Cowell will release the song on his S Records label. He said: "This is the ultimate search for a star. The winner gets to sing with Westlife on national television. It may be the launchpad for a successful career." Fancy joining Westlife? According to The Sun, Westlife are holding their own Pop Idol-style auditions to find an unknown singer to appear on their next album. They are searching for a girl singer to record a track, in an idea thought up by their old boss and Pop Idol judge Simon Cowell. The lucky winner will also get to perform the song live on a Westlife TV special. The group launched a hotline number – 0905 998 8888 - for the hopefuls today. The auditions are open to anyone, just call and leave your details and sing a favourite song, calls cost 50p a minute. Westlife will listen to all the entries and whittle them down to a shortlist of applicants before the auditions in London and Manchester on August 24 and 25. The winner will be revealed on a TV special later this year called You’re The One. The album, out this Christmas, will feature cover versions of songs by Hollywood’s ‘Rat Pack’ Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davies Jnr. Simon Cowell, who will release it on his S Records label, said: “This is the ultimate search for a star. “The winner gets to sing with Westlife on national television. It may be the launch pad for a successful career.” Nicky concluded: “It’s a great opportunity to bond with our fans and to give someone the amazing opportunity that we were given.” Westlife, Liverpool Summer PopsFROM boys to men: six years, 12 number ones and 80 million records after their inception as a boy band, the fully matured Westlife remain the most successful male vocal group ever. They have outlived institution-alised pop icons The Osmonds, Take That, NSYNC, Boyzone and even The Jacksons. It's a well known fact that boy bands are a pop species with a limited shelf life, yet Westlife continue to captivate the adoration of a notoriously fickle audience. Even after the departure Bryan McFadden in March, Westlife have adapted and evolved into the four-piece which brought fans to Liverpool last night in their droves. From the opening of first song Turnaround, the screaming reverberated around the walls of the marquee like a vocal Mexican wave, and did not stop as the lads went on to perform titles spanning their four studio albums. The crowd went wild as West-life wended their way through the wistful acoustic balladry of Flying Without Wings, 70s favourite Mandy, and a crotch-thrusting rendition of Wham's Jitterbug. Any slightly more infirm members of the audience lost their senses completely, and as emotions ran high there were the trademark tears and hysterical euphoria expected from avid boy band fanatics. The pervading mood was that of rapturous appreciation, and just from watching the stage it was obvious why - here was a group of dedicated talented performers working hard to justify their fans' support. The simple reason Westlife have been more tenacious than any other boy band is simply because they produce great music, and give it their all. And if the reaction of the crowd to the last act of this year's Pops - they play again tonight - is anything to go by,, the parting words of a band member will ring true: Westlife are unbreakable. Bryan for solo successBryan has given himself six months to record a solo album - and hired Enrique Iglesias's writing team to help him. The star is determined to follow the route taken by Robbie Williams and become bigger than the band which launched him. He has turned to acclaimed writers Paul Barry and Mark Taylor who are
holed up with him in the studio carving out tunes - at his own expense. Westlife seem to have lost none of their appeal - even if they have lost one of their members. The boy band - who are surely growing up into a man band by now - play two nights at Liverpool's Summer Pops on July 27 and 28. They do it, of course, minus founder member Bryan McFadden. Bryan announced he was leaving the group in March, saying he wanted to spend more time with his wife Kerry McFadden and his two young daughters. The band is now made up of Shane Filan, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Nicky Byrne - who have pledged to carry on without Bryan as long as they are happy, and as long as the fans still want them. They went on tour just a couple of months after Bryan's departure. Kian says: "It was quite strange. The first few days of tour rehearsals were probably the strangest but the attitude we have is that we just need to just get on with things. To be honest we've not thought about it too much because it's just a slightly different process of what we normally do. We're just working away and it's going extremely well actually. We still believe we have what it takes 100% even though Bryan isn't here." They've had to make some changes. Bryan was one of the band's more prominent vocalists and so singing arrangements have had to be reorganised to make up for his absence. And while Westlife are better known for sitting on stools than doing dance routines, those they do perform while on tour have also had to be choreographed once again. But on the whole, Bryan's departure doesn't seem to have made much of a difference to the self-proclaimed "unbreakable" band. A mere 24 people enquired about getting a refund for their tickets to the last tour. That's out of 480,000 ticket sales. " That's not bad is it?" laughs Kian, "Proving to the audience that we're well-capable as a four is the most important thing to us right now. That will then transfer into the record sales. If we get out there and do a good show I think the fans will be just as much behind us as they ever were. As far as we're concerned we don't feel like we're in the same position as Take That or the Spice Girls. The attitude we have is that it doesn't feel like the right time for this band to break up. The fact that we grew up together has an awful lot to do with that, and we're all extremely passionate about what we do. We've been dealing with the splitting up questions for that last two years anyway so we're used to it. Bryan leaving has been great in one way because it's given us a new lease of life in the sense that the one thing we love doing is proving people wrong." Westlife star is all Heart Nicky is looking forward to meeting up with Hearts star Alan Maybury when his band play Edinburgh Castle. The chart-topping band are performing on the castle esplanade tomorrow night and former Leeds United junior footballer Byrne cant wait to meet up with his old teammate. The singer, who was spotted at Tynecastle in November, said: "I was at a game and Hearts won 2-0. Alan Maybury who plays for Hearts is a mate of mine." Speaking to Forth One DJ Grant Stott, he added: "We were together at Leeds United in the youth team back in 95 before Westlife obviously. Alan’s now with Hearts and is doing quite well. I always keep in touch with him." Westlife Turns to Swing Boy band Westlife have decided to go for a swing approach for their upcoming Christmas album. They will cover swing classics from the likes of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. A TV special will be shown on December 18 in conjunction with the album's release. "It's all Simon Cowell's idea. He reckons the album will be a huge hit. All those songs like Strangers in the Night, The Lady Is a Tramp, I've Got You Under My Skin and My Way are such classics that they just can't fail," an inside source said.
A magazine which published an interview with former Westlife star Bryan McFadden has apologised to the lapdancer he denied having sex with on his stag night. Mother-of-two Amy Barker claimed that her integrity was questioned by the November 2002 article. The lapdancer said she had full sex with McFadden, 24, during a cocaine-fuelled night in 2001. Barker, from West Yorkshire, was one of two lapdancers hired to entertain the band on a coach trip during the singer’s stag weekend. But McFadden denied having sex with the lapdancer, insisting in the Heat article: “If it were true, the Westlife boys would never speak to me again.” Heat’s apology said Mr McFadden and the magazine had both “implicitly accused Ms Amy Barker of lying”. It went on: “We and Mr McFadden accept that a sexual encounter did take place on this occasion and it was not our intention to accuse Ms Barker of lying.” Media lawyer Graham Atkins of Campbell Hooper, which represented Ms Barker, refused to say whether any damages had been awarded. He said: “We are delighted that the action has settled and that the apology has been published. The content of the apology speaks for itself.” Since the publication of the Heat article, McFadden has admitted a “brief oral sex act” took place, but that it only lasted 30 seconds, adding: “I categorically state that I never had intercourse with her and have never taken drugs.” Ms Barker claimed that she reluctantly had sex with McFadden on the stag night to celebrate his wedding to I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! star Kerry Katona, 23. She said: “We started off having sex and after about a minute I pulled away and performed a sex act on him. I didn’t enjoy it and it was over in three minutes. He was only concerned about his own needs. There was no feeling to it. When he finished he got up, didn’t look at me, didn’t say a word and walked out.” Kerry's Westlife shocker
"I swear I didn't know he was leaving until five days before it was announced," says Kerry. "When he told me I thought, 'Oh my God, what on earth are you doing?' but Bryan is one of these people who, once he's made up his mind up - that's it. "He'd mentioned it six months before but I never really thought anything of it. When he told me for real I was heartbroken - it has been our whole life. I reckon I was more upset than Bryan was!" And more upset than any of the population too. Kerry, who if you remember was crowned queen of the jungle after winning I'm A Celebrity... is glad that 'her Bryan' can now take time off when he pleases. "Funnily enough at the minute he's really busy with writing his solo album but it'll all calm down again soon," she smiles. Meanwhile, little Kerry is busy getting excited about her first acting
job. She starts work on an Irish film called Showbands in August. "Acting's
my ideal job. I'm really excited about Showbands - as well as being a
bit nervous. But they wouldn't ask me be in the film if I couldn't do
it I'm sure," she says. Westlife to play at school
Pop group Westlife is to perform an outdoor concert on a school playing field in Kent. The Irish boy band will sing their hits to thousands of fans on the fields of St George's Church of England School in Broadstairs on Sunday. About 14,000 people are expected to turn up for the event which was organised by former pupil and concert promoter David Suter. It is hoped the concert will raise about £5,000 for the school. Westlife have sold more than 30m records worldwide and have had 12 UK number one singles. Head teacher Keith Rumblo said: "As far as the area is concerned, a lot of people feel that Thanet is very much a cultural desert. To have something along these lines, with famous people coming along, will be great for everyone." McFaddens to renew wedding vows Bryan McFadden and his wife Kerry are renewing their wedding vows to prove they're still in love - less than two years after tying the knot. The former Westlife singer and the I'm A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! Reality TV star plan to marry for a second time in a declaration of love. McFadden says: "We're going to go away somewhere, most likely Italy - as Kerry will want Venice. We'll underline our vows and the commitment we made two years ago, because that is what marriage is. "We'll have a laugh and get along well - but since I left Westlife we've both been so busy. We hope we'll get away together in September - certainly before the end of the year." Kerry was devastated when she discovered Bryan had cheated on her
with lapdancer Amy Barker at his stag night in October 2001. The former
Atomic
Kitten singer found out through newspaper revelations six months later.
Kerry said: "What matters to me is that my family - Bryan, me
and the kids - are all safe. And you know what? I can't remember being
so
content with my lot." Former Westlife star Brian McFadden is so desperate for the public to hear his wife Kerry's singing skills, he's recruited her to duet with him on a forthcoming song. Brian is now embarking on a solo career following his departure from Westlife earlier this year and he is convinced the ex-Atomic Kitten babe can help him top the charts - even though she's confessed she can't sing. A source says: "Nobody's sure if it was Kerry who nagged him to be on the album or Brian nagged her to sing. Kerry's got a good pair of lungs but whether she can sing or not is another matter." The collaboration - Armed and Dangerous - is likely to appear on Brian's debut solo album.
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