Shane becomes a father

On July 25, Shane and Gillian celebrated the birth of Nicole, their first daughter. She came 10 days early at Sligo General Hospital weighing 5lbs 7oz (yea! the Brits also use lbs and oz).

The couple, who are both 26, married a year and half ago. According to the Sunday Mirror, singer Filan said: "It was the most emotional and amazing experience of my life."

"The baby looks like me. She's got dark hair and is absolutely gorgeous.Gillian will be staying in hospital for a few days and I can't wait to get her and Nicole back home," he said.

(From the Mirror)

Split in 18 months? That's total bullsh*t

I T's 5.30am and the sun is coming up over the terrace of Westlife's £1,000-a-night Ritz Carlton beach villa in Bahrain. It's the penultimate night of the band's 56-date world tour and, having spent five hours necking champagne and ice, Shane Filan is a little the worse for wear.

In a few weeks, his wife Gillian will give birth and the 26-year-old is finding it hard to concentrate on anything but the impending arrival. The couple are expecting a girl and they've already named her Nicole. Nursing a grainy mobile phone picture of the scan, Shane coos: "Isn't she just beautiful? I just can't wait to be a daddy.

"I was speaking to Brian McFadden the other day and he keeps telling me how fatherhood's the best thing ever. To experience it myself will just be incredible."

Just as things are in danger of becoming overly sentimental, Mark Feehily, 25, retreats to the kitchen and returns brandishing two pints of nearly-neat vodka. Glugging on one, he hands me the other with an assurance that it will "get me going". Meanwhile the other inebriated lads debate whether to jump into their private pool, fully-clothed.

It seems being in each other's company so much brings out their inner teens.

"We've been together seven years and we're pretty much like family," says Shane.

Kian Egan, 25, agrees, saying, "The thing is we don't have egos among ourselves. A lot of bands have split up due to ego clashes - people getting above themselves and thinking they can do things by themselves. I would hate to do this by myself. I wouldn't like travelling around the world on my own."

Nicky Byrne, 26, chips in, "We were lucky to make it but it's even harder to stay successful - there are always new kids on the block. A lot of the new bands want to go to heaven but none of them want to die. No one wants to do that hard work. It's not just about having good songs but about meeting fans, travelling, getting up at 4.30am." After seven years at the top, do they still get starstruck? Kevin Spacey was pretty cool - very funny. And meeting Pope John Paul II was special," says Shane, who goes on to explain why A-list rapper Snoop Dogg has been struck off their Christmas card list. "He got us thrown out of the VIP room at a club in Dublin!"

Nicky reasons: "It probably wasn't him - it would have been his 'people'. He had, like, 30 security guards. I heard even the owner of the club was chucked out to make room for them."

But revenge is sweet...

Kian chuckles: "Snoop didn't even sell out his Irish gig. He did The Point and only 3,000 people showed up!" Fortunately, filling venues such as the 8,500 capacity Point is not a problem Westlife have encountered. They've notched up 12 No.1 singles and played to over three million fans on four sell-out arena tours. And they're not planning to stop.

"I read somewhere that we were going to call it a day in 18 months' time," says Shane. "That's total bulls**t. We have absolutely no plans to split.

"If our next album's successful we'll make another one. We are still selling out concerts all over the world and it's a fantastic job."

Not that it's all work and no play. The boys boozed heavily in the early days and still like a drink or three.

"We're not as bad now but we still go out two or three nights a week and get absolutely plastered," admits Kian.

"But we have to stay in shape and we work out most days, even when we really don't feel like it."

His face suddenly lights up when he gets a text message from his girlfriend, Jodi Albert. The ex Hollyoaks star has said she wants five kids with Kian and is ready to walk down the aisle, but he won't be pinned down.

"I'm always taking the mickey out of her and saying I want five kids, so maybe the idea is settling in her brain," he laughs. "But as for marriage, well we've only been together two years... You've got to be with someone for at least five years before you settle down. Our relationship is going well but we're both young."

Shane is wed to Gillian Walsh and Nicky is married to Irish premier's daughter Georgina Aherne, which leaves Mark as the only singleton.

"That's just the way it is at the moment and I'm cool with it," he insists. "I'm building a house in Ireland and when I'm not working that takes up most of my time."

The lads are now gearing up to take part in a promotion with Pepsi Max Downloaded.

"We're very excited about it," says Shane. "Fans buy bottles or cans of Pepsi Max and text a number. If they win, they get to work behind the scenes with us for a day at a one-off gig, which will be held in their hometown."

Girls Aloud, McFly, Natasha Bedingfield and Ms Dynamite are also taking part in the project, which aims to strip the sugary gloss from pop stars and give fans an up close and personal experience with their heroes.

"It's a chance to go back to our roots," adds Nicky. "It's down to the winner where we play, the size of the venue or its location is irrelevant."

So long as it has a well-stocked bar, of course...

5/28/05

It's been a slow Westlife news month

Westlife lose in trademark battle

Westlife lost the right to hold onto a trademark on its name on Wednesday when a European Union court ruled the name was too similar to another trademark, West, which is owned by a German firm. While the four-member group, which has had a string of chart-topping hits in Britain, can still use the name Westlife on merchandise, it cannot stop other people from using it.

In 2003, the EU's Community Trademark Office allowed the band to register Westlife as a trademark despite opposition from a German company, Reemark Gesellschaft fur Markenkooperation mbH, which said it was too similar to its trademark West.

The EU's lower court, the Court of First Instance, found in favor of the German firm on Wednesday and annulled the Westlife trademark, saying the names were too alike and would confuse customers.

"The court finds that there is a likelihood of confusion between the two trademarks," the court judgment said.

"The contested (EU Community Trademark Office) decision must be annulled."

The boyband, signed to Sony BMG, can appeal the decision to the EU's top court.

Westlife win at World Music Awards 2005

All the winners:

World's Best Male Artist: Usher World's Best Female Artist: Norah Jones World's Best Group: Outkast Best Pop Male Artist: Usher Best Pop Female Artist: Norah Jones Best Pop Group: Outkast Best Pop/Rock Artist: Avril Lavigne Best Rock Artist: Evanescence Best R&B Artist: Usher Best R&B Female Artist: Alicia Keyes Best Rap/Hip-Hop Artist: Outkast Best New Female Artist: Hilary Duff Best New Male Artist: Kanye West Best New Group: Maroon 5 Diamond Award: Celine Dion Outstanding Contribution to the Music Industry Award: Clive Davis Best-selling Artist/Australia: Delta Goodrem Best-selling Artist/United Kingdom: Dido Best-selling Artist/Ireland: Westlife Best-selling Artist/Netherlands: DJ Tiesto Best-selling Artist/Ukraine: Ruslana Best-selling Artist/Russia: Philip Kirkorov Best-selling Artist/Germany: Sarah Connor Best-selling Artist/Africa: Latifah Best-selling Artist/Scandinavia: The Rasmus Best-selling Artist/Italy: Eros Ramazzotti Best-selling Artist/Switzerland: DJ Bobo Best-selling Artist/Spain: Alejandro Sanz Best-selling Artist/France: Kyo Best-selling Artist/China: Jay Chou Best-selling Artist/Japan: Hikaru Utada

2/22/05

Meteor Awards sold out

21/02/2005 - 13:17:02 The 2005 Meteor Ireland Music Awards on Thursday, to be hosted by Ed Byrne, is sold out.

The 2005 Meteor Ireland Music Awards on Thursday, to be hosted by Ed Byrne, is sold out.

Acts performing on the night already confirmed include Snoop Dogg, The Thrills, The Devlins, Bell x1, Aslan, Lucie Silvas, Brian McFadden & Delta Goodrem, Westlife, Declan O’Rourke and Juliette (Lewis) & The Licks.

Caprice, Tom Craig (aka Tommy Harris in Coronation Street), Louis Walsh, Hazel Kaneswaren, comedian Des Bishop, Samantha Mumba, DP Fitzgerald and Emma Griffiths from MTV, Mark Cagney, Gerry Ryan, Pat Kenny, Orlaith Rafter and Jamie Belton from Fair City will attend The Meteors and present awards.

In all 16 Meteor Ireland Music Awards will be presented this year.

WESTLIFE WELSH STRIFE

Feb 22 2005

Irish boy band Westlife have blundered by claiming Welsh capital Cardiff is in England on their latest tour T-shirt. A spokesman blamed 'a simple mistake' by manufacturers.

From South Africa

Quartet Westlife here soon
The love crooners of boy-band Westlife will be arriving in South Africa in less than two months and I guarantee you girls are swooning.

If there’s one thing I can applaud this Irish group for is that not only do they create love anthems but the calibre of their lyrics are wholesome, family orientated and worth singing along to.

Westlife have performed to more than three million fans on four sell-out arena tours, to become the biggest selling arena tour act ever.

Globally they have sold more than 34 million records, picked up two Brit Awards, an MTV Europe Award and six Irish Meteor Awards (Best Pop Act for four years consecutively).

Most recently they scooped another prize at the World Music Awards in Las Vegas as Ireland’s best-selling act of the year. This must indeed be a nugget of gold opportunity for former Pop Idols winner Heinz Winckler, who is the support act for the quartet in PE.

The tour starts in Durban on April 5 (Westridge Park Tennis Stadium); then moves to Port Elizabeth on April 7 (Vodacom NMMU Indoor Sports Centre); Cape Towns on April 8 (Bellville Velodrome) and Johannesburg on April 10 (The Coca-Cola Dome).

Ticket prices vary: Durban – R150, R225 and R275; PE – R175, R225 and R275; Cape Town – R150, R235 and R300; Johannesburg – R165, R235 and R320. Book at Computicket Call Centre at 083 915 8000 or the Shoprite Checkers Call Centre at 083 918 0001.

Music Life: Frank-ly running out of steam

[belfast telegraph]
30 January 2005

Is the life-span of long-lasting Irish boyband supergroup, Westlife, nearing its end? By anyone else's standards, the foursome - Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Nicky Byrne and Kian Egan - remain resiliently successful in the notoriously fickle world of teen chart pop.

The group kicks off a 37-date European tour at one of their favourite stomping grounds - Belfast's Odyssey Arena, this Tuesday.

Since the Sligo-Dublin outfit emerged as Boyzone's successors in the late Nineties, Westlife have packed out the Odyssey on 35 occasions, far more times than any other act.

Their four tours have been seen by three million people, making this boyband very rich young men, with estimated personal fortunes of £5m apiece.

Westlife's first seven singles debuted at Number One, followed by another five UK chart toppers, within four-and-a-half years.

So, why then do some industry observers reckon that the previously 'Unbreakable' Westlife juggernaut is finally running out of steam?

In the past two years, the bar stool balladeering boyband favourites have hit the UK top spot only twice out of six single releases - with Unbreakable and Mandy.

The departure of group member, Brian McFadden days before they started their Turnaround 2004 tour in Belfast last March also contributed to the feeling of fortunes beginning to falter.

Manager, Louis Walsh's attempt to broaden his manufactured music outfit's appeal, with a Rat Pack-style album, simply hasn't matched their old sales standards.

The set, Allow Us To Be Frank, featuring versions of old songs such as Smile and Mack The Knife, stalled at Number Three last November, beaten by Britney Spears and Eminem.

It seems misguided that Westlife should perform such crooning chestnuts, when Robbie Williams did it years ago, and with some Pop Idol contestants, Rod Stewart and Jamie Cullum all clogging up the market place with similar swing-styled sets before them.

The album currently stands at Number 53 in the charts, and is the first Westlife album NOT to hit the top spot since their self-titled debut release, in November 1999.

It is also surely significant that the upcoming Westlife tour has been slimmed down, compared with their past marathon, record-breaking tours.

The group sold out one dozen dates in Belfast's Odyssey Arena in 2002, eleven in 2003 and seven in 2004. But, tickets for their trio of shows at the same venue next week are still available.

The dilemma facing them now is how can a boyband mature, appealing to fans who are getting older themselves, while reaching out to an entirely new sales' base.

In blunt sales terms, the Frank Sinatra-styled experiment hasn't worked.

Thousands of their Ulster fans will still, no doubt, have the time of their lives at the spectacular concerts. But what's next for the Life boys? Frank-ly, that's uncertain, to say the least.

?Westlife kick off The No 1s Tour, with three shows at the Odyssey Arena, Belfast on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Tickets, priced at £31.50, are available from the venue box office, Tel No 028-90739074 and Ticketmaster outlets.

Liverpool Legends vs Celebrity XI
Sunday 27th March, Anfield

Further information about the Tsunami Soccer Aid match to take place at Anfield next month have been revealed, with the lineups and details almost completed.

The match, which is being organised by Jason McAteer and his agents' company The Stellar Group, will take place at Anfield on Easter Sunday in aid of the tsunami relief fund.

Managing a Liverpool Legends side will be former Reds manager Roy Evans - in opposition will be Southampton boss Harry Redknapp hoping to lead a Celebrity team to victory.

Redknapp's side will feature Eastenders star Shane Ritchie, singer Brian McFadden and Nicky Byrne of Westlife. Hardly comparable to the team they will be facing...

Liverpool players of yore have been accepting invitations and the likes of Kenny Dalglish and Robbie Fowler. Evans said "Phil Thompson wants to come back and play at Anfield, Alan Hansen, Neil Ruddock, John Barnes and Bruce Grobbelaar. We have had a great response from the players.

"We are hoping to have a couple of training sessions to make sure the lads will be in a reasonable state, and hopefully Steve Heighway will let us use the Academy to train."

The match will kick off at 4pm but there's plenty of pre and post match entertainment with Welsh operatic star Katherine Jones performing You'll Never Walk Alone and Atomic Kitten's Jenny Frost and Liz McLarnon (an avid Evertonian) doing their 'thing'.

Ticket Details:

Adults: £15, Under-16: £5, Over 65s and Disabled Concessions: £10

Tickets will be on sale at the Liverpool FC Ticket Office at the following times:

Monday to Friday, 9.15am - 4.45pm. The tickets will also be on sale on matchdays between 9.15am up to kick-off.

Tickets will be on sale as well at the Tranmere Rovers FC club shop at the following times:-

Monday to Friday, 9.30am - 5pm.

Saturday 10am - 1pm. The tickets will also be on sale on matchdays at Prenton Park between 9.30am up to kick-off.

The website for the match is www.tsunami-socceraid.co.uk.

New acts triumph at Brit Awards

LONDON, England (AP) -- Scottish art rockers Franz Ferdinand won two prizes Wednesday at the Brit Awards on a night of triumph for new acts at Britain's equivalent of the Grammys.

The Glasgow quartet, who shot to fame last year with a punchy, self-titled debut album that evoked memories of early Talking Heads, were named best British group and best British rock act.

New York-based disco divas the Scissor Sisters kicked off a rambunctious ceremony at London's Earl's Court conference center, emerging from two giant golden eggs beneath a pink rooster to perform their hit "Take Your Mama."

The band, whose campy debut album topped the British charts, won a trio of awards -- international breakthrough act, best international group and best international album.

"I have Cornish, Welsh and Irish heritage and it's amazing to be embraced by a place that I owe my ginger hair to," said band member Ana Matronic.

Other awards were shared among relatively new British acts, some still in their teens.

Perky boy band McFly was named best pop act, beating beat Westlife, Natasha Bedingfield, Girls Aloud and Avril Lavigne, while young soul diva Joss Stone took the prize for British female solo artist. The teenager from Devon in rural England also won the award for best urban act.

"I don't even know what to do right now," said an overwhelmed Stone. "Thank you all you guys for voting for me. I feel sick right now."

The prize for British male solo artist went to rapper Mike Skinner, also known as The Streets -- a relative veteran at 26 and with two albums under his belt.

Mellow rockers Keane, whose debut "Hopes and Fears" was Britain's best-selling album of 2004, won awards for British breakthrough act and best British album.

"Thanks to all those long-suffering people who supported us along the way and enduring lots of rubbish gigs," said singer Tom Chaplin.

Muse took the prize for best British live act, while Will Young, winner of the "Pop Idol" TV series, won best British single for "Your Game."

Gwen Stefani beat Kylie Minogue, Kelis, Anastasia and Alicia Keys to take the prize for International female solo artist.

Accepting the award accompanied by four female retainers in sailor outfits, Stefani said she had been "inspired by British groups while growing up, during my whole life."

Eminem won the award for international male solo artist, and sent a videotaped message of acceptance.

There were awards for old hands, too. Bob Geldof -- former leader of Irish punk band The Boomtown Rats and the driving force behind the Band Aid and Live Aid campaigns for African famine relief -- received an award for outstanding contribution to music.

In a special award to mark the Brits' 25th anniversary, Robbie Williams' "Angels" was named best song of the last quarter century in a poll of British Broadcasting Corp radio listeners.

The Brit Awards are run by the British Phonographic Industry Ltd., an industry association.

Most winners are selected by a vote of more than 1,000 industry members, including representatives from record companies, the press, retailers, record producers, disk jockeys and promoters.

MCFADDENS AT WAR

KERRY Katona blows a raspberry at the world... and perhaps sends a message to Brian McFadden.

But behind all the laughter of a girlie night out, the former Atomic Kitten star is battling a new heartache.

She is devastated after learning her estranged husband is to fight for custody of their two young daughters.

Kerry knocked back cocktails at the weekend after hitting the hotspots of her hometown of Warrington, Cheshire.

She even snogged a mystery man and, appropriately enough, belted out I Will Survive on the Karaoke.

But friends said the 24-year-old singer, who is still being treated for depression at the Priory in London, is in turmoil.

A source said: "Brian has only just decided he is going to go after custody.

"He has caused Kerry enough pain already but fighting over the kids will send her off the edge.

"After he talked at the weekend about her sleeping with Dan Corsi, she decided to not get involved in a public spat. But, obviously, she is gutted."

Former Westlife star McFadden, 24, said last year he would not put Molly, three, and one-year-old Lilly Sue through a custody battle. But he now blames the split on Kerry's alleged fling with former boyfriend Dan in September.

Kerry, however, claims his affair with 20-year-old Aussie singer Delta Goodrem began before their marriage ended - and has branded him a "lying b***ard".

Her friends also believe McFadden did not realise there would such a public backlash against him over Kerry.

Despite a successful start to his solo career last year, his tour plans have been put on hold while record chiefs wait to see how a duet with Delta does.

The source said: "Kerry is getting more and more sympathy. Brian has really rubbed her face in it about Delta."

Despite the setbacks in her personal life, Kerry, who last year won I'm A Celebrity, has seen her own career take off.

And she has just signed a deal with ITV to front a show called My Fair Kerry - in which she will learn deportment and etiquette from Austrian aristocrats.

Not that there were not too many aristocrats at the Chicago Rock Cafe in Warrington but Kerry still had a great time. A source said: "All the crowd were cheering when she did Karaoke.

"She said to them: 'I will survive. I spent 10 days in the Priory for f**k sake'."

Brian beware.

1/08/05

Happy Lunar New Year!

Several updates in the westlife.org - News Forum

including:
Westlife performing first concert in Bahrain
South African Idol, Heinz Winckler, to be opening act for Westlife's April concerts
Westlife giving "Naomi Award" for worst International Act

and more.

12/04

Well the new message board has been up over a month...and the entire news update from the last month is actually posted within the News section of the message board. So check there if you haven't noticed it already =)

Just some of the headlines from the last month. I'm not going to be reposting everything in the forum.

Westlife will be on tour in South Africa in April 2005

Westlife was pretty pissed off for not having been invited to participate in Band Aid 20, which sold tons of singles (fyi, Busted was invited). Their consolation prize? An invite for the "Do They Know It's Christmas?" charity Popworld gig at London's Wembley Arena December 2. The goal of the gig is to raise more money for refugees in the Darfur region of Sudan.

It seems to be that there is more tabloid news on Bryan and Kerry these days than there is on Westlife. Good for the personal lives of the boys, I say.

Kerry depressed