Westlife relaxes at a safari

Westlife chose an unlikely venue to spend a day relaxing before their sell-out concert at the Summer Pops. Instead of visiting the Albert Dock's bars or enjoying a shopping trip on Mathew Street, they spent the day with an earl at his stately home.

The Irish boy band lunched with the Earl of Derby at Knowsley Hall before getting a tour of his safari park. The five-piece band arrived at the hall in time for a buffet lunch with the earl. They then went swimming in Knowsley Hall's pool, and relaxed on the lawns, touring the grounds and playing Frisbee.

In the afternoon, Knowsley Safari Park manager David Ross gave them a VIP tour in his car, where they saw the 120-strong troupe of baboons and the rest of the park's animals. The group left around 5pm to begin preparation for their show the hall is becoming known as something of a haunt for pop stars.

The pressure to look good is part of the job for Kian. The 26-year-old Irish singer says keeping fit and dressing well is part of the business. But it doesn't rule his life.

"We are in the public eye and we are scrutinised quite a bit by people," said Egan, ahead of the boy band's September Australian tour.

"People automatically have an image of this guy from Westlife and to an extent it is nice to be able to live up to that image. So yeah you have a bit of pressure, but it is only self-indulged pressure."

Westlife has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in Australia since visiting the country in March to promote their latest album, Face to Face. Their single You Raise Me Up rocketed into the charts at the time of the trip and remains there four months later.

Kian said, "We were blown away by the response. We are all totally stoked by the scenario."

Worldwide, they've sold more than 40 million albums since joining forces in 1998.

"We have all settled down a bit, we all have partners, some people have babies, some are married, some are gay," said Kian when asked how the group had changed.

The group's Face to Face Australian tour will include many of their chart hits, as well as new material. Kian noted, "It is a full-on pop concert without a doubt. We have spent a lot of time and a lot of effort over the years in putting on our stage shows. We are pretty energetic, there are some great dance routines."

7.16.06

Westlife in Shanghai

Westlife finally made it to Shanghai and gave a concert in front of thousands of fans on 6/25. Xiao Weixin didn't make it to Westlife's debut concert in China, but not for lack of trying. Shanghai Grand Stage, the flashy modern auditorium where the concert took place in June, holds 8,000 to 10,000, and ticket prices ranged from 150 yuan (10 pounds) to 1,580 yuan (107 pounds).

Two days before the Irish boy-band's show, almost every ticket was gone. "I tried to get tickets online the day before but they were all sold out. I was
prepared to pay 400 yuan for a ticket," said Xiao, 21, a student at Shanghai Normal University.

Boy bands, with their soft-pop love-ballads and clean-cut image, have been a major hit among China's young. Few pastimes are more popular among well-heeled urban youth than karaoke, and boy bands such as Westlife and Boyzone, or more local counterparts such as Taiwan's Mayday, are standard fare. "Take me to your heart", a dulcet love-ballad most recently covered by Denmark's "Michael learns to Rock", is played in shops, restaurants, malls, elevators and even buses in China, so much so that locals all know the tune.

According to one Beijing newspaper, Westlife has a China fan club numbering more than 50,000. The band's latest album, "Face to Face", released in 2005, sold more than 10,000 legal copies in China, the report said. That doesn't include pirates, which dominate China's music market.

"Most of my friends and colleagues like Western pop music as we appreciate their sense of taste. Traditional Chinese music is very out-dated and I find most of the lyrics rather immature and stupid. " said Samuel Zhu, a recent graduate of Shanghai's elite Fudan University.

Was it supposed to be a Westlife song?

The upcoming single by Shayne Ward, "Stand By Me", was supposedly
written for Westlife. A record company insider noted, "Bosses here
thought that they could make more money out of the song if Shayne sang
it. That's Why Westlife have been relatively quiet recently - because
they don't want to saturate the market with the same type of stuff.
Before long we will start to see a bit of a tag-team thing going on
where Westlife and Shayne will take turns in the charts and touring."

No bagpipes...

Westlife have scrapped plans to play the bagpipes at Edinburgh Castle on
Friday. Nicky admitted that he wasn't able to play a tune from the
pipes, despite one given to hime by the SECC. He said, "I had a month
off and made a real effort to play the pipes but none of us could master
them. But we can't wait to play Edinburgh Castle. We've done gigs in
castles and stately homes across England but none compare to Edinburgh.
We first played there in 2004 and to perform with such a spectacular
backdrop - in the heart of a capital city - was an amazing experience."

Roxanne supporting Westlife on tour.

Roxanne, a 14 year old from Eseez, opened for Westlife at Blickling.
The group asked her on tour after Louis Walsh, manager, recommended her.
Since then, she has also accepted an offer to be supporting act for
X-Factor winner Shayne Ward next year.

Westlife in Swaziland??

Ok, so this isn't on the list of countries that I would expect a
Westlife performance. However, reports are that the group may perform
at the Mavuso Exhibition and Trade Centre, and stay at the Royal Villas
on September 30th.

Information gathered is that Royal Villas offered to charge
the organisers at reduced rates. A source said management at the
prestigious hotel were elated to host musicians of Westlife calibre.
Fans from the country and outside are expected to cram the trade centre
to watch the group live. This promises to be a massive show by any
standards. Big Five Entertainment Company is behind the event.

An employee at the hotel stated that there are rumours to the effect
that the group will be accommodated there, however, she said there was
nothing official in as far as she was concerned. She mentioned that the
hotel was ready to host any celebrity from anywhere in the world.

Maria De Sousa, the entertainment company’s PRO mentioned that she was
yet to meet the rest of the committee as soon as everything is finalised
“ we will then give out more information.” Fun lovers will pay not less
than E300 ($50) for the show.

Those who will be at the VIP section will part with E530 ($88). A dinner
has been included in this amount. The event will also feature local and
South African groups. Gates open at 3p.m.

Westlife at Butlins.

Westlife will be performing in the fall at the 7,000 seater arena at the
Butlins’ Minehead resort. Westlife will be performing between November
17-20, while McFly will be on stage between November 24-27…

Westlife in Bath

Westlife will be performing at The Rec, the ground owned by Bath Cricket
Club, on July 16. Also appearing in the Summer Nights Open Air Concert
Series are Simply Red and Elaine Page with Michael Ball. All the
concerts start at 7.30pm and tickets, priced £35-40, are available from
the box office on 0870 4000688 or via www.summernightsonline.co.uk

Young Divas - supporting Westlife in Australia.

When Westlife embark on their Australia tour in September, their support
act will be the Young Divas. They recently burst out on the Australian
charts 3 months ago, and they are a quarter of former Australian
idol-ettes.

Louis on Mark

Louis Walsh claims he had no idea Westlife's Mark Feehily was gay. He
said, "I didn't know he was gay at all. I swear to God. I had no idea
Stephen Gately was gay either. Mark told me he liked Eurovision and
Mariah Carey so that was the biggest giveaway ever."

Xmas #1 already....in July?!!

Ah the life of a bookie. But seeing that it's only July, who knew they
were already talking about the Christmas charts. Bookmakers Paddy Power
revealed hopeful punters are placing their bets early to get the best
odds.

5.15.06

Westlife goes East!

Westlife will be holding their first ever concert in Shanghai, China on June 3 @7:30pm at the Shanghai Grand Stage (Shanghai Gymansium). The concert is the Irish band's sole performance in China on their world tour this year.

The boy band is one of the most popular foreign musical acts among Chinese audiences. Tickets are now available at major booking offices and Websites. The booking hotline is 62172426 or 62173055. Prices range from 150 yuan (US$18) to 1,580 yuan (yeah, ~US$180) .

The boys will be arriving in Shanghai on May 23. They are reportedly visiting other parts of the country including Henan, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces to record a documentary.Band members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Nicky Byrne and Kian Egan will arrive in Shanghai on May 23.

Australian Charts

In a sign of how records get slowly (and I mean slowly) released around the world ... Westlife's "You Raise Me Up", a former Australian #1...is still #3 on the charts there.

Australian ARIA singles chart
1 (1) S.O.S - Rihanna
2 (2) Flaunt It - TV Rock
3 (7) You Raise Me Up - Westlife
4 (3) Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
5 (5) So Sick - Ne-Yo
6 (4) Forever Young - Youth Group
7 (-) This Time I Know It's For Real - The Young Divas
8 (6) Beep - The Pussycat Dolls Feat. Will.I.Am
9 (-) Dani California - Red Hot Chilli Peppers
10 (8) Together We Are One - Delta Goodrem

5.09.06

More Westlife to come?

The Sun (aka British tabloid) reported last montht that Westlife may be
on the verge of signing a new contract with SonyBMG that would have them
record an additional 5 albums. The boys would get a total of £5million
each. The boys could received an advance of £1 million each.

An insider said: “Westlife’s current record deal with BMG is about to
expire. Sony and BMG have merged since their last talks so bosses flew
to Belfast last week to talk money with the boys. Louis wanted
£ 5million for each of the lads — and himself — just to re-sign the band
to SonyBMG. He also wanted a 60/40 profit split between themselves and
the record company — with the boys getting the higher cut.”

Another Westlife record...

Westlife have racked up another amazing career record - as the most
popular act at the M.E.N. Arena. The group's two sell-out performances
in April took sales for their shows at the Manchester venue past the
250,000 mark - the first act to do so since the Arena opened in 1996.

Before going on stage on Saturday night, Shane, Nicky, Mark and Kian
were presented with specially commissioned `Platinum Tickets' to mark
the achievement. Arena general manager John Knight said: "It is
remarkable to think that approximately one in every 20 tickets sold at
the arena over the past five years has been for Westlife.

"The boys seemed genuinely pleased by this milestone, and asked if Take
That would beat it after their concerts here next month. I assured them
that their record of 22 shows and over 250,000 ticket sales was safe for
some time yet."

Shane told the 14,000 fans about the honour. He said: "We love coming to
Manchester and tonight has been a special night because we have been
given an award. I would like to thank all of you for making it
possible."

The Irish boyband's record will be made all the sweeter by the fact that
they pipped their former manager - Ronan Keating, who performed 14 times
at the Arena with Boyzone and fives times as a solo artist - playing to
242,000 fans. It was Ronan who gave Westlife their first big break of
course - the band supported Boyzone at one of their MEN Arena dates and,
in those days, went by the name `Westside'.

Take That are likely to claim third spot in the M.E.N. Arena popularity
stakes. They have already recorded 143,000 sales and stand to add
another 90,000 with their six sell-out shows later this month.

Mark denies marriage plans

Mark dismissed rumours last month that he plans to marry his gay
partner, Kevin McDaid (former member of boy band V). He was speaking
with fellow band mates at an event to raise money for Irish Autism
Action. He told the Irish Independent, "There are no wedding plans.
There was never any wedding plans, it was totally picked out of the sky.

The star highlighted Canada, where gay marriage is legal, as an ideal
holiday destination, but said he would not go there to get married, "I
might go to Canada for a holiday, who knows, but not to get married.
may get married one day, but there is no notion or plans now."

Westlife - July concert
Westlife is to perform for the "Music on a Summer Evening" series of
concerts in the grounds of Audley End Houseust. They are scheduled to
perform on Sunday July 30.

The sumptuous garden has provided a setting for five concerts each year
for more than a decade, as part of the annual Picnic Concert season
organised by English Heritage.

In 2005, more than 45,000 people were treated to a series of open-air
performances from artists including Van Morrison and Jamie Cullum, with
other performers playing hits from the musical Grease and Bjorn Again
performing Abba classics. This year the star-studded line-up features
Irish pop foursome Westlife, eighties legends Simple Minds and concert
maestro Jools Holland with his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra.

Tickets range from £23 for the Bootleg Beatles performance to £32.50 for
Westlife and concessionary rates will be available. For further
information, to book tickets, or to pre-order Your M&S food and wine,
call See Tickets on 08708 900146 or Ticketmaster on 08703 336206.
Alternatively, visit www.picnicconcerts.com.

Westlife and bagpipes

Wwestlife swere presented with a set of custom made bagpipes by the SECC
to mark their record-breaking 25 sell-out nights at the Glasgow venue.
But the guys had fellow guests running for cover at the plush Mar Hall
hotel in Bishopton as they tried to play them.

Nicky said: "It's always totally baffled me how you get a tune out of
these things. We'll give it a go but I reckon our neighbours might have
to move house judging by the racket we'll be making."

The bagpipes were specially made by McCallums of Kilmarnock, who
provided similar sets for Madonna's Reinvention world tour.

Nicky added: "We've worn kilts on stage in Scotland before, so maybe if
we get it together we can play a bagpipe version of our hit song Queen
Of My Heart."

Last night, Westlife chalked up a phenomenal 25 sold-out gigs at the
SECC to a combined audience of 205,000 fans. It makes them the biggest
selling act in the arena's star-studded 21-year history.

Shane said: "There's no reason why we can't add to that total. We're
making a new album this year and releasing a greatest hits in 2007. We
want to keep doing this - we've got a great job."

Phil Mead, the SECC's deputy director of events, added: "It's an
incredible achievement which we don't think will ever be surpassed.
We've had some great acts at the SECC but none come close to 25
sell-outs."

Westlife at Lilies Bordello

What an Easter weekend it was for Dublin's top nightclub Lillies Bordello with Hollywood Stars, Irish VIP's and the Westlife boys all enjoying the VIP venue over the holiday period...

Since changing ownership recently many thought that Lillies Bordello nightclub would quickly loose it's celebrity luster to competing VIP venues but in fact it's lure to stars has gone from strength-to-strength!

On Easter Sunday night the Westlife lads Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne, Mark Feehily and Kian Egan celebrated their 7 nights sold out in The Point Theatre with a party at the club.

ShowBiz Ireland caught up with the handsome foursome as they strolled down Grafton Street towards the club in top spirits as they looked forward to their day-off on Monday...

Poor Shane Filan must have been strapped-for-cash to get in his round as he nipped over to the nearby Bank Machine to withdraw money before entering the club.

Cheeky Nicky Byrne joked with our photographer as he snapped Shane at the Banklink shouting: "Make sure you get his PIN number!"

The boys also posed with some very dedicated German fans Susanne Jahnke, Adrianna Nolpert, Christine Lewerent and Marina Johschies who bought tickets to attend ALL 7 nights in Dublin and will also head-on to see further Westlife shows in Manchester this week!

Westlife's manager and music mogul Louis Walsh turned up at Lillies on Saturday night. The X Factor judge had his two sisters with him after treating them to a night on-the-town...

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