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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 Got some Westlife
related news or TV dates to share? 11/23/02 Two-goal Nicky goes back to his boots Nicky showed off his soccer skills during the trip in a match at the national stadium in front of 20,000 people. The singer was a promising goalkeeper as a youngster and had trials with Premiership side Leeds United. He was bitterly disappointed to be ditched aged just 18. During the tour he captained the Westlife XI against local side the Malaysian Rockers United. Playing in midfield he scored twice as his team, which also featured the rest of the lads – and me – won 7-1 in a game following a gig they played at the ground. Nicky, 24 who also got booked in the match, told me afterwards: “Before I was even at Leeds I dreamed of playing in a packed national stadium. What footballer doesn’t? At Leeds I thought I was going to go all the way. I had visions of playing for Ireland. Then my career in the game was over before it had even got going. I was gutted. The match here in Malaysia went some way to making up for that. I had been looking forward to it for months. To play in front of 20,000 people was absolutely amazing.” Nicky spent two years chasing his dream of becoming a footballer. When things turned sour he thought his chance of fame had vanished. He returned to Ireland and started singing karaoke with his dad - and that’s when he decided to pursue his other passion, music. It was as he was struggling
to get over his disappointment with Leeds that he spotted an advert to
audition for a boy band. Nicky told me: “Westlife has helped me get
over not making it as a footballer. The band saved me. I didn’t have
a clue what I was going to do when things went wrong. I was different
from a lot of the other lads at the football club anyway. I got stick
in the dressing room for listening to Boyzone when they liked dance music.”
The match wasn’t the lads’ only sporting outing during the trip,
they also took to the golf course. Westlife's Bryan vows never to return to Germany But then again, they've got several tour dates scheduled there for next year....Bryan had his mobile picture phone nicked while on the visit and it contained his most treasured photos of daughter Molly and wife Kerry. Angrily, Bryan said:
“That phone has become my photo album for pictures of Molly and Kerry
when I’m on the road. It was stolen at the start of a long trip and
has put me off ever going back to the country, I feel that angry.” Flying without wings....in Malaysia Bryan and Mark did nothing more brave than don a couple of jumpsuits and leap on to a machine blasting air at 125mph in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. But Bryan said afterwards: “That was amazing – I suppose you could say I was blown away.” There was more fun to come. The Westlife boys, who were in town for a gig, played in a special footie match yesterday and beat a local team 8-1. Now that IS impressive. Under heavy security Westlife are under 24-hour armed guard during a week-long promotional tour of Malaysia following the Bali bombing. The country’s deputy prime minister lent the boys his own highly-trained minders and they are given police escorts whenever they leave their hotel in their fleet of limos. Safety measures for the boys are being taken so seriously that the lads were even followed by armed guards in buggies as they enjoyed a relaxing game of golf. They also opted to be flown by helicopter to the venue of a meet-and-greet session with fans rather than risk the city’s log-jammed roads. Bryan said: “It was amazing when we went to play golf. I hit a ball into the rough and a guy told me to stay where I was while he went to find it.” Shane added: “Some people have said this might be a bit over the top but it’s necessary to make sure everyone is safe. Both us and the fans. We weren’t put off coming here by the bomb. You can’t live your life like that.” Westlife: Vote & Win! All in German...and
it's a bit dated... Eigentlich sind die
WL-Boys im Moment megamäßig im Stress: Gerade kam die neue
Single raus, nächste Woche geht die Best-Of an den Start und dann
stehen schon bald die Proben für die kommende Tour an. Germany steht
da erstmal nicht auf dem Plan . . . Westlife less than happy? Probably a taboid thingy (comes from the UK tabloid, Daily Record)...make your own decision as to whether you believe it or not. Things were looking less than rosy in Westlife world this week. As the lads posed and smiled for the cameras during a London TV interview, Shane, Kian, Nicky, Bryan and Mark managed smiles. But backstage at the recording of Five's Pop show, things couldn't have been more different. The lads looked tired, bored and frustrated. TV insiders said: "As soon as they set foot backstage they were ignoring each other and they all looked worn out. Shane seemed particularly bored with it all and was sitting on his own most of the time. When the cameras were on them, the lads were smiling and hugging each other. They looked like one big happy family, but as soon as the filming stopped, they all got up and left the room separately. They were just putting on a show of affection for the fans. Everyone saw this same sort of thing happen with Boyzone. Those lads grew up, got tired of the music they were told to work with, got tired of each other and then split. Westlife seem to be suffering from the same problems right now. Shane is the talented one and at the end of the day, he is itching to go solo." Shane reveals band’s thoughts on Sligo gig A Sligo concert will definitely happen,” confirmed Westlife’s Shane Filan this week when he urged Sligo to get behind the band and make it into a “real town event”. The singer spoke for the first time on the concert last Wednesday and confirmed that talks are ongoing with Shay Mitchell of Dervish. “I was chatting to Shay Mitchell from Dervish, trying to get something that the whole town can get behind.” “We are on tour up until July next year, so the concert could take place after that. As of yet no dates or venues have been decided. I’d like the concert to be a real town event. The people of the town should get behind the band, and hopefully it will happen. Shane outlined how the band’s hopes of a concert last year were dashed. He said: “Last year we were blown out on the Sligo scene, but we do want to do a concert here and whenever we can do it, we’ll be there. We were dying to play Markievicz Park, but we weren’t allowed for various reasons. It was a bit upsetting, as it’s something the band desperately want to do. We played over 30 concerts in Dublin and we want to play in Sligo, it’s up to the town to get behind us, and push us. It will happen, definitely.” Shane joined his sister Mairead last week to launch their shop Morgan on Castle Street. The star was greeted by up to 300 fans, some of which queued for up to three hours to meet him. This clearly impressed the star. He said: “I can’t believe the amount of people that turned out today, we thought there would be around 50 people, but it is unbelievable. People have lined up across the street, and have queued for three hours. It’s great to come home to Sligo and get that reaction all the time. “This is the first thing I’ve done outside the band, so it is very exciting for me and Mairead. Everytime I come home, you will see me in the shop. I will be fully involved in the running of it. I want to get into things like this outside the band, and myself and Mairead thought this would be a good idea.” Inside Shane was surrounded by his family and girlfriend Gillian Walsh. Gillian a graduate from Sligo IT said: “I’ve just graduated from college and am taking time out to decide what I will do next.” She, like her boyfriend Shane is a fan of Morgan clothes. “Sligo needed something like this and I will work in the shop whenever Mairead or any of the girls need some time off,” she added. The couple posed for a photo together amidst the array of hype and excitement generated by the band’s fans. They share a love of singing and dancing and Gillian remembers when the couple played opposite each other in the musical Grease. “Shane played Danny and I played Frenchie. I love dancing but I leave the singing to him,” she said. After talking to his fans for over two hours in the shop, Shane took time out to be with his family before flying back to London the following Thursday morning with Gillian by his side. The band’s new single Unbreakable will be released here on Wednesday November 2 and their Greatest Hits album is due for release on Monday November 11. The Soccer match in Malaysia The Westlife football team thrashed Malaysian Rockers United 7-1 at the Westlife Showcase and Soccer Extravaganza at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium on Wednesday night. About 12,000 fans turned up and started filling the stadium as early as 5pm when the gates opened. The showcase started at 8pm after Westlife was greeted by screaming fans. The boys performed their hit songs “World of Our Own”, “Swear it Again” and “Flying Without Wings” before ending with two songs from their new album Unbreakeable. Shortly after the 30-minute showcase, Westlife took part in the football match against Malaysian Rockers United. The Westlife team comprised the Westlife members, representatives of BMG Music and Formula One race driver Alex Yoong, while Malaysian Rockers United consisted of members of various local rock bands like Def-Gab-C, Slam and Wings. The match started with Westlife on the offensive and it was not long before it scored through Shane Filan, who netted twice in the first half, followed by two goals from fellow band member Bryan McFadden. Shah from the band Wings scored a penalty for Malaysian Rockers just before half time. Ning Baizura entertained the crowd during the break. In the second half, McFadden scored two more goals while fellow Westlife member Nicky Byrne scored with a long-range strike. Proceeds from the showcase and football match will go to Majlis Kanser Nasional. 10/27/02 Westlife in Malaysia On October 30, Westlife is making their only trip to Asia to promote "Unbreakable". They arrive in Kuala Lumpur (the capital city) on Tuesday to hold the regional launch of their Greatest Hits album. On Wednesday, it's the Westlife Showcase & Soccer Extravaganza. In a press statement, Nicky said, “We have been personally contacted by the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia who has thanked us for choosing Malaysia as the destination for our regional album launch and he has pledged his support for our event, which will also raise money for the national cancer charity Makna. He even reminded us of how popular we are in Malaysia. We are so honoured to have been recognised in this way. There is nothing that can stop us from being there next week. We are delighted to have the chance to come back to Kuala Lumpur for something unique. And with this special event, we get to sing again for the Malaysian public, have some fun playing football, and raise some money for local charity at the same time.” BMG Malaysia’s managing director Clive Gardiner confirmed that the visit was looking like the biggest album launch ever held in Malaysia, with media from more than 20 countries and 120 competition winners flying in specially for the event, and thousands of tickets already sold. The Westlife Showcase & Soccer Extravaganza will be held at the National Stadium, Bukit Jalil, on Wednesday. The doors will open at 3pm. Music events start at 6pm featuring local artistes Misha Omar and Izzla, Def Gab C and Ning Baizura. This will be followed by Westlife’s performance at 7.30pm. At 8.30pm, the football match between Westlife and Malaysian Rockers United will take place. It will see members of top Malaysian rock outfits like Wings, Search, Def-Gab-C, XPDC, FTG, Spider and Koffin Kanser, Man Bai, Yantzen and Hattan swapping their tight leather pants and jackets for the Adidas Star Jersey A – the official jersey of the Malaysian football team. Tickets for the event is RM35 each. Tickets on Wednesday will be made available from 11am right up to showtime. The ticket price includes a RM5 donation to Makna (National Cancer Council). The ticket will also entitle the purchaser to a free cassette of Westlife’s yet to be released album Unbreakable – The Greatest Hits, ahead of the release on Friday. The cassettes will be redeemable at the venue on Wednesday. Shane to marry Gillian Talking the News of the World Sligo, Shane said he would be marrying Gillian. He said, "We want the wedding to be here in Sligo if we can get the right place. I would never sell my wedding pictures to a glossy magazine. After seeing how it's done - with the bride having to walk to the church with a big sheet over her head behind big screens - I know I don't want it. I wouldn't put my family and friends through it." Kian dumped by Jessica? According to the Sun and News of the World (both tabloids), Kian has ended his romance with dancer Jessica Forsman after more than a year together. The couple found the pressure of his travelling commitments too much to bear — he and the band head out to the Far East next week. But they have vowed to try to remain friends. Kian met Jessica when she was working with the lads on their Coast To Coast tour last year. A source in the Westlife camp admitted last night: “The romance has just fizzled out. They were very close — closer than Kian ever admitted. But they know that they won’t be seeing much of each other over the next few months so they felt it was better to end it. They’re both being very grown up about it and will try to remain friends. They are really good together and we’re all hoping they can patch it up — but it is over for the foreseeable future.” The decision to end the affair comes as the band prepare for a hectic promotional tour and gigs to tie in with their Greatest Hits album — out next month. Kian and the other members of Westlife go to Kuala Lumpur next week for a gig in the Malaysian capital. Kian admitted last
year: “It's hard to settle down when you’re always on tour.”
A spokesman for the band confirmed: “Their relationship has been
on and off for a while and the couple are now no longer going out.” Molly with Bryan Molly has been traveling with Bryan for part of Westlife's tour of UK radio stations. She recently donned earphones and grabbed the microphone as she posed with her dad at Manchester’s Key 103. The radio tour was for the promotion of "Unbreakable" Bryan said: “It was great having her with me. She loved being in the studio. She’s a natural. Maybe she’ll become a pop star when she grows up.” Westife feeling "broody" Bryan's increasing family is making his bandmates broody. Bryan and Kerry are expecting their second child in February 2003. Molly, their first child, was born August 2001. Kian said, "It's got me broody because I grew up with kids around all my life. I've got eight nephews and nieces so I'm used to having kids around me all the time. But I don't know, I suppose I'm not going to have kids for a few years, that's just the way I am." Nicky, who has been with Georgina for eight years, commented, "I can't let Molly go. When they take her out of the room I try and kidnap her. She's absolutely dope, she's beautiful." Despite his steady relationship with Georgina, Nicky is adamant he will only become a father once Westlife's busy schedule has calmed down. He said, "I'd rather not have a baby for the next few years because Westlife is so big. If it happens, great, but I hope I can spend a little more time with the band." More from Bryan Some quotes from Bryan on almost quitting Westlife after their grueling schedule in the summer of 2000. Bryan recalls, "I used feel like that (leaving the band) when we had to work really hard. Now, because we're successful it isn't as hard. Two years ago in America, just after we shot the Mariah Carey video. I cracked up and went home. It was all too much, a crazy schedule. "We were travelling everyday. We'd just come back from a gig in a football stadium in Indonesia, met the royal family and found out we had the biggest selling album over there. We hoped on a plane to America, all buzzing. We arrived in New York to find there was no record company to meet us there.We had to get cabs from the airport, drag our luggage to the hotel and then two of us were sharing a room the size of a toilet."
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