JANUARY
Official Newsletter
TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART' VIDEO SHOOT
Westlife will be recording the video to their upcoming single ‘Total Eclipse of
the Heart’ on Wednesday 24th January. The single is a hugely popular cover of
the Bonnie Tyler classic, taken from their chart-topping release 'The Love
Album'.
The single, which is released on 12th March, boasts an exciting new mix of the
track by dance superstars Sunset Strippers.
CHILDLINE CONCERT
Westlife will be headlining this years annual Childline benefit concert in
Dublin on Sunday 28th January. Hosted by Keith Duffy and Stephen Gately, the
show will also feature performances from Shayne Ward and McFly, among others.
Click here for more information.
TOUR REHEARSALS
In preparation for their tour, which kicks off in Australia next month, the boys
start rehearsals in Ireland later this month. They’re looking forward to
performing all the old favourites and their latest material in arena’s around
South Africa, the UK and Ireland. See you there!
source - westlife.com
posted 28th January 2007
I will Marry my gay lover
WESTLIFE star Mark Feehily has sensationally announced: I want a gay wedding. The openly gay heart-throb vows he WILL wed long-time lover Kevin McDaid as soon as the time is right. Mark, 26, made the shocking announcement on a new episode of Ryan Confidential, to be aired on Thursday. For the first time the boyband hunk admitted he will marry boyfriend of two years Kevin, 22. He said: "If, and when, I get to a certain point in my relationship with my boyfriend Kevin, I certainly would want to get married to him. Absolutely."
The Sligo millionaire has repeatedly rubbished claims he is to wed. Just two
months ago in a November interview he insisted he is NOT getting married. He
said: "It has been in the Press that I am getting married, which is just not
true. And it will get to the stage where when it does happen for real no-one
will believe me. But believe me, when it happens I will tell everyone and
make a big deal out of it." And last April - just eight months ago - he
claimed he had NO plans to marry.
Insiders hinted he was on the verge of slipping away to tie the knot with Kevin.
But Mark said: "There are no wedding plans. There never was any wedding plans,
it was totally picked out of the sky. I might go to Canada for a holiday, who
knows, but not to get married. I may get married one day, but there are no
notions or plans now."
Now, for the first time, Mark confirmed wedded bliss IS on the horizon. The
hunky singer opened his heart during a special episode of RTE's Ryan
Confidential to share his dreams of marriage. The 26-year-old pop star met
partner Kevin, from now-defunct boyband V, two years ago. They first met
backstage at a Childline concert in Dublin's Point theatre, and have been
together ever since.
Mark admits Kevin is his first boyfriend. He said: "Kevin was my first
relationship and the whole thing was a learning experience. We didn't know what
to expect, and how the public would view the whole thing. But to be honest, it's
been amazing. We're just a normal couple who enjoy spending time together.
Because I'm on tour so much we really have to make the most of our time off
together." The Westlife star came out last year in a blaze of publicity. But caring Mark
said hiding his true sexuality from his fans - for SIX YEARS - was more of a
strain than going public. He said: "The really scary thing was trying to keep it
all a secret, that's what I found really tough. I was worried that something
would leak out before I had a chance to say it myself. I wasn't at all worried
when it came to the point that I actually announced I was gay, because that was
nothing compared to the pressure of keeping it all a secret. When it finally all
came out and hit the headlines it was a huge weight off my shoulders because I
didn't have to live a lie in that respect."
source - Sunday Mirror
posted - 21st January
Life Be In It
the next West thing
OK, THIS is rather embarrassing but I have a confession to make. Not like an
Usher cheating-on-my-missus-type confession, but one far more humiliating. You
see, I had a listen to the new Westlife album the other day and, gulp, it's
actually not that bad.
''Westlife,'' I hear you splutter as you spit out your coffee. ''But they're the
single lamest, most boring group in the world.'' I know,
I know. It gets even worse when people find out the CD, entitled The Love Album,
has the Irish lads crooning classic ballads such as The Rose and You are so
Beautiful (To Me) -- not to mention a duet with Our Delta on Our Air Supply's
brilliant All Out of Love.
But here's the thing. If the songs are awesome (which these are) and the singers
have half-decent voices and remain true to the originals (which Westlife do),
does this make it bad? Park your cynicism for a sec and disregard the blatant
money-grabbing nature of the CD -- what you have are good songs, sung well.
Surely it's more palatable to listen to faithful renditions of great songs than
some half-baked dance or punk-pop remix of them. And if Robbie Williams and
Micky Buble are considered uber-cool for covering swing standards, why should
the 'Loife and, locally, the 'Naitch, cop flak for reintroducing power ballads
and Motown to the masses?
Music, especially pop music, should be an entertaining distraction from the real
world. Westlife may not gain much in the cool stakes, but they've provided a
little ray of sunshine in this increasingly negative world. The Love Album may
be crassly commercial and disgustingly unoriginal, but it's still a damn sight
better than Sandi Thom's CD, so don't the ends justify the means? Choose 'Life.
source -
Herald Sun -Australia
posted - 21st January
Gillian’s Di-et With
WESTLIFE will be Frying Without Wings by staging a duet with diet guru Gillian
McKeith on the Late Late Show. TV star Gillian revealed her dazzling pop song
plans after meeting manager Louis Walsh and show host Pat Kenny.
She was one of the first celebrities to be booted off the Celebrity X Factor
show when Sharon Osbourne told her she sounded like "salmonella". But she will
resurrect her singing career by performing with the boys. She said: "I was at
the X Factor final with Pat Kenny and we were having a great night. He invited
me and Westlife on the show. I said, 'Why don't I sing with Westlife, Pat?' "I'm
not sure what we're going to sing yet but as I got booted off X Factor so
quickly I've got loads of songs in the bank." Westlife's Shane Filan said: "We
are up for singing with Gillian. It would be good TV. She's a really nice lady
and up for some fun."
posted - 19th January
Westlife & Ronan Keating to perform together at the Meteors
Westlife and Ronan Keating will perform together for the first time ever at the
star studded Meteor Ireland Music Awards at The Point Theatre on Thursday
February 1st. Westlife, winners of seven awards since the start of the Meteor
Ireland Music Awards, the only act to have won every year, and triple award
winner Ronan Keating to take to the stage together for a world exclusive
performance at the seventh annual Meteor Ireland Music Awards. Westlife and
Ronan Keating who go head to head this year in the Best Pop category will
perform the Garth Brooks classic “Shall We Dance” at the star studded
extravaganza.
Broadcast on RTE TWO at 9pm on Sunday 4th February 2007.
source -. www.meteor.ie
posted - 19th January
Westlife To Hit Vegas?
There really does seem to be no stopping the ballad spewing juggernaut that is
Westlife. The boys have just celebrated one of their biggest releases to date
with The Love Album and now plan to cash in with a massive UK tour.
Shane Filan let slip to me that they'll have a second greatest hits album to
coincide with the live shows - just four short years after the first one. "We've
had so many hits that we thought 'why not?' The fans want it and so do we," he
revealed.
The two lads also pointed out that in two years, it'll be a decade since Louis
Walsh launched them on to an unsuspecting nation. "We're planning on being
together forever" said Shane. "But our 10th anniversary will be something
special."
The boys are also looking at an option to star in their own Vegas-style show on
the famous Strip. "It's something that has been offered before, but now with the
right team it's looking more of a reality," Shane confided. If it's good enough
for Celine Dion...
source - New magazine
posted - 2nd January
The Love Album - Best selling album of 2006 in Ireland
Chart Track Commentary
Westlife take a sixth consecutive week at No1 on the Album Chart
with ‘The Love Album’ and in the process they beat Snow Patrol’s ‘Eyes Open’ in
the battle for the year’s best-selling album, overtaking them on the final
stretch around lunchtime last Friday.
This is the first time Westlife have ever had the best-seller of the
year: their previous highest ranking in the year-end listings was No3 which they
achieved for three of their earlier albums: ‘Westlife’
credit - bernybryan
posted - 1st Jan 2007