NOVEMBER 2007
Kids Go West
Westlife are taking an extra bus with them on their world tour - to use as a travelling creche. Family commitments mean one vehicle won't be enough for the four Irish hunks when they set off in February. Band member SHANE FILAN, whose daughter Nicole is two, said: "We've got so many children between us now that we need somewhere for them to go." Other youngsters include NICKY BYRNE's seven-month-old twins Rocco and Jay. Shane, 28, also revealed that the band will celebrate their 10 years together by finishing their Back Home tour in their native Dublin on June 1. They are planning a huge party night at the city's Croke Park stadium, one of the most modern sports arenas in Europe. But former bandmate BRIAN MCFADDEN, who went solo in 2004, isn't expected. Shane said: "Brian won't be there."
Source - Peopler Newspaper
Posted - 25th November
I relax with the new Westlife album
TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern has confessed he secretly sneaks off and
listens to Westlife to escape the pressures of politics. After a hard day at the
Dail Bertie goes to his Drumcondra home and turns up the boyband's new album.
The 57-year-old closet pop fan admitted: "I love the new Westlife release and
one of my favourite ways of unwinding is to listen to it at home. It's very
relaxing just to have it playing at the house after a long day. I think it's
their best album yet. The lads have done so well to have lasted 10 years in the
business and they deserve respect."
Bertie should have no problem scoring tickets for the band's huge Ireland and UK
tour next year - his son-in-law is singer Nicky Byrne. He was speaking at the
Children At Risk In Ireland ball in Dublin's Shelbourne Hotel which raised more
than EUR100,000 for the charity. The event was hosted by his estranged wife
Miriam who was there with boyfriend Terry McCoy. The Taoiseach's daughters
Cecilia and Georgina also joined in the fun. Bertie added: "Miriam has been
associated with Cari for years and worked really hard...it raises an awful lot
of important money. They run a lunch during the summer without which the charity
wouldn't function as well. So it is a great night. I'm delighted to support it."
Boyzone's Ronan Keating and his wife Yvonne, TV3's Alan Hughes and footballer
Keith O'Neill were also there.
source - Mirror Newspaper
posted - 21st Nov
X Factor bans new Westlife hit - No 'plugging'
Westlife have been banned from performing their new single on this weeks X
factor, the Sun can reveal. Show stars Simon Cowell and Lois Walsh don't want to
be accused of using the ITV 1 program to plug their talent. So far this series
last years winner Leona Lewis appeared to sing her No1 hit Bleeding Love. And
2005 winner Shayne Ward performed his new single breathless. Despite Westlife
having recently released their cover of Michael Buble's hit Home, they will not
sing it on the TV talent show on Saturday night.
A show source said "Simon and Lois have come under fire for booking all their
artists on the show. But why shouldn't they ? its the same family and it's the
biggest show on TV. However, Westlife will be mentoring the finalists - and will
not sing Home. Westlife singer Mark Feehily said "We're going to perform a track
off our album .it'll be an exclusive performance." The band also revealed
their favourites to win the X factor. Mark added "Beverley has the best chance
out of Lois' group and then Rhydian." Shane Filan said "He (Rhydian) has got
personality and character and that goes a long way in this industry."
source - Sun Newspaper
posted - 21st Nov
Life's A Beach For Kian
KIAN Egan really knows how to show a girl a good time. The Westlife singer
has been dating former Hollyoaks babe Jodi Albert for four years and takes her
to all the best places - freezing beaches and shark-infested waters.
"I'm really into surfing and I've been trying to teach Jodi near our house in
Ireland, but she's having none of it. She can't be doing with the cold water,"
he told the Insider's spies. "But then when we go somewhere hot she says she's
scared of the sharks. I can't win. She sunbathes on the beach while I surf."
She's also been helping out at the couple's new smoothie bar at their local
Strandhill beach in Sligo. In between shifts Jodi, who played Debbie Dean in the
soap, is also the face of yummy Kinder Bueno and she's featuring in the Katy
Brand show. "It was loads of fun and really funny," she says.
source - Liverpool Daily Echo
posted - 16th Nov
10 Years Of Westlife Concert
To celebrate their incredible career spanning a decade at the top of the charts,
Westlife will be playing a very special gig next year.The concert will take
place at Croke Park in Dublin on 1st June, and tickets go on sale on 23rd
November. We’ll have more details coming soon of where to buy them – it looks
set to be an unmissable event!
source - westlife.com
posted - 2nd Nov
Westlife at Oxford Street
Leona Lewis has agreed to turn on the Oxford Street Christmas lights next month. The singer, who hit the number one spot this week, will be the special guest at the event on November 7. Lewis is expected to perform her hit 'Bleeding Love' before switching on the festive lights along the famous shopping street. The X Factor winner will be joined by Westlife and the cast of the musical Mary Poppins at the switch-on. The Christmas lights will be based around the Disney movie Enchanted, which is released at UK cinemas on December 14.
source -
posted - 2nd Nov
Westlife: You Call The Shots
Westlife host a one-off live ITV special - and you get to call the shots. Watch
our interview with the lads for their take on the show. Westlife on Demand is a
colourful celebration of the boy band’s hits spanning their record-breaking
career and - for one night only - the public gets to choose many of the songs
they perform live to the nation. Out of the 10 tracks Shane, Kian, Mark and
Nicky sing on the night, five will be the top tracks voted for online from a
selection of Westlife classics. The show ties in with the release of
eagerly-awaited ninth studio album Back Home (out November 5), so expect
exclusive performances of brand new tracks. Plus there will be celebrity guests
and a big few surprises are in store too! Details on how to vote exclusively via
itv.com will be revealed here soon, so keep checking back.
source - www.itv.com
posted - 2nd Nov
Westlife's Shane Filan: I want the perfect bod
Singer says he's become a fitness freak Westlife star Shane Filan has revealed
he's become a fitness fanatic in a bid to get a perfectly-toned bod. The singer,
28, says he got into a more active lifestyle because he felt chubby.
'I was unhappy with my body,' he admits. 'I was maybe a ½ or ¾ of a stone
overweight. I just wanted to be leaner and fitter. Mainly to be fitter, to have
more energy and have a better lifestyle.' Now Shane visits the gym
regularly for a workout.
'I've got a whole new lease of life in the last 2 months,' he tells Now Online.
'I've never felt better in my life.' See Shane for yourself in the flesh
when the boys sign copies of Back Home at Harrods on Monday 5 November.
The signing will take place from 10am (make sure you're there earlier to see the
boys arrive in the famous horse drawn carriage at 9.30am), during which time
you'll be handed an envelope. If yours contains a golden ticket, congratulations
– you've won the chance to watch an exclusive performance by the boys straight
afterwards, plus a goody bag!
source - Now Magazine
posted - 1st Nov
the Razz: JUSTIN TIME FOR WESTLIFE
Exclusive Timberlake was ideal to take Brian's place
IRISH popsters Westlife have revealed that when Brian McFadden quit the band in
2004, their ideal replacement would have been Justin Timberlake. Band
member Nicky Byrne admitted: "Justin would have fitted in just right. I think he
would have been great. We would have loved him to bring Sexy Back with him."
But the Irish foursome obviously realised that, despitehaving14 No.1singles in
the UK, Justin might well have shown them up on the dance floor.
Shane Filan joked: "Yes, he would have been able to do all of the dance moves."
But Shane said it wasn't just Westlife who were big fans of the American singer.
His two-year-old daughter Nicole is also an admirer.
We caught up with the boys in Aberdeen at Asda Be Live!, a new music event
organised by Emap Radio Events and the supermarket chain. Backstage Shane told
us that Nicole loved to dance to Justin's tunes. He said: "When I put his
album on, she sings Sex-song Back and dances. It's so funny watching her. But
she does ask us to put daddy's song Home on too." This weekend Westlife are set
for a chart battle to win their 15th No.1 with that track. But they admitted
they would have had no chance if they had been up against pop babe Leona Lewis.
"Leona has had one of the biggest weeks of the year," Shane said. "It's looking
like she is going to do about a quarter of a million sales so she probably would
have beaten us. I think she has out sold Take That two to one, which is pretty
big." But the boys, who are renowned for being well mannered, would have taken
the defeat in good grace. "She has got a great voice," Shane continued. "When we
met her last year, she was a really nice girl, a sweetheart. It looks like she
will have a great career ahead of her." But if they had been up against Take
That in the charts, Shane admitted it could have gone "either way"
source - Daily Express
posted - 1st Nov