westlife forever

westlife concert fire

(What's this?)Westlife fans know the boys are hot, but even the most devoted were surprised to see the group's performance set the roof on fire.

As the popsters sang their new single

Us Against The World at Newcastle Arena, a stray firework set the rigging alight and the boys had to flee for 10 minutes while firefighters tackled the blaze.

Ever the pros, the lads came back and sang off-the-cuff versions of Take That's "Relight My Fire" and Prodigy's "Firestarter".

Nicky told 3am: "It was a one in a million chance, but the fire service dealt with it and we got on with the show." Phew.

WESTLIFE celebrated the end of their successful UK tour with a big night out in Liverpool, but the lads proved they not all about the caviar lifestyle.

When the munchies struck, Insider hears the Irish lads had a special request for one of the bar staff at Kingdom for a Chinese takeaway!

Tony Mahoney duly obliged, nipping out to Victoria

Street and returning laden down with cartons and carrier bags full of Chinese food for the hungry band, who rewarded him with a hefty tip.

The banquet rounded off a great night for Westlife who, together with their other halves, headed to the VIP area

of Kingdom after their Summer Pops gig.

The boy band, who recently performed at the Rooney wedding, attracted large crowds as word got out the lads were out on the lash.

But it was nut just the fans who were pleased to see the boys in Liverpool the four-piece and their partners couldn have been happier to be back.

Former Hollyoaks actress and ex-girl band singer Jodi Albert, who is engaged to Westlife star Kian Egan, told Insider: We love coming back to Liverpool. The fans here are fantastic and the band always gets the biggest reception.

All the boys were really excited to be back. Kian and I spend a lot of time in the city and whenever we come back it makes me miss it.

CThis was the last show of the current tour before they take a year out, so we all planned to celebrate with a big night out.

Mat Cunningham from Kingdom says security

was increased for the group visit.

We got a call from the band's manager to say Kingdom had been recommended and Westlife wanted to come here to celebrate 10 years together and announce they are having a break.

While most of the group sipped on our most expensive champagne, the ladies specifically asked for Cosmopolitans. At around 1am the ladies asked us to bring out the cake that they had made for Mark, Shane, Kian and Nicky, which was a chocolate sponge with a number 10 on the top. We put some sparklers on it and they presented to them as a surprise. It was a fantastic moment."

Westlife have slammed the Spice Girls

for living in the past.

The Irish boy band - made up of Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Nicky Byrne and Kian Egan - have dismissed Mel C for boasting, "Seriously, who would you put your money on", when asked about the two group's upcoming chart battle, insisting past success counts for nothing.

Mark told BANG Showbiz: "No one could compete with the Spice Girls 10 years ago. But actually we competed with them eight years ago and we won! We are not living in the past."

Shane added: "Yeah, we put our album out at the same time and we beat them. When they were first around no one could compete with them. But that's not true now. Mel C obviously has some issues with us."

The last time both groups released albums simultaneously, Westlife's 'Coast To Coast' sold 160,000 copies more than the girl's 'Forever' LP.

Nicky has warned Mel C to stop attacking Westlife - before it gets too "personal".

He fumed: "You get a lot of tired old has beens, and I am not referring to the Spice Girls now, saying, 'Oh it was different when I was in the business.' Nostalgia is a big thing and it will work

for the Spice Girls.

"I don't have anything against them personally. But if Mel C wants to start

opening her mouth and picking on us individually or our families then it is going to become personal. It should be a good chart battle."

Both acts were due to release their new albums on November 5, but the Spice Girls reportedly delayed their greatest hits collection by a week to avoid directly clashing with Westlife's new album 'Back Home'.

March 05, 2008 12:00am

WHILE Brian McFadden promotes his lacklustre solo career, his former band Westlife told UK press the singer called wanting to be part of their reunion tour, but they did not sing his praises.

He left the group and you can't expect us to take him back. I told him: 'You're never going to be in Westlife again. Accept

it'," Westlife member Kian Egan said.

The lads from Westlife celebrated their 10th Birthday with a rather large party at the weekend. With 82,000 guests and venue that you could land a Jumbo Jet in, the four piece have turned from boys to men. They have even ditched those damn white suits... Or have they?

Kian Egan

Yup. Love 'em or hate 'em Westlife aint going anywhere soon... The Sligonians & Dubliner combo played to the biggest crowd of their professional careers at the weekend when they stuffed 82,000 mad screaming female fans in plastic pink cowboy hats into Croke Park.

Shane Filan

With the empty space that was once filled by Brian McFadden no longer a looming issue, the remaining four - Shane Filan, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Nicky Byrne - have upped their game and gone that extra

step despite it looking like they might have called it a day when five became four.

Mark Feehily

For any band on the planet, even the likes of U2, to sell out Croker is no mean feat. And the boys did it in style with huge video screens, hot dancers and fireworks exploding all over the place... Their legion of dedicated fans wolfed-it-down and could be seen all over Dublin city earlier in the day...

Nicky Byrne

Hardcore Westlifers even flew in from as far a field as Australia, the Far East and the USA to see their idols now donned in black leather and shades... Although, by the end of the spectacle the cheeky bunch reverted back to their white suits and belted out 'You Raise Me Up'... They love those damn suits.

Belfast and Sheffield Gigs: Reviews

Nicky and Shane managed to shake off their illness in time for the Sheffield and Belfast gigs - and all the boys put on an amazing show. Here's what some of you have been saying about the concerts:
had an AMAZING night! And I would like to thanks the lads for putting on the best tour EVER!! We LOVED it, the show DOES get better every year WELL DONE LADS!!!' kelly83

Defo the best tour ever. Don't know how it happened but they all started getting their tattoos out after the lady in the crowd showed them hers, well funny especially when Nicky had a bit of trouble doing up his belt and asked one of the lads to do it.' chez84

What an amazing show, totally out of this world!! From beginning to end they were fantastic, and woweee looking

good!! Went to bed grinning and woke up grinning...with no voice!!' sophluvswestlife

The lads were amazing! Mark sounded well good! And Shane looked extra

fit last night!' lea04

loved the extra

bits. Sparkles in the medley (WOW! No wonder Nicky got one in his eye) Nicky reading banners out (I have a vid of that but missed the first few ones cos mum had the camera) Kian showing his boxers! But I wanted Nicky's!!! (well Shane's but Nicky got asked to do it from one of the banners lol!)'

Their homes and families keep the Westlife boys' feet on the ground Westlife have jetted all over the world during their music career

, but the boys insist that their solid home lives keep their feet on the ground.

The Irish foursome, who are the new faces of the Post Office, credit their families with helping them deal with fame.

"I think home to all of us is very, very important," Mark Feehilly revealed.

"We've all got very solid families and we've all had very good upbringings back home.

"We're very lucky to be surrounded by a lot of love."

And for new dad Nicky Byrne, home has become even more important after the birth of his twin sons earlier this year.

"We haven't been getting a lot of sleep for the first part of it," he admitted. "But I think any new parent will tell you that it's all worthwhile in the end.

"They're starting to kind of giggle and smile and do a lot of things now."

Westlife hit Irish bar to mark end of Glasgow gigs
Mar 24 2008 Exclusive

WESTLIFE celebrated their four-night stint in Glasgow by going out to an Irish bar.

Kian, Shane, Nicky and Mark played a blinding set at the city's SECC last week culminating with their final night on Saturday.

While Shane and Kian stayed at the exclusive Mar Hall Hotel

, Mark and Nicky decided to stay in separate accommodation in the city centre, preferring the hustle and bustle.

But the boys hadn't really let their hair down until Friday night when they decided to hit the town.

Shane said: "Me and the boys are going out tonight to an Irish bar. We haven't really been out yet in Glasgow as we've been hanging out

with family and friends, but we decided it was time to thank our crew by giving them a good night out."

The boys spent the majority of their time at Waxy O'Connor's bar in the city in a private area

and left in the small hours of Saturday morning.

Shane also revealed he is delighted that he'll be a father for the second time.

He said: "I am thrilled at the news and I am looking forward to the birth of my new child.

"We'll be having a few drinks to celebrate that tonight as well."

WESTLIFE proudly posed with copies of their autobiography, Westlife: Our Story at Waterstone booksellers in Piccadilly, central London yesterday.
The four lads Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne, Mark Feehily and Kian Egan will fly into Eason in O Connell Street, Dublin for the first Irish signing of their autobiography thisThursday at 12.30pm.

They will also take part in book signings at Eason in Donegall Place, Belfast and the bookseller branch in O Connell Street, Sligo.

Fans in the capital wishing to have their books signed will be accommodated on a first-come, first-served basis with tickets being allocated from early Thursday morning.

Martin Black, manager of the O Connell Street, Dublin Easons, said:

We are delighted to have Westlife coming to do their first Irish book signing here. However, in order to avoid disappointment, I would like to remind fans that the band s time in-store

will be limited.

We will accommodate as many people as possible and would ask that fans adhere to orderly queues.

The band official autobiography charts their highs and lows since forming a decade ago.

The book chronicles the band s story from their grassroots in Sligo and Dublin to multi-platinum records, celebrity collaborations and chart achievements.

The boys in concert earlier this year

Published Date: 17 June 2008
By Staff reporter
GETTING to meet

your pop idol takes organisation as Westlife fans proved yesterday.
Once news broke that the boyband was set for Belfast to sign copies of their new autobiography later this week, dedicated fans sprang into action to make sure they didn't miss out on getting to meet

their heroes face-to-face.

Queue

Around 20 fans started queuing outside Eason's in Donegall Place at 4pm on Sunday tents in tow even though the group won't be appearing at the store until Thursday.

Manager Trevor Proctor told the News Letter that the fans mainly teenage girls had set about completing their mission by way of a 'shift basis', with only three or four girls queueing on behalf of both themselves and their pals at any one time.

Devout

Devout followers of the band Nicole Hendry, 21, Fiona Patton, 25, and Roisin McGuinness, 21, are part of a group of 10 friends camping out to see their idols.

They're well-used to braving the elements for the sake of their passion they queued for a week to get tickets to see Westlife at the Odyssey Arena and ended up camping out for three weeks because more tour dates

were released.

But they say they enjoy it and pass the time playing songs, singing and dancing, recalling the concerts, and meeting up with fellow Westlife fans.

"It's actually good," they said. "Usually you get drunk people giving you abuse, but last night and this morning it's been very positive. People are making sure we're OK, just basically being really friendly."

Fan-atic

Nicole who has seen the band play

in Belfast 40 times and even had a song dedicated to her by Shane said they all met through their mutual love of the boys.

"We're all from different parts of Belfast, and different religions too, and then I found out when I met her (Fiona] we are third cousins or something.

"It's nice to mix with other fans and get to know everybody's experiences and if they have met them before and share photos."

Mr Proctor said that the store was expecting more determined fans to become a familiar face outside over the next four days.

"Once one person starts that will be the beginning of it. We've been getting inquiries about the visit from people of all ages," he said.

Tour

The signing is part of the band's two-day book tour of Ireland, which will see fans in Dublin and Sligo delight in exchanging a few words with their heroes.

But many fans are expected to be disappointed due to limited time allocated to the boys. With tickets allocated on a first come first served basis, those at the head of the queues will be rewarded for their efforts.

Mr Proctor added: "In order to avoid disappointment however, I would like to remind fans that their time in-store

will be limited. We will accommodate as many people as possible and would ask that fans adhere to orderly queues."

Westlife Our Story charts the highs and lows of the group's career and a friendship that has seen them endure 10 years. The book chronicles the band's story from their grassroots to multi-platinum records, celebrity collaborations and chart achievements.

The full article contains 545 words and appears in News Letter newspaper.

sneaky peek at part of Westlife: Our Story!

Signing the actual record contract was amazing, recounts Nicky. It was in the first week of November 1998, while we were still on tour with Boyzone. A lot of the lads hadn't even been to London before; I was a little more experienced in that I'd been to America, Canada and much of Europe with family holidays and football tournaments.

Louis was travelling to the record label separately, so it was literally the five of us travelling over on a plane to meet him there. We made our way from the airport to this big office block where the record company was based. I remember

that standing there, ready to go in, we were just giddy kids. Looking back, as soon as we entered that doorway, all of our lives changed beyond recognition.

We went into a big meeting room

that is now Simon Cowell's private office but back then was just a huge conference room. Sonny Takhar was also there, Simon's right-hand man who has also been instrumental in our career.We knew it was a big record deal - we signed for five albums on a contract worth several million pounds, so, understandably at that age, we all thought that once we'd signed this piece of paper, we'd be millionaires. Of course that money is split over the albums and it has to go towards paying for some incredibly expensive stuff like accommodation, clothes, cars, video shoots, recording costs and so on. It's funny, looking back, because we'd all been looking at what cars we could afford. Rather than get proper carried away, I was thinking of buying maybe a Toyota MR2, you know, for 15 grand, say - nothing too ridiculous. That's how you think at that age.

Signing that record deal was all my dreams come true, says Kian. It really was a lifelong dream and here we were, signing the contract, about to record an album, put singles

out, travel the world in a band and make music. It was just amazing.

It was the stuff of dreams, absolutely, recalls Shane. All my life I'd been looking forward to this moment. It was one of my major goals in life, but I never thought it would happen. I knew I wanted to get married and I hoped I'd be a father, but I never thought I'd get a massive record deal. It's such a prized achievement for a band. I can't really ever forget that excitement, that moment sitting in that office, all the thoughts buzzing around my head: We are going to be pop stars! We might have a hit single

! Then the teenage thoughts kick in, like Maybe I'm going to be a millionaire! Then, most importantly of all, I can go and buy a new car!

13.06.2008
Autobiography

Read part two of our fantastic preview of Westlife: Our Story!

Signing the record deal was a huge decision for me, says Mark. I can clearly remember

actually putting the pen on the page where I was supposed to sign. I can see it now, the pen moving in slow motion as I signed my name. At that precise second, a thousand thoughts were buzzing through my brain. I was excited about the deal, naturally, but I was very nervous about what it meant for my life back in Sligo. I was really scared that it might change things. Of course it changed everything beyond recognition.

Subconsciously, I must have known this and that is why signing that piece of paper was such a big deal for me. There I was, an 18- year-old country boy, flying into this big corporate office in the middle of London, being surrounded by all these big names in the business, working for this worldwide company, sitting by accountants, lawyers, managers - it felt insane. I think in the back of my mind I'd been preparing to go to college, like a lot of kids do from around Sligo, then suddenly here I was signing a multi-million pound record deal with all the heavy responsibility that comes with that. Maybe for a kid brought up in Camden, it would have been an easy day out, but for me the contrast was so severe. Exciting, thrilling, scary, daunting, all at once. I'm just trying to be really honest here.

As I signed, the noise of the city outside was as far from my idyllic country childhood as you can imagine. I could feel that distance sitting there in that room, writing my name on that sheet of paper. Right there and then, I put a barrier up. This is not going to change me, this is not going to change my life, I kept saying to myself. It was important at that point to have that feeling. It reassured me. I hadn't travelled like Nicky, I didn't have the confidence of Shane, Kian and Brian. But, ultimately, the draw to sing was greater than the desire for my life not to change, so I signed the contract. But I just kept telling myself it wouldn't really change anything. How wrong can you be?

The business side of it hit us instantly, says Nicky. We had to set up a company, we hired an accountant, Alan McEvoy, and we got lawyers and tour managers lined up, all sorts. It was explained to us that the company, Blue Net, should own the band name because if any member were to leave then the band could continue