WESTLIFE Party.
Boy band heart-throb Shane Filan celebrates his 21st birthday.
OK Magazine, 11 August 2000
Surrounded by his friends and family, Westlife's Shane Filan celebrated his
recent 21st birthday in style. Dublin's exclusive Lillies Bordello club,
which underwent a two million pound refurbishment this year, played host to
the fun-filled bash. Many top Irish showbusiness personalities came out in
force, including television hosts and popstars. But Shane's real guests of
honour were his family, who travelled to Dublin from their hometown in
county Sligo, in the northwest of Ireland. As well as mum and dad, Mae and
Peter, there were sisters Yvonne, Denise and Mairead, and brothers Finbarr,
Peter Jnr and Liam. Joining them were over 500 pals of the hugely succesful
group, all making for a night to remember.
The relaxed and friendly evening began with a champagne reception. As the
Tattinger bubbly flowed, guests mingled and chatted, taking in the
sophisticated new decor of the club's facelift. Waiting patiently outside
the main entrance, behind specially erected barriers, was a cheering crowd
of Westlife fans, many of whom had pitched their spot from as early as 5am
that day. For some, the excitement of seeing their favourite stars arriving
was a little too much - as Boyzone's Keith Duffy soon discovered. As he made
his entrance, several of the girls decided to give him a rather intense
'hug' - literally tearing the singer's new leather jacket from his shoulders
in the process! It didn't upset the star, though, who later laughed about
the incident.
Shane's Westlife bandmates arrived one after the other, shortly before the
popular birthday boy, each stopping to greet fans before heading inside to
catch up with old friends. After a recent six-week promotional tour of
America, they told OK! how they were delighted to be back home and eager to
get to work on their new album. Singer Mark Feehily, dresses in a designer
leather jacket and denims, said: 'It's going to be an even better album than
the last, so the fans will be happy to hear that. I'm really looking forward
to it. To be honest with you - dead honest - we must hear our first album
more than anyone else, so we're desperate to start working on some new
material, singing fresh songs.' Fellow singer Kian Egan added: 'It's
definitely going to have a lot more energy. Don't get me wrong, we've had
five number ones with the ballads and we've learned a lot from the first
album, but we're ready to give the fans something new.'
Just weeks ago, Westlife made a special appearance at the Capital Radio
Party in the Park extravaganza and, by the audience's reaction, they were
clearly one of the best acts of the day. Speaking about the brilliant gig,
singer Bryan McFadden told OK!: 'It was our first time back in the UK after
the promotional tour in America and the first time since out fifth number
one. It was great. When you have 100.000 people screaming at you, it's
unreal. I remember walking on stage and looking at the other guys thinking,
wow, what an incredible crowd.'
The lads were all clearly delighted to see their old friends after the
recent excitement in their pop career. After some fancy footwork on the
club's dancefloor, the boys took advantage of Lillies' new VIP lounge bar on
the top floor of the venue, with it's quiet, relaxed atmosphere,
to catch up with their closest friends over a drink - or two!
As Nicky, who was joined by long-term girlfriend Georgina Ahern, daughter of
the Irish Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, told OK!: 'It's great to be here,
it's a brilliant place for a party, especially with all the different
levels. Our only problem is getting round to speak to everyone, there are so
many people we want to say hello to. We're really here for Shane, he
deserves a great party.'
Also in the lounge bar was the band's maestro, Westlife manager Louis Walsh,
who, among the others, also manages Boyzone and up-and-coming Irish singer,
Samantha Mumba. He was joined by former 'Live and Kicking' presenter Emma
Ledden. Also enjoying the hospitality was British actress Susan George and
actor husband Simon MacCorkindale. Susan shares a common love of horses with
Shane and Boyzone's Ronan Keating, and is the honorary president of the
Horse of the Year Show.
Shane, who along with his bandmate Bryan McFadden was sporting a specially
created 'birthday suit' by top Dublin tailor Louis Copeland, played the
perfect host throughout the night, circulating around Lillies and saying a
warm hello to his guests.
Shane's proud family, who bought the talented singer a horse for his
birthday, were clearly delighted to be part of the youngest member of their
family's celebration. As dad Peter told OK!: 'He's a wonderful son and we
are all very proud of him. He and the lads work so hard, so it's nice for
them to have a night like this ro just enjoy themselves and be with people
who have known them before and after joining Westlife.'
Just before midnight, Shane was ushered into the main dance area and the
lights were dimmed as a huge cake with 21 burning candles was wheeled over
to him. The singer laughed as he spotted that the figure '1' was in the
shape of a candy microphone! Surrounded by his Westlife bandmates, family
and friends, he smiled broadly as guests sang 'Happy Birthday' to him before
he blew out the candles.
The happy occasion lasted well into the early hours. But ever-devoted to his
fans, Shane managed to pop outside to grab ten minutes with the waiting
croud. As one loyal fan, Deborah Ward, told OK!: 'Shane is just an
incredibly nice person. We'd wait forever to get to see him!'
Speaking afterwards, Shane said: 'This has been one of the best nights of my
life. It has gone just the way I wanted it to. It's great to see my family
enjoying themselves. Knowing everyone has had a great time is brilliant,
it's all I could have asked for.'
[Shane would like to say a special thanks to his parents Mae and Peter, his
brothers and sisters and all his extended family and guests. Also thanks to
Westlife's manager Louis Walsh, Westlife's tour manager Anto Byrne, Sharon
Tobutt at RCA Records, the staff at Lillies Bordello, Joanne Byrne at
O'Leary's PR and, of course, the rest of the band. Finally, a huge thank you
to all Shane's fans.]
article © OK! Magazine