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A Weekend With Westlife
The Philippine Star, December 10th 1999
thanks to cathy clarin - cathyclarin@hotmail.com for typing up this article!
Surreal but nice . We can totally relate to how Hugh Grant's character must
have felt in the flick Notting Hill when we both got phone calls from BMG
Records Pilipinas informing us that we won a trip to Malaysia to see and
meet Westlife . It was so unreal . Those things,it seemed, happened to
other people , to faceless strangers . Certainly , no one knew . But there
we were , packing for a weekend in Malaysia to watch the five Irish lads of
Westlife perform their hits.
We were set to fly to Kuala Lumpur that same week we were informed of
winning . The next five days were spent familiarizing ourselves with the
band's other songs . After all , we couldn't watch their concert nor meet
them knowing only the popular hits SIA , IILYG , and FWW. Over and over ,
we listened to their album which is filled with lovely ballads as well as
up-tempo songs . Inevitably , listening to them every chance we could
heightened our excitement to an almost fever pitch !
One early Saturday afternoon ( Nov.13 ) , the two of us together with Gella
( Kristine's sister ) and BMG's Jamie Hipe and Mario Joson all met at the
NAIA to take a Malaysia Airlines flight to KL ( Kuala Lumpur )
After a 4 hour exhausting flight , we landed at the new KLIA and we forgot
how tired we were . It was just a spectacular sight to behold . Everything
was immaculate and modern . We zipped through immigration and customs to
the waiting hotel limo which drove about an hour to get to the city proper
. As only Filipinos would , we were amazed at and appreciated the broad ,
well-paved , traffic less streets . Soon we arrived at the luxurious
Sheraton Imperial Hotel . We were surprised to find out that we were
staying at the same hotel as westlife.
When you think of winning a trip , you usually assume that they
will put you up in a regular hotel , not in a 5 star hotel we were in . We
could not help but be duly impressed . The hotel was beautiful !
It was quite amusing to find several fans with cameras staking out the
hotel lobby waiting for a glimpse of the lads. In fact, throughout our stay
, fans littered the hotel . From the lobby to the uper floors. From early
morning till midnight. We couldn't help thinking that it was just like this
back in Manila whenever boybands are in town .
Early morning while waiting for the others to meet us for breakfast , we
saw WL for the first time. We were standing in the lobby when suddenly they
walked out of the elevators. As expected, they were met by flashbulbs and
requests for autographs. We were observing the whole scene when , Shane and
Bryan said help to us when they passed by ! It could be because we looked
really cool and unaffected or really pathetic with our mouths hanging open
.. Either way , we didn't care . Shane and Bryan said hello to us ! That's
all that mattered .
After spending the whole morning shopping at Suria KLCC ( adjacent to the
Petronas Towers ) we rushed back to the hotel to meet up with Mario and
Jamie , plus all the other BMG representatives from all over Asia. A bus
took us to the Sunway lagoon Ampitheatre where the showcase was to be held.
When we got there , it was already filled to the rafters with screaming
fans --- girls and boys alike !
The show opened with BB Mak - a British trio . They were pretty good but we
could not concentrate on them . We were just excited to see Westlife ! Whe
westlife finally cameon , the screams intensified. Everybody was on their
feet dancing and singing along with the lads . They sang five songs from
their album --- FWW , No No , I Have a Dream , IILYG , and SIA . After
which they were awarded gold and platinum records for their EP by various
territories -- including the Philippines of course ! Mario and Jamie
presented the plaques to them while we , in the audience clapped like mad .
Shane , Mark, Nicky and Bryan came back on stage for an encore . This time
they sang an acapella of More than Words and a reprise of IILYG .
After the concert , we were then escorted backstage for the fans meet and
greet . Everybody was requested to lign up for the signing session . We had
them sign quite a lot of things and took a lot of pictures . Towards the
end of the line , the fans were told to only have one thing signed and no
photos were allowed anymore . We were really really lucky that we were
asked to go first. We were top priority , you know !
The Westlife lads were really nice and took time out to talk to each of us
though they were obviously tired. Shane told Colleen her shirt was really
cool which obviously made her day ! Kristin gave them
little jeepneys and they
seemed to really like them . SHane mentioned that he had seen them
somewhere though he has never been to the Philippines and Bryan enjoyed
zooming his jeepney across the table. We waited
untuil everyone was done and requested for some more group photos . We felt
bad doing so because they really looked tired but they gladly obliged .
That goes to show how genuinely nice they really are . After saying out
thank yous and goodbyes , we returned to the hotel fulfilled . It was an
extremely wonderful day -- starting from the surprise meeting from the
lobby to the concert and finally meeting them upclose . We were ready to go
home . But that night , we got another surprise .
We never expected to see them again after the signing session . But during
dinner, we did ---well one of them at least . We were in the hotel coffee
shop having a late dinner . It was 9PM and we were all pretty tired from
such an eventful day . Suddenly , we glanced up the floor above , and there
casually leaning from the banister looking down at the diners was bryan .
He looked for a few minutes and left and came back and was walking around
the coffee shop , just a few table from us talking on his mobile phone . We
were about to invite him to have cofffee with us when some fans spotted him
and asked him to sign some autographs . He disappeared after a while and we
assumed that he had (wisely) returned to his room . We really did not mind
that we were not able to talk to him one last time . The day was perfect
enough as it was .
We left early the next morning for the airport . We took the 10AM flight
home . the trip was extremely fun and eventful but way too short . Somehow,
it's hard not to wake up in the morning and think it was just a dream . But
then you look at the pictures, the autographed poster hanging on the wall
and you think , Bloody hell , I guess we did meet westlife "
By : Kristine de Castro and Colleen Villanueva
Ateneo de Manila University
article © The Philippine Star