Oi! Quiet at the back! Today Mr Ronan Keating is teaching those naughty
schoolboys, Westlife, all they need to know about fame, fun, Ferraris and
farragoes.
R=Ronan
B=Byran
N=Nicky
K=Kian
M=Mark
S=Shane
GEOGRAPHY
How will you cope with all the travelling?
R: It's all right as long as you're working. When you stop is when it kicks
in. When you take two weeks off and you're lying on a beach, you realise
that you're just wasted and you can't think straight. Your body won't move
and you can't perform any more. But to be honest, you can't wait to get back
because it's the only thing you know. It's something that's been bred into
you seven days a week.
B: Oh God, you're scaring me.
K: When we get home we're always on the go. We can't sit still.
R: (with relish) That's right - when you get home you wanna see your mates,
tell them what's going on, go out on the beers, see what's happening, have a
bit of fun. But there's a famous saying that we had: every morning's a
Monday morning and every night's a Saturday night. That's what it's like,
man. Every morning kills you. You can't get out of bed, but as soon as you
get going and you've had a good day out, you want to have a laugh and go out
partying. (Everyone laughs) That's the way it is!
How do you cope with homesickness?
R: I get homesick now more than ever. In fact I was homesick this morning!
B: Morning sickness!
R: I was homesick in the beginning when it started, but I just got to love
it so much. I wanted to be away with the lads - we used to have such a
laugh. I hated being at home. Now over the past couple of years, we've got
more at home for us, so it's important for us to be there. But for Westlife
it's only the beginning. I look at them sometimes and wish I was in the band
because I want to be back there. The craic we used to have! it was
brilliant.
K: The only bad thing is getting out of bed in the morning, but we love
everything about it. It's a constant buzz.
R: It gets better and better. And bigger, please God.
MATHS
Ronan, are you going to be a classic old-school manager and nick all of
Westlife's money?
R: I'm not even here for the money. The boys can have my share! (General
uproar)
B: Can we have that in writing?
R: I'm not here to do the business side of it; that's not what I'm about. I
can't even look after my own business affairs. I'm just here so the lads can
pick up the phone and ask me for advice.
K: He genuinely does it - he's not just saying that.
What will you spend what you've got left on?
N: Clothes, definitely.
R: (changing his tune) They won't have any money after our cut! No, I can't
imagine what these guys'll do with their money. They've got their cars
already!
B: If I had a hundred grand, I'd buy a Ferrari!
S: You'd have a Ferrari but you wouldn't have a house!
R: What do you want to do that for? You could buy something cheaper that
would go just as fast.
B: (wistfully) But you look great as well.
M: He wants to buy an Aston Martin V12.
R: Yeah, brilliant machine. (They rattle on about cars for a bit.)
Will you buy all the drinks when you go in the pub at home?
S: It depends. For my closest friends, yeah maybe, but not people we've just
met.
R: I think you can't help it in the beginning, being a pop star. As much as
you try and keep your feet on the ground - "I'm cool, I'm settled, you
know" - you're in a pop band and you think you're the most famous thing
since sliced bread. You come home and you're just walking down the street
like you're Mr Cool, your chin up in the air - you think you're rappid, you
really do. (Everyone falls about.) You go into the pub, you get a few drinks
in you and you think you're super and you start throwing your money around
and then you wake up the following morning and you feel so awful and you
think: "Urgh, back to the bank." I think you're allowed to be a pop star at
the start, just as long as you don't stay there.
Will you waste £10 million on Quasar like U2?
N: Not £10 million
B: If we did it'd be Ronan's fault. We'd blame everything on him.
S: £10 million - you'd be sick wouldn't you?
N: Mind you, it'd be spare change to them.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Will you start getting off with the fans?
K: It depends how good-looking they are! (Everyone laughs)
R: Never say never, lads. They're your bread and butter.
B: You never know...
Who'd win in a scrap between you and Boyzone?
B: We would!
N: They're too old - we wouldn't even have to try. (To Kian) But would you
take Shane Lynch?
K: I'd take any of them! I'd get my head battered, though.
R: Stephen would kill you all! It wouldn't be a pretty sight, I can tell you
that.
ENGLISH
Are you planning to be outrageous in interviews?
N: No, just to be ourselves.
M: Just to have a bit of fun, like we're having now.
R: As everyone knows, I really regret saying I was a virgin in one of my
early interviews. You can't help it though - I was just sixteen when I
joined and I didn't know anything about the industry or where I was going. I
was just honest - too honest. I should have kept my mouth shut, but that's
the way it is.
B: I'm still a virgin. (Everyone laughs nervously.)
Will you start reading loads and getting really deep?
K: I've never read a book in my life!
B: Fantastic Mr Fox!
R: Gumdrop Goes To Brighton. Did you ever read any of them?
S: I read Emma by Jane Austen. You know the novel?
K: Ya sap! (Everyone laughs.)
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
Will you say "Please God" all the time like Ronan?
K: Please God, no.
N: It's just an Irish thing. My mam says "God bless" everywhere I go.
R: At the end of the day, it just depends on your upbringing.
K: (agreeing) My Mam's always shouting, so I'm always shouting too.
N: That's true. (Shouts) Kian!
S: My mam always gives me a miraculous medal every time I go away. She
blesses it, as well.
N: My nan is the holiest woman in Ireland. She got me my birthstone and a
little guardian angel.
M: I've got a thing like two tea bags on a string - a scapular. It's like a
charm - it's meant to protect you.
K: My mam lights a candle every week for us in mass, to help us.
S: praying is big in my family. We pray every night.
K: When I shared with Shane, he was like "Shh! Say your prayers!"
R: I pray before I do anything like a TV show or a concert. I pray that the
rest of Boyzone are all right, that I'm OK, that the fans are safe and that
everything goes well. We always give each other a hug before we go on stage,
but we wouldn't pray together. Some people have different views from others
in the band, you know.
N: Well, we're thinking about taking a priest on the road with us!
B: Auditions next week!
HISTORY AND POLITICS
What policies do you think Ronan should implement once he becomes President?
M: No taxes on any music.
N: Build soccer up in Ireland.
S: Don't get married until you're 23. (Everyone laughs, since Westlife's
management won't let them marry until then.)
B: (to Ronan) Fancy, 22 years old and people are talking about you being
President. Would you take it if they offered it to you?
R: Of course I damn would!
B: You wouldn't take it now! You wouldn't take it tomorrow!
R: I would if the wages were good enough (Laughter.) New gaff, nice car. Why
not?!
Will you be in his cabinet?
R: Oh, can you imagine! They'd be nothing done in the country! It'd be like:
public holiday - let's go to the pub!
SCIENCE
If Westlife was a smell what would it be?
B: B.O.
R: No, It'd be a lovely fragrance, a gorgeous fragrance. It's smell like
wild flowers.
K: Dolce & Gabbana aftershave.
S: It'd be a cross between smog and turf!
How will you keep the chemistry of the group together?
K: The five of us have a great relationship - a strong friendship. We all
love each other like brothers. I know all bands say that, but we do.
M: We kill each other like brothers, but it's a natural thing.
R: It's good, and it's something we had in the beginning, too. We still have
it don't get me wrong, but it's important that you can understand each
other's moods, because that's something you can't avoid. There's gonna be
days when one of you isn't having a good one and you clash.
B: (piously) If I found out that something I was doing was annoying the
lads, I wouldn't keep doing it.
N: We know each other's good points and bad points.
K: (naughtily) But if we wanna annoy someone, then we really know how to
annoy them.
How will you celebrate exploding on to the charts?
N: I think we'll bring our manager out to dinner!
BOYZ AREN'T US!
Why Westlife aren't just another Boyzone.....
B: We're younger. We look different.
R: They're better-looking than we are.
S: We sound different.
K: A lot of bands have been launched on how they look, but for us it's about
the songs. We're more mature.
B: We love to sing a cappella, which is different from other boy bands. And
we're five different personalities. Also, Boyzone is a Dublin band out and
out, but this is a Sligo band, totally and utterly.
R: How are the towns different? Sligo is a lot slower.
N: Hey! (Uproar.)
R: No, I don't mean slow as in stupid. I just mean a lot more relaxed. The
city's mad, but the country's more laid-back.
K: They think everyone in the country just lies about on the farm!
B: (who's from Dublin) Sligo's a Third World country! (Everyone screeches)
R: Oh, it's started already. It's all gone pear-shaped!