Westlife World Column
Sunday World Newspaper December 24th 2000
What A Year!
Merry Christmas from all the lads in Westlife,
WHAT can we say - even if Santa doesn't come to us this Christmas we have
very little to complain about. It's been the most incredible year of our
lives and you've been with us every step of the way.
If you told us a year ago that we were going to have all those number ones
we would have choked on our Christmas pudding with the laughter.
And as for selling ELEVEN CONCERTS at Dublin's Point Depot, well, that
definitely would have been laughable. After all, this time last year Boyzone
had broken the record with NINE shows and that seemed amazing. What a
difference a year makes!
It's been a year jam-packed with so many highlights that we don't know where
to start. We kicked off the early part of the year jet.setting around the
globe and shooting the video for Fool Again in Mexico. We had a helicopter
filming us from the top of a 22-storey skyscraper and the two guys shooting
us had worked on Leonardo DiCaprio's movie, The Beach. It was a real buzz.
In April we were invited to appear at a big showbiz bash in the States for
the high-powered Arista label, alongside the likes Whitney Houston, Puff
Daddy and Toni Braxton.
Mark will never forget the month of May after his dreams came true when we
teamed up with Mariah Carey to record a video for Against All Odds on the
beautiful isle of Capri
Freedom
The summer was also an amazing time for us. Kian, Shane and Mark were
honoured in Sligo when they were given the freedom of the city there at a
big civic reception.
July was a big month for us as we also appeared on the big Party In The Park
concert at London's Hyde Park. There was an audience of 100,000 people,
which took our breath away when we stepped out on stage. On top of all that,
we launched the Harrod's summer sale.
In August, Westlife rocked...literally. We were caught up in an earthquake
in Mexico. Now that was an experience - we don't get those any day in Sligo
or Dublin. It literally rocked the water out of the swimming pool at our
hotel! At least we lived to tell the tale.
We grew up watching the Rose Of Tralee on the telly when it hosted by Gay
Byrne. Back then, we never dreamed that one day we'd be appearing on the
show. Some people think we don't get excited about Irish events like that,
but that's never the case.
When we arrived in Tralee there were 20,000 people in the streets and
everyone was going wild. It was a great feeling, just like a big home coming
for us.
In September we were back home in Ireland shooting the video for My Love
around the beautiful Cliffs of Moher and in Limerick. Once again there were
helicopters flying hovering overhead as we belted out the tune on the
windswept cliffs.
When the single was released it gave us our SEVENTH number one single in a
row. We picked up the Song Of The Year award for My Love and SIX Smash Hits
Awards. Now that is just a mad, mad record. But there you go - that's the
sort of year we've had.
Of course, there have been other events like Nicky and Shane turning 21 and,
boys being boys, some of us picked up a couple of BMWs to play with.
There was great excitement when we released our latest album, Coast To
Coast, at the same time as the Spice Girls. Fortunately, our fans were more
supportive and a million thanks to everyone.
Yes, it's been a great year - thanks to you, our fantastic fans. You've been
there for us every step of the way and, hopefully, we'll all have lots of
fun this Christmas and in the year ahead.