News Archive January - March 2002

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FEAR not, damsels in distress - the five musketeers of pop have arrived to save the day. Westlife swap their usual black polo-necked sweaters for frilly cuffed shirts and black leather trousers in their swashbuckling latest video. The video for their next single, Bop Bop Baby, sees Nicky Byrne, Bryan McFadden, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan and Shane Filan as 17th century-style swordsmen. In the story they battle the villain, played by Vinnie Jones, to save the girl, Leah Wood. The video sees them leaping into action, fighting the bad guys and even taking to horseback. Mark, 21, who grew a goatee for the video, said: "It's a real swashbuckling adventure. We all wanted to be heroes but we didn't want just one guy to get the girl in the end so we all go after her. We love the dressing up but to be honest we just wanted to get swords to play with." Shane, 22, sported Dick Whittington-style boots as he strode about the set and Bryan and Kian, both 21, looked like they could give famous movie swashbuckler Douglas Fairbanks Jr a run for his money in their impressive outfits. Tough nut Vinnie, defying anyone to poke fun at his wig with ringlets, joked on set: "I'm having a laugh but as usual I get to play the baddie - what a surprise." Leah, 23, daughter of Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, turned out to be the true heroine of the piece. She stepped in to save the day after Naomi Campbell pulled out of the role of the damsel in distress at the last minute. The boys are hoping the single, out on May 20, will give them their 11th No1 hit. Much of the lavish video, which cost £500,000 to make, was filmed in the chapel on the campus of the US International University in Bushey, Herts. The gothic building at the former college - which is now used mainly for TV filming - had just the olde worlde look the boys wanted for the video. [source: The Sun]

After a couple of weeks of winning awards and having fun at the ceremonies (see latest pics of Westlife from the Meteor Ireland music awards here), you may think Westlife would be having a well-deserved break - but they're not! With less than a month to the first date in Sheffield, the guys are currently back in rehearsals in preparation for their forthcoming tour. Shane says the last thing they want to do is disappoint their fans: "The show is really starting to come together. We're going to be performing all the favourite Westlife songs and throw in a few unexpected tracks too. As long Bryan manages to get hold of the dance steps, everything will be fine!" [source: westlife.com]

Westlife have confirmed that they are planning to return to the States later this year to try and (finally!) conquer the US market! Mark commented in reply to speculation that the band were going to the US soon; "That's definitely on the cards. In fact, this summer we will be going over to the States. In about three weeks time, we will be going over to Miami to shoot the American version of the "My Love" video that we are going to release soon. We have extremely high hopes. All we can do is try our best and hopefully it will work out for us." He explained the reasons why Westlife have found it hard to break into the American market - "For us the reason is numbers. First of all, when we went over there, our record company was falling apart at that time. The guy [Clive Davis] we have been talking to about our career in America actually left the record label. We were stoked. We don't have anybody else there 'coz the record company had to reform. So we decided to come back and try to conquer the rest of the world. The time has to be right for us. You have to spend a lot of time in America to be successful and that's something we are willing to do this time." Nicky spoke about the plans to re-shoot the My Love video, saying, "I don't think the video means anything special. We all look a lot more different since "My Love," [which] was released a year ago. We've changed our haircuts, we look different, our styling changed. If we are going to launch the old video in America, we are going to look like what we looked like in the old video!" Mark added, "We have progressed since and we don't want to go back there again. So we are making a new one!" [source: mtvasia.com] [thanks to: Jennifer]

Westlife are top of the charts again with an amazing 10th UK No 1 single this week with World Of Our Own. The band have beaten Kylie in the much publicised chart battle, with Enrique Iglesias has dropping to No 2 with the Irish lads outselling the Latin star by 2:1. Westlife are now in exalted chart company and are third in the table for a group with most No 1 hits. The Beatles top the table with 17, in second place comes Cliff Richard & The Shadows with 12, Westlife are third with 10, Abba are fourth with nine while the Rolling Stones are fifth with eight. Westlife also hold the chart record for most consecutive No 1 hits from their debut with seven. [source: worldpop.com]

Congrats to Westlife on winning "Best Pop Act" at the Brit Awards yesterday! However this wasn't the only reason that the lads were in the news for the awards... Bryan apparently was involved in a brawl with the So Solid Crew at the ceremony (nothing serious though!) Meanwhile, our best wishes go out to Kerry Katona who recently had surgery to remove a cyst from one of her ovaries. Kerry, who presents Channel 5's Exclusive showbiz show, went into hospital in London on Monday, accompanied by Bryan for support. Bryan's mum, Mairead, flew from Dublin to London to look after their five-month-old baby, Molly. Bryan told the News Of The World: "Kerry cannot walk and will be off work a month. But she is on the road of recovery. The cyst was the size of a football and it's going to take a time to get over." Kerry is said to have first begun feeling unwell on the couple's luxury honeymoon on the paradise Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Although she continued with the honeymoon and returned home safely to Britain, the pains suddenly grew worse. It is believed the problem stemmed from the birth of Molly, as hormone changes during pregnancy can lead to problems including ovarian cysts. Kerry has been released from hospital and is now recovering from the op. Get well soon!! [source: The Sunday Mirror] [thanks to Jess]

Westlife and Kylie Minogue go head-to-head in the singles chart this week in one of the biggest chart battles of the year so far. But Westlife's Shane seems pretty confident that the Irish lads's single, World Of Our Own, will be victorious over the Aussie star. "We are great fans of Kylie and are looking forward to meeting her at the Brits," Shane said to The Sun. "But we reckon we will sell more singles than her. Our real problem may be with Enrique Iglesias who is still so strong at the top." Westlife will find out the chart position of their single when it is announced on Sunday, but next week face a further challenge from Pop Idol star Will Young when he releases his debut single - a double A-side including a cover of Westlife's track 'Evergreen'. However, Westlife say they would never have chosen to Evergreen as a single. Bryan McFadden described the track as "the weakest" on the band's third album 'World Of Our Own'. "When we recorded it, it just wasn't a contender for our singles," explained bandmate Kian Egan. Nevertheless, Will's double A-side, 'Evergreen/Anything Is Possible', is released on February 25. [source: Dotmusic]

Westlife throw down the gauntlet and offer fans the ultimate challenge... Westlife Fan-O-Mania - a computer game for PC and PS1 - is due for release in March 2002, with a suggested retail price of £19.99 The game is described as a "poptastic trivia quiz" for the PlayStation and PC that every self-respecting fan of the chart-topping Irish band should own. 'Westlife Fan-O-Mania' will feature hundreds of revealing questions about the boys' music, videos, lives and loves along with plenty of exclusive, and never-before-seen video footage of the boys themselves. Hosted by Tara, your animated hostess, fans will be guided through five different sections of Westlife's virtual lives including The Tour Bus, The Recording Studio, On Location, Live and back at The Hotel. The PC version will also include a fantastic printable image gallery, including signed photos of the band. So fans will never be short of photos ever again! About 'Westlife Fan-O-Mania': Westlife Fan-O-Mania is a 100% official Westlife product full of exciting ideas and content brought from the award-winning boys (Best UK & Ireland Act, Best Pop Act - Brit Awards 2001) of Shane Filan, Bryan McFadden, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Nicky Byrne and features: Single Player · Watch the never-before-seen video footage of Bryan, Kian, Mark, Nicky and Shane as they reveal what life is really like in Westlife · Listen to never-before-heard audio of the guys facing all the difficult questions - can they handle the pressure? · Savour our gallery of gorgeousness in the stunning photo section · Meet Tara, your animated hostess as she guides you through the game and its five different sections · "A Day in the Life of Westlife" is the virtual opportunity every fan desires. The Recording Studio, the Tour Bus, on Stage and back at the Hotel · Face 500 challenging questions on the boys, the band and their history · Bonus! Score 100% in any one round and you will unlock an exclusive video interview with one of the lads · All this and you can enjoy snippets of songs and videos from all of their record breaking UK Number One singles Special PC Only Feature · Check out our printable image gallery...you'll never run out of posters again! · Wear your heart on your sleeve, with the free Westlife T-shirt on selected promotional packs Multiplayer · Compete against fellow Westlife fans to see who knows the most about the band in the four- Player mode Heiko tom Felde, Director of TDK Mediactive Europe, said: "Britain's biggest boy band is coming to the biggest gaming platforms in the world! With their present single 'Queen Of My Heart' and current album 'World Of Our Own' going straight in at number one in the UK charts, TDK Mediactive believes that this latest title on PC and PS1 will make Westlife the only band to have a number one single and interactive game in the charts." [source: TDK Mediactive Europe]

Westlife have been named Favourite Pop Act at the very first MTV Asia Awards ceremony, held at Singapore's Indoor Stadium on Sunday 3rd February. The event, hosted by Ronan Keating and Mandy Moore, also saw Britney Spears named Favourite Female Artist with Ricky Martin picking up the award for Favourite Male. The awards were broadcast to 130 million homes across Asia and voted for by over 13 million people on MTV Asia's website. Fans were asked to vote for artists from each Asian country whilst six awards were given to international artists. Westlife are currently on a 2-week promotional tour of South-East Asia before returning to Europe to promote their latest single 'World of Our Own'. [source: MTV Asia, Dotmusic] [thanks to Sara Lai & sTa-CeY]

Westlife recently shot the video for their new single 'World Of Our Own' in the Docklands area of London. The guys play gangsters in the action-packed video, wearing Reservoir Dogs style suits. The video features Westlife being chased in their Hummer Jeep by cops, and being accompanied by a couple of mean looking dobermans. Bryan said: "It was good fun. We looked great in the suits and loved our bad-boy look." The single is set for release in the UK on February 18th, and will go head to head with Kylie's latest release "In Your Eyes". Analysts are pinning the #1 prize on Kylie at this point in time due to the current buzz surrounding her - her last single "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" recently sold its 1 millionth copy. Meanwhile, 'Angel' (a new, remixed, more orchestral version!) will be the next single for Korean fans.

Bryan and Kerry were married on January 5th at Rathfeigh in Co Meath, Ireland... you can read full details of their wedding here! the happy couple have been honeymooning in South Africa! [source: Hello! Magazine] [thanks to Meer]