Site Updates

11 May 2012: The Westlife tour is finally here for me. There will be no site updates until 22nd May. Hope everyone who is seeing the tour has a good night. I will be taking lots of pictures to share with the site.

Love,

Shazzy

Jodi's online outpouring of love for third anniversary

10 May 2012 [published 09 May 2012]: WESTLIFE wife Jodi Albert is taking public displays of affection to another level.

They may be three years married this week - but Kian Egan and Jodi are obviously still in the honeymoon period, judging by her latest declaration of devotion.

The singer celebrated his third wedding anniversary to the former Hollyoaks babe yesterday and was no doubt bowled over by her emotional message on her website.

"Happy 3rd year wedding anniversary Kian. I love you more now than ever and you make me so happy. Thank you for being just the way you are. I love you and our beautiful little family. You're all I need," she said.

"Three years ago in Barbados, we all jumped in the pool in all our wedding clothes and raved into the morning."

Adding how it was the best day of her life, she said she was "happier now than ever".

Romantic

The couple have been together for the past nine years and finally made it official in 2009 when they got married at a romantic ceremony in the sun-kissed resort on May 8 surrounded by all their closest family and friends.

Just before Christmas, she became a mum after giving birth to their first offspring, a baby boy named Koa.

Last weekend saw the former Wonderland star enjoying her first big night out since having her baby when she attended the Fashion Kicks event with her other half in Manchester.

The event, organised by Shay Given and his wife Jane to raise funds for a cancer charity, saw Jodi reunited with Westlife pals including Shane Filan and wife Gillian, alongside Nicky Byrne and his other half Georgina.

The chart-toppers were the headline act giving fans a taster of what to expect when they kick off their farewell tour in Cardiff.

Source: Herald

Westlife Greatest Hits tour

10 May 2012: Wow it's hard to believe the tour kicks off tonight in Cardiff. I want to wish the lads the best of luck (not that they will need it) and hope everyone enjoys the tour. Lets party and show the lads that they will remain forever in our hearts. :)

My tour dates start from this Saturday at the O2 arena. I will of course be looking to take loads of pictures, and capturing video moments to share with the spoiler mini-site.

I can't imagine how I will feel at Croke Park on the 23rd June. It is going to be emotional with the speeches. I do hope the lads will reunite in the future. I think it would be a shame if we never got to hear Flying Without Wings, What Makes A Man and I'm Already There live on tour.

Perhaps see you on the tour. ;)

Love Shazzy xxx

Westlife voted top boy band of all time - ahead of The Wanted and The Jonas Brothers

Westlife, the Irish boy band that inspired the devotion of a generation of teens with their middle of the road covers of mostly dusty old pop standards, were this week voted the best boy in the history of pop after a two-week poll of an MTV audience of 12 million viewers.

According to the Irish Independent the Irish stars beat off stiff competition from newcomers The Wanted and Disney superstars, The Jonas Brothers.

With this amazing vote of confidence the toothy Irish foursome can now take on farewell tour (beginning next week) knowing they have emerged as the surprise winners of the poll that included 32 of Europe's best loved bands.

A spokesman for MTV told Irish Daily Mail: 'The fans have spoken. After two weeks of intense match-ups and more than 12 million votes Westlife have come out on top in MTV’s Battle of the Boy bands.'

News of the Irish pop groups win in the Battle of the Boy Bands is particularly well-times because their 14-year long career is scheduled to come to an end soon. Earlier this year Westlife announced they would disband after the conclusion of their Greatest Hits Tour, which begins later this week and concludes at the end of June in Croke Park stadium in Dublin. Now thanks to the public vote, they're going out in a blaze of glory.

Source: Irish Central

Kian on Westlife swansong

10 May 2012: WESTLIFE are getting emotional as they embark on their €5million farewell tour tonight — and prepare to say goodbye to their boyband days forever.

And singer Kian Egan reckons there will be plenty of tears between the foursome after 16 years on the road.

He revealed: “It’s hard to believe that after so long together this will be the end.

“I don’t doubt that there will be tears — and lots of them to be honest! We want to go out with a bang and make this the best tour we have ever had.”

Kian, Shane, Nicky and Mark will take to the stage at the Cardiff Motorpoint Arena tonight in front of nearly 10,000 fans.

And the rest of their farewell tour will see them take in dates all across the UK in May.

But the highlight will be their final gigs in Croke Park in June.

Kian, 32, said: “I think for a lot of the nights they are going to be kicking us off the stage. Especially the ones at Croke Park — we are not going to want to leave.

“They fine you a serious amount of money there if you go over time — something like €10,000 a minute, but I know we are not going to want to get off that stage. It’s going to be so emotional.”

Kian showed fans another side of him when he appeared on RTE’s The Voice as a coach.

And despite being thrown into rehearsals for the tour straight after the show, he loves being back with Westlife.

Kian, who recently became dad to baby Koa with wife Jodi Albert, said: “Coming out of The Voice and straight into rehearsals is probably what bridged the gap for me.

“It’s exciting — we are bringing in a lot of songs that we haven’t done in a long time like I Have a Dream. There will also be a medley as fans seem to love that.

“The whole thing will be very high octane. We are going to try and bring in every element of Westlife’s career and make it a Greatest Hits to remember.”

The tour will be the last time the boyband perform as a four-piece after selling more than 45million records and 12 Irish No1 singles.

It has been eight years since Brian McFadden left the group and he now lives in Australia with his model fiancée Vogue Williams.

And despite rumours that Brian might come back, Kian insists it isn’t going to happen.

He said: “No. We love Brian, but he hasn’t been a part of the band for such a long time.

“For us it would be very weird to stand on the stage with him again, especially on our final tour.

“For us it’s kind of like, he left us, we didn’t leave him and for us, it just wouldn’t feel right. I just don’t think it would work.”

Boyzone and Take That have reunited after years apart and are among the biggest bands in the world again. But Kian can’t see Westlife reforming.

He said: “I would find it difficult to think that we would never step on a stage together again but to make an album and go back on tour... I find it difficult to think that we would get back together.”

Westlife were formed by Louis Walsh in 1998 when he took Sligo lads Kian, Mark and Shane from boyband IOU and put them with Dubliners Nicky and Brian.

Their first single Swear It Again shot in at No1 in April 1999. Looking back over their successes, Kian is glad he and the lads — who have six kids between them — made their families a priority.

He said: “I think we all have a lifestyle that’s very normal in a sense, we are only in the band six months of the year really anyway.

“Nicky is in Malahide bringing his kids to school every day and Shane is over in London bringing his kids to school every day.”

As for the future, Kian believes he and the other lads have made the right decision to go their separate ways. He said: “Shane has solo plans, Mark probably will end up doing a solo album, Nicky is making TV shows and I’m doing one or two things.

“It’s already kind of moving on. I do think that I have made the right decision.

“As people we need to feel what life is like without Westlife because we have never experienced it. We don’t know what the world is without Westlife.”

Source: The Sun

2 Westlife Concert Tickets VIP As Personal Guests of Shane and Gillian Filan

09 May 2012: Welcome to this amazing auction.

You are bidding on the ultimate Westlife experiance. A priceless, once in a lifetime experiance to meet the amazing Westlife on their farewell tour. This experiance has been given to us to help raise money for our 5yr old little girl who need life saving cancer treatment in the US personally by Shane and Gillian Filan.

This is for 2 people to attend the London 02 arena as Shane and Gillian Filan's personal guests. In the words of Shane in a VT he recorded for us you can 'come along, meet the guys, hang out backstage to watch the concert and do whatever you want' he went on to say that 'we are big supporters of Niamh and we want you to bid on this as all the money goes towards her US treatment. It's gonna be an amzing night'

You will arrive at the 02 for 5pm with the concert starting at apporox 7.20pm.

Shane and Gillian have been amazing and both wear the Niamh's Next Step Wristbands which you can buy in 'other items for sale' All profits go towards our little girls treatment.

You can read Niamhs story at www.niamhsnextstep.com

100% of this auction goes to the Neuroblastoma Alliance Niamh Curry Appeal and every penny goes towards getting her to the US to save her life.

You can also donate at www.justgiving.com/niamhsnextstep

Become friends on FB Niamhs Next Step or follow on twitter @niamhsnextstep

This is an truely amazing experiance helping to raise money for our amazing little girl.

Many thanks to the lovely Shane and Gillian Filan and the Westlife boys for making this happen.

The winning bidder will not receive actual tickets for this as there aren't any. I will email the winner with all the details they need to contact the bands tour manager and get everything put in place for the night of your life.

Many Thanks

Team Niamh.

Place your bid here.

Source: Gillian Filan / Niamh's Next Step

One Direction and The Wanted can't touch Westlife

08 May 2012: Republic of Ireland group Westlife have been crowned the ultimate boyband in the world in a poll which saw them overtake legends like The Beatles.

The Dublin pop group were voted the best boyband during a two-week poll of an MTV audience of some 12million viewers, also beating The Wanted and Disney superstars, The Jonas Brothers.

The foursome can head out on their farewell tour next week proudly embracing the title after they emerged as the surprise winners of the poll of 32 bands, voted for by an audience of US and European music lovers.

A spokesman for MTV was quoted in the Irish Daily Mail as saying: “The fans have spoken. After two weeks of intense match-ups and more than 12 million votes Westlife have come out on top in MTV’s Battle of the Boybands.”

Source: Belfast Telegraph

Westlife 'Honored' To Win MTV's Battle Of Boybands

08 May 2012: Fans of Westlife spent the past two weeks tirelessly voting for their favorite group to win MTV's Battle of the Boy Bands, and all their hard work paid off.

On Monday, the Irish boy band won it all, defeating the Jonas Brothers in the final round.

And for all those Westlife fans: Don't think your voting went unnoticed. All four members, who are in London rehearsing for their upcoming farewell tour, took time out of their busy schedule to send over a message to MTV News thanking each and every one of you for their big win.

Westlife Thank Fans For Their Battle Of The Boy Bands Triumph

"Hi, MTV, we just found out that we've been voted the #1 ultimate boy band of all time. Thank you very much, guys!" Westlife's Shane Filan said. "We are very, very honored."

Nicky Byrne added, "I just want to say: Thank you to all of our followers, on Weibo in China, on Twitter around the world, on Facebook and everybody. To all the bands we beat, well done. It's been an amazing 14 years for us, and to top it off, to win this is really, really incredible, so thank you to everybody who voted. See you on tour!"

After the first round of competition, when Westlife took down fan favorites the Backstreet Boys, we talked with Byrne via Skype, who told us a win in this competition would mean a lot to the band, since they have decided to break up after 14 years following the end of their tour next month.

"What an amazing story it would be to finish our final 14 years to be named or even get far in this competition," Byrne said. "But even if we don't, we'll hold our heads very high and say we never cracked the States, but we gave them a run for their money."

Well, Westlife, you certainly have! Congratulations to the group and all their dedicated fans.

Source: MTV

Westlife top MTV boyband poll

08 May 2012: Westlife have come out on top of an MTV poll to find the best boyband

The Irish singers beat off competition from young pretenders One Direction and The Wanted to top the two-week poll of an MTV audience of some 12million viewers.

The foursome head out on their farewell tour next week and can sho off the title after they emerged as the surprise winners of the poll of 32 bands, voted for by an audience of US and European music lovers.

An MTV spokesperson said: “The fans have spoken. After two weeks of intense match-ups and more than 12 million votes Westlife have come out on top in MTV’s Battle of the Boybands.”

Source: Inside Ireland