Westlife come south - to the big screen

POPULAR Irish boy band Westlife gave their last performance at Croke Park in Ireland on June 23.

Westlife had a 14-year career in which the band sold more than 45 million albums worldwide and had 14 No 1 hits in the UK alone.

No wonder then that more than 85 000 fans crammed into the stadium to catch a last glimpse of the favourite four crooners.

Well, the money-making continues and we haven’t even reached the DVD stage of the marketing yet.

Westlife – The Final Concert is coming to a cinema screen near you, courtesy of BBC WorldWide.

The commercial arm of the BBC struck a deal with Sony Music and Westlife to co-produce a live film of this last concert and channelled it through alternative content provider BY Experience to screen it at cinemas worldwide.

Tickets to that final concert sold out in five minutes and more than 50 000 additional people attended live screenings across Europe.

Now SA fans can watch the live concert screenings in a cinema.

This concert screening follows the success of the international theatrical screening of Robbie Williams at the Electric Proms and the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms.

When Williams kicked off his comeback in 2009 with an appearance at the Electric Proms, BBC WorldWide licensed the live show to more than 250 screens in 23 countries, setting a Guinness World Record for simultaneous live screenings in cinemas.

That concert was subsequently screened in Australia and SA – the southern hemisphere countries don’t get the live screenings simply because of timing issues.

While many cinephiles will dispute Ster-Kinekor Nouveau’s claim that it shows art films, the “art house” chain does try to deliver alternative content and it regularly screens concerts, opera and theatre productions and documentaries we would not otherwise see.

The positive response from audiences will hopefully see it expanding its range beyond the commercial Hollywood fare local distributors dish up.

The cinematic experience has changed drastically over the past few years as home-viewing digital platforms become more widely available to South Africans.

If the local cinema chains are to survive they need to provide an alternative and better experience than people can have in their living rooms.

This means not only excellent content but also a different experience with all the bells and whistles, such as excellent sound and picture quality beyond what a big TV can deliver.

It also means access for the audience. Whether this means bringing in good African content or building cinemas where the people are, as opposed to only in cosy malls, there is no easy answer to that conundrum.

 

Westlife’s Nicky Byrne says father-in-law

Westlife’s Nicky Byrne says father-in-law Bertie Ahern did his best for country

Westlife singer Nicky Byrne has leapt to the defence of his father-in-law, Bertie Ahern.
Nicky, who married Bertie’s daughter Georgina in 2003, says that the former Taoiseach did his best for the country.
“There’s no big house. There’s no Porsches. There’s no anything like that. It’s not there and if it was, believe you and me, it would have been found,” he told the ‘Sunday Independent’s Life magazine.
He said: “Plenty of people have opinions on Bertie for lots of different reasons but, you know, it’s one of those where he was in power for so long.
“Unfortunately, with the economic crisis that Ireland is in, the whole world is in it, but people will only look at what’s going on in their own backyard.
“I’m sure Bertie probably feels he made some mistakes, but, actually, not many more mistakes than previous people before him. Or people that will make them in the future. Or probably people that are making them presently. But it’s just that he was there at the time.”
The singer also said that he found it sad that his father-in-law was painted as being “corrupt”.
He said: “You just have to hold your head high and say ‘I know him as a person. He’s a lovely guy and he is 100,000% committed – always has been – to Ireland. ‘
“You know that’s the sad part for me. Because out of anyone, some of the stuff that would be painted of him as being like a corrupt politician or anything like that when he enjoys the simple things.
“That would be something that I would know and I think most people around him would know. The way it happened is the way it happened, it can’t be changed.”
Nicky said that Bertie has not spoken about whether the Mahon tribunal fall-out had damaged his legacy and ruined his retirement.
He said: “He’s a very private person and he wouldn’t speak about those things.
“As a son-in-law, married to his daughter, knowing him so well, he was married to that job. There’s not a politician in the country that gave more time and effort.
“I can only look at it from a personal point of view. He did his best. He was there for long, he was popular for long. He did his best. And it’s a real shame how it ended.”
Nicky revealed that his father-in-law dotes on his three young grandchildren.
He said: “He spends a lot of time with Rocco and Jay [Nicky and Georgina’s twin sons] and little Robin [Cecelia Ahern’s daughter]. Bertie’s always stayed loyal to his constituency.
“He was always the type of politician for whom grassroots was the most important thing. So he still lives in Drumcondra, still walks around. He’d have a close-knit social network.”

Westlife perform their last ever gig

It's all over: Westlife perform their last ever gig tonight 

 

It's been 14 years, 12 albums and 31 singles, but all dull things must come to an end, and tonight, Westlife do just that.

Shane, Kian, Nicky and Mark will stand up on the key change for the very last time ever, ever, ever (or until a big money reunion tour in a few years time) tonight in Croke Park in Dublin, because they're Irish (they don't mention that much).

Despite their last single Lighthouse only charting at number 33 last year, the band sold out 170,00 tickets over two nights this weekend - with the first of their two last nights ever happening last night. With support from Lawson, The Wanted and Jedward (hang on, are all 170,000 people going to see John and Edward? That'd be embarrassing) they performed all 'their' hits - Flying Without Wings, Uptown Girl, What About Now and World of Our Own last night (and they'll do the same tonight).

"I'm reading through all your tweets & I'm speechless..Everyone giving such nice messages ! Lump in my throat tear in my eye.. Thank You" Nicky tweeted this morning. The rest of the band don't seem to be out of bed yet. Maybe they went out for a few Guinness's post-show ... or they're really into Saturday Kitchen. One or the other.Sadly, last night's show didn't see a surprise appearance by former band member Brian McFadden, who lives in Australia now, having left the band in 2004. Surely someone could have fired up the Tupac-hologram machine to make Brian there in spirit?
Brian wrote on Twitter: "Sending love to my four brothers and there end of era gigs love you forever and so proud of what you and we achieved. Go out with a bang." None of the band replied. Awkward.
Despite Steps, Stone Roses and er, S Club 3 reforming recently, Nicky promises that Westlife won't be back again. "It's not a publicity stunt. Other bands who have breaks know they might come back. We're saying we're not." See you in five years, boys ...
What's next for recently bankrupt Shane Filan, then? Louis Walsh claims he's going to be the "male Adele". Good. We can't wait.