The Filans.net Stats

I added a bucketload full of pictures from the signings again:

London
x 5

Manchester / Liverpool
x 17

Pictures by Famous.uk.com, Newscom, and thanks toPia & Cait for getting us quite a few of these!

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x 6

Thanks Pia for getting us those! / Beatles Day 08's /Flickr

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Wen, you go girl! Congrats on winning that book & poster, I'm so not jealous *sees green* lol! There's something about you and .com competitions eh!


Literally hundreds of you entered our competition to win a signed copy of Westlife: Our Story and a poster.

We asked you to tell us about your favourite Westlife moment - and you didn't disappoint. We really enjoyed reading through all your entries - if you haven't checked them out yet, take a look in the forum now.

However, we could only pick five winners - and here they are. If you see your username below, please PM Admin on the forum with your full name and address.

Enjoy!

JOHOE
My most treasured memory has to be when a friend agreed on going to the Greatest Hits tour with me. A day later she sent me an e-mail, I cry whenever I read it.
At that time I was feeling rather down and in the e-mail she wrote that she had noticed. She told me to enjoy life because life is beautiful and that it's worth it to enjoy. We'd have lots of fun at the concert, she wrote with conviction.
The thing however that stands out is the following sentence, she wrote: I'm still enjoying the look in your eyes that you had when I said that I was going to the Westlive concert with you. She didn't even know how to spell Westlife but she would go, just for me. I then knew that I had a very special friend. She still is A VERY SPECIAL FRIEND!!
Josien

sparky07
Westlife have had a special song for every moment of my life in the last 10 years. When I had my daughter who needed surgery over 2yrs, they were there for me on the CD player in hospital, when I had surgery, they were in my walkman, when my dad got ill, they brought me comfort and helped me through sleepless nights on the MP3 player. When my son was born, he was humming their tunes by a year old! Now he's 3, he adores them. He knows all the words, even to old albums. Out shopping he hears them and shouts "MUMMY WESTLIFE ARE SINGING FOR YOU"! He cannot wait for his first concert! The boys have helped me through so much, they are always a great support through their wonderful music. Thanks lads, your amazing xxxx
Jo x

AngelByrneFeehily
Hard to pick one memory, as I've got 10 years filled with them. Highlight being meeting them, the show I've seen and of course Croke Park, but a very personal memory is listening to 'You Light Up My Life' with my best friend from Brazil when I first met her in Italy, we just sat on the bed eating chocolate, me filling her in about the latest Westlife news like we'd been together like that for years. Without Westlife we never would have met, and now whenever I hear that song I'm back there with her, even when we're on different continents. The friends I met through Westlife are the best friends in the world, and along with all the Westlife memories brought me something for life!

jodieluvzshane
I've never seen them in concert or been lucky enough to meet them. But the moment that sticks in my mind most is being sat in my lounge room watching Greatest Hits DVD. My hip hop loving brother had his hip hop loving friends over (who were giving me absolute hell). Written In The Stars was playing, I was trying my hardest not to cry while watching it. My brother told me in front of his mates that I should be proud of supporting a band that meant so much and could bring out that emotion, gave me a hug and turned it up louder. That was it - the tears were falling.

mfeehilyfan
There are so many Westlife memories for me... EVERY time I meet them, seeing Mark on his Birthday this year, all the TV shows and concerts I've been to... but the one that really stands out has to be Croke. From the build up while standing in the queue with friends, to the concert itself. And what made it even better was that I was stood right in the centre of the front row, so I could see all the joy and emotion in their faces as they performed. They looked so proud on that stage, putting on the best show ever.
And I'm sure if you asked the lads what THEIR most significant memory was, I'm sure they would say Croke, so with over 80,000 people standing behind me, I feel so lucky to have been there to celebrate with them... and those memories will stay with me forever!

Source: Westlife.com

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I found some more pictures from yesterday's booksignings in London!

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These time pictures are by Famous.uk.com & Contactmusic.co.uk

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x 18

Pictures by Getty Images.com & LFI.co.uk

Added 14 more - from Rexfeatures.com this time - thanks Alfee for getting us those!

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The waiting's over - Westlife: Our Story is finally out!

You'll laugh, you'll cry and you'll get a better insight into what life's really like in one of the world's most successful band that you could have ever hoped. If you haven't already snapped up your copy, order it online here.

Thanks to the hundreds of you who entered our competition to win a signed copy and a poster. We're reading through all your entries now - keep an eye out right here to see if yours was chosen as a winner.

Source: Westlife.com

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Yes, those were kindly donated to us by Caroline. They are the Shane, Gillian & Nicole pictures from Westlife's autobiography, out on Monday! Thanks Carly!

x11

And talking about that, people are you thinking about my challenge *points to the left*? Are any of you up for that? Good!

And more news, I'm officially on my summer holidays now! So you can expect a lot more updates from now on until mid-August! Plus that long waited gallery fix should be done then too!

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Shane's turn to reveal all about his life within Westlife and his family. Includes extracts from their forthcoming book. Westlife:Our Story.

He is the lead singer in the best boyband in the world.. but Westlife’s Shane Filan nearly blew it with Cowell after a boozy night out

Shane, regarded by pop mogul Louis Walsh as one of the best singers in the business, turned up for an early audition with a serious hangover.

After a dodgy performance Cowell, who was a famous talent spotter with Sony in those days, told Walsh he didn’t like Shane and wouldn’t do a deal with Westlife.

It was only due to Walsh’s sneaky tactics, that Cowell agreed to see them again... and help make them one of the biggest pop acts in the world.

Shane (28) spills the beans on the near miss in their new book.

He says "I’ll never forget that audition, I performed terribly but the rest of the lads were great, but I knew I hadn’t done the job."

"Simon seemed unimpressed and chatted briefly to Louis and then Louis gestured us into another room. Louis grabbed me and half hit me. What the f*** was that Shane. It was s***. He doesn’t like you.” He was really mad at me. I had never seen him like that before and it scared me.

He was so passionate about the band, and so into what he was doing.. He couldn’t believe I was so poor to Simon.

He said "I was counting on you and you let me down. You look terrible, what’s up with you?”

Well I had a few drinks last night, and he was fuming at me. I was apologizing to him but I knew he was right. He told us that Simon only liked Mark and Kian and particularly didn’t like me.

"Louis spoke to Simon privately and told him he would get new members in. He would work on the band and sort it all out. And if Simon would come back one more time he would love it.

"He did come back and he did love it. He didn’t even notice I was the same guy. That’s the reason we got the deal."

Dad of one Shane whose wife Gillian is expecting their second child in September now has enjoyed 10 years at the top, and has a string of number one albums under his belt.

But he says his success isn’t just due to the other members of the band but to Gillian, who kept him on the straight and narrow from the beginning.

“There’s no other woman in the world who comes close to her”, says Shane in his new book. Westlife:Our Story

When Westlife first started, Gillian was just at college and didn’t want Westlife to affect her.

She wanted a normal college life and as I remember it ,no one said to us "You can’t have a girlfriend.” If they had said that, it was essential, it would have been the end of the band for me because I wanted Gillian in my life above everything else.”

"But it was her idea not to go publishing it so much. She wanted her own friends and her own time at college.

"She didn’t want to just be the girl who is going out with Shane from Westlife. She got Westlife and that there would be attention from girls - and she knew how to handle it and had no problem with it at all. I’d fallen in love with her and that was that. So the band situation didn’t affect us. Gillian was the perfect woman for me.”

Despite the public and the fans not knowing much about the blonde in Shane's life Gillian was playing a big part. She discouraged Shane from drinking too much, during the bands wilders days.

Shane says, “I was a nutbag on vodka and red bull, I’d go out to a club with Gillian and I’d be drinking and forget about her for an hour and a half. Just be chatting to and having a laugh. Eventually Gillian would be like “Where are you?” So I stopped drinking as she didn’t agree with me...

But at the time we were young fellas, 20, 21 out having a good time and we were famous. We were in this band, outselling everywhere. We had money in our pockets. It was pure joy.

"What’s the point in doing all the work if you can’t enjoy the benefits. We just kind of enjoyed them a bit too much. After dating since they were teens, Shane and Gillian, who is also Kian’s cousin, wed in December 2003. Their first child was born in July 2005.

And despite women constantly throwing themselves at handsome Shane, he says he’d never risk his family for anything.

“Some blokes always think the grass is greener, but that’s a fools game”, he says.

“I’d never be such an idiot to go behind Gillian’s back. I actually don’t think I could do it. "Nobody is worth the risk of me loosing what I have with Gillian. The greatest day of life was when my beautiful daughter Nicole, was born. Best day ever, nothing ever comes close to your first baby being born.”

“I’ll never forget it, her little head, her eyes closed but looking at me, it was incredible. I just started crying my eyes out and so did Gillian. We were proper bawling and we were so happy, we were ecstatic.”

Car crazy Shane who once spend 13 000 euros insuring a Ferrari 500, said "Gillian was the girl I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, long before Westlife or college or any of this. I loved her then and I just wanted to do what she wanted, and now I love her more than ever.”

Source: The Irish Sun / Mary for the scans and Joanne for typing it up

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I have found something really cool on this bright & sunny early Tuesday morning.

Pictures from Shane & Gillian's private photo collection. And from what I can see, they're amazing! Look at Shane & ickle little Nicole sleeping on the bed! They're in Westlife:Our Story, which is coming out on Monday (16th June).



Those notoriously shy Westlife boys have decided to reveal all for a new book about their private and personal lives. The biography, Westlife – Our Story (out 16 June, from HarperCollins, priced £18.99), sees the boys talking intimately about everything from the squllions of Number-One singles that they’ve sold to their partners and babies (aww). Best of all, they’ve decided to share photos from their private albums, which include some hunky tops-off shots and adorable family photos. We’ve managed to get out hands on Mark and Shane’s personal albums to share with you, makes for pleasant viewing, don’t ya think?

Source: Heatworld / Josie for finding

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