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https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/75202...e-that-success/ This part :lol: Nicky joking: “My kids said to me, ‘Dad, if you’re doing this reunion you’re not doing all those crap songs you did the first time!’ And I said, thinking, ‘Jesus, that’s a bit harsh’. The single will still be out soon though, according to the article

Nice article that Kian retweeted: https://twitter.com/KianEganWL/status/1052205146308980736

The boys have celebrated Nicky's birthday together: https://twitter.com/NickyByrne/status/1050499702372950016 https://twitter.com/NickyByrne/status/1050522657362464768

Westlife fans LOVE this song for years because it has been leaked as an unreleased Westlife song so no wonder it had success even now. I love the original songs from Love Always album, too bad its mostly a cover album.

I love Sara Bareilles and Pentatonix so I am interested but it really is such cash grab :D

Even though the boys declined Simon, I’m pretty sure they will debut the single on the X Factor. Even when they debuted What About Now after a break was a special moment, I can just imagine how big their comeback could be.

Yes, a few months he said he would be all up for it, he even dissed the lads when they declined the huge contract with Brian being back. https://www.thesun.ie/tvandshowbiz/music/25...ece-to-reunite/ I'm sure at least a very small piece of him regrets it, or else he wouldn't be acting like a moron now. What Keith said is also absurd (sorry if this was already posted): https://www.rsvplive.ie/news/celebs/keith-d...stlife-13363626 I’m sorry but this is crap. They said so many times they first started as a supporting act for Boyzone and Backstreet Boys. In the long run, if they indeed signed a 5 year contract, its best they don't have any tension in the band. As much as I love Brian, I honestly believe it would have been akward between them. They haven't seen Brian for years, he even talked shit about them a few months ago and then he of course deleted the tweets. The truth is, they aren't friends anymore. And on top of that, many fans haven't forgiven him for announcing he was leaving 3 weeks before the tour. It was different with Robbie because I think they did bury the axe but with Westlife boys and Bri I am not sure there isn't any bad blood. If not, they are still strangers so the vibe at least wouldn't be genuine.

I know :D it would make a lot more sense if someone with bigger career said this though. Plus, Shane has released 3 decently succesful albums and had decent tours, Mark released the album he wanted and Nicky has a successful radio show, so its such crap they are doing nothing at home.

I am not too happy about Ed either but the fact that he is working with Steve Mac does sound good as he is the one that wrote Swear It Again, Flying Without Wings, World Of Our Own. Its ok if they keep the formula and change a bit, things can't stay exactly the same this time, I'm sure they know that. Honestly, the only issue I have is the fact that they had so many covers. It wouldn't even be as bad if they weren't released as singles. No one can deny Against All Odds, Uptown Girl and You Raise Me Up has done wonders for them but Home, When You Tell Me You Love Me and What About Now were just unecessary - not to mention 2 cover albums + Face to Face that was half covers as well. It made me sick when Shane actually said (he was obviously instructed to say that) the reason they released The Love Album is because there weren't original songs good enough for them at the time. The sad thing is that they were very excited writing for the 3rd album but management weren't happy about that, Shane admitted how scared he was writing for his debut because he was never encouraged to do it. Case in point, at the very last minute, the management decided to use Lighthouse as a single over co-written song from Mark Feehily, Beautiful World, just because Gary Barlow wrote it - whats funny is that I later found out that song was Gary's 3 year old leftover. They probably thought its a winner just because of Gary. Obviously they were wrong, the song was mediocre at best and it ended up #32, which is the only time Westlife even had a Top 30. Heck, they never even had a Top 20.

https://www.femalefirst.co.uk/celebrity/bri...es-1166455.html Well there you go, even he agrees its best he isn’t involved. I wish the media would shut up about Brian already, like its that shocking he isn’t taking part.

The amount of hatred for Westlife on this thread is hilarious. I know its not everybody's cup of tea but they are not the worst thing ever like so many claim they are. The biggest problem is that they released far too many covers as singles and even two themed cover albums. The sad this is that I think some of their mistakes aren’t their fault. How many times have they said in their book that they won’t do covers but Simon always found a way. Its amazing how he made them do What About Now, the only bloody cover on the album and the only single from it as well. Plus, music critics were sometimes too harsh and they never even bothered to listen to it - that was very clear during both Where We are and Gravity albums. Its so obvious they are fully aware of the general opinion of them which is why they released that funny comeback clip, with them sitting on the stool and Nicky going for the key change :D This doesn't mean things will be the same though, they themselves were sick of covers. And since Simon is out of the picture, he at least won't be able to pressure them. Its interesting they have another manager alongside Walsh.

Share what you think of it after you listen. There has been only one proper review of the album and it is good. I'm glad it is acknowledged he is a capable vocalist. The only thing that I son't agree with is Broadway Show, I really like this tune, it is a cheeky little uptempo, I find the song's story interesting. http://www.entertainment-focus.com/music-s...t-album-review/

Nicky never planned to make the album, the whole thing started because his sister in law asked him to write a song for the movie adaptation Love Rosie. He did that and then went from there. I love that song by the way, too bad it wasn't included in the soundtrack, I think it would fit nicely. And then Eurovision happened which got him the record deal - so all of that resulted in this album being made, he never intended to have a solo career or prove anything initially - so I'm sure he is happy even if he just got #8 in Ireland, I bet his expectations are quite low. But yes, I do think he did prove he can sing, I don't understand why there is such huge criticism on his voice - of course it is not the strongest but it definitely isn't so bad as some people claim it is. However, I do feel that Kian has a more pleasant voice than him, with his debut he absolutely showed he can also hold a tune. I hope he will make an original album in the future, we all know he did the cover album at the back of winning I'm a Celebrity. I am all for equality in the band - no one can deny that Shane and Mark are more superior vocally but that shouldn't be the reason of Nicky and Kian barely singing at all - it is tragic that Nicky had 8 and Kian 9 minutes of solo time in the entire Westlife discography. Anyway, if he was your favorite member then maybe you should check the album - he wasn't my favorite and I think it is good, I am pleasantly surprised. And kudos to him for co-writing everything with just 2 songwriters - not even Shane managed this and his 2nd album is a bit boring and samey. So apart from proving he can sing, he also proved he is a good songwriter.

I honestly think it is a good debut. Nothing wow mind you but I am pleasantly surprised with how he pulled it off, I was not expecting it to be this good. In fact, I really think his album is much better than Shane's 2nd album. Of course most songs are cheesy but it is hard to expect anything deep and dark from a guy that is very happy in life so many songs are understandably about his wife and kids. But I do think he is quite a good songwriter in this area, he isn't simply repeating himself in 2nd verses. He also offers some better vocals in other songs. He sounds very good in Explosion and Thank You. Apart from love songs, I do like Broadway Show because it is a cheeky little song and Pretty is nice little lullaby for his daughter. In any case, I think he should be very happy about the material he made. And this just backs up what I have been saying for years - it is a shame Westlife were pushed into covers routine since all of them are quite capable of writing a song. I do hope if/when they get back, that they stay clear from Simon and actually co-write or even write the whole album themselves. But even if not that, then at least NO MORE covers. By the way, he mentioned the other day that Explosion could be a 2nd single from the album. If anybody is interested, you can check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJFGPefVeOk

My bad about Mark's sales, you are right, but they still weren't nowhere near good as Shane's sales, and even his weren't that amazing. I don't think Mark's sound could have been any better, I think he made a great choice and he did release 3 very good singles. The material is not to blame. it is the fact that also none of them have huge opportunities for an album promo - you can barely even find a few album reviews out there, they just aren't popular anymore. I think all o f that has a lot to do with the fact that they spent 14 years in a boyband, that is a very very long time to go solo afterwards - I doubt Robbie or Justin would have become huge stars if they went solo after 14 years being in a boyband. Of course careers can turn around but I doubt this will happen to them. I think Gary had more success mostly because of his status, the whole country seems to think he is the best thing since sliced bread :lol: Not to mention Take That's comeback was huge - no way Gary would have this success without all of that. So his example is quite unique in my opinion.

But don't forget that Mark sold only 1000 of copies of his album, so expecting Nicky to do the same or better actually is a big ask if you ask me. And again, Eurovision failure is not a good promo, everyone just knows about Sunlight, the song that flopped. Of course we can ask ourselves where are all the Westlife fans and I can't answer that because that sticks to every Westlife member. Why so little fans supported Mark's truly amazing album and why Shane isn't more successful since he was always a lead singer and most loved member of t he band? That again can be asked for any boyband member out there as well: why nobody cared for JC Chasez or Gary Barlow career? It is how it is, there is no answer at all. But my point is, if Mark couldn't sell more than 1000 copies, a guy with a brilliant voice and a strong debut album, then no wonder Nicky couldn't. In any case, I'm sure Nicky is not bothered by any of it, he wasn't even thinking of releasing this album, he did this for his pleasure. And I think he should be satisfied because it is in my opinion a very good little pop/rock album. I love Explosions, Finishing Line and Broadway Show the most but it is good as a whole.

But seriously now, if Shane and Mark can't have succesful album, I think it is delusional to expect anything better from Nicky. Of course he had exposure with the song but not much was put into the album. If he had a promo for it then I would consider this a flop but he didnt even present other songs from the album, all that most people know is Sunlight, a song that didnt qualify on Eurovision. It is not surprising at all that the album is not impacting the charts. Everyone is only talking about how he failed to qualify, that is not exactly a desireable promo.

Wow you actually like that dress, you are the first person that I hear saying that :lol: And sure, it was memorable BUT in a negative. make fun of kind of way which is not good. Of course I am not saying the dress is THE most important thing in Eurovision, it is not - it is the whole package actually, the voice is also not the most important thing either - if that were true, those babushkas wouldn't have been 2nd in 2012. But just like gooddelta said, staging and performance is important, I completely agree that Sergey wouldn't have been this high if he had staging and the outfit that Nicky had. His staging helped probably 80 % because the song is not that great or memorable, a complete europop, hoping to win thanks to nostalgia. He even had a fancy music video. So yeah, if Nina wasn't so static and had a more creative staging, maybe she would have ended up higher than 23rd place. Same goes for Nicky - if RTE put just a bit of an effort into the whole thing, maybe he would have reached the final. I thought they would have shown some enthusiasm since Nicky isn't born yesterday, he isn't a complete nobody AND he is even their employee - turns out Nicky was the only one who truly tried to do the best he could. Like him, his song or not, he did a good job on stage and an excellent job behind the scenes with the press and everyone. At the very least least no one can deny he was a great ambassador for his country.

Exactly, people are fooling themselves if they think stage is not a huge factor of the Eurovision. Take my country for example - the song was good, it had great reaction when it was announced, people loved Nina and we ended up being 23rd. No one can't convince me that the awful dress and bare staging had nothing to do with it...

To be fair to Nicky, he never said it IS because of politics, just that it is peculiar how Western countries didn't qualify. He repeated many times "I don't know the answer". And with the limited voice he has, he did the best he could, apart from the last 20 seconds he sang it like he did in the studio version. So yes, for HIS standards, it was great. Besides, no wonder people around him said he was great, that happens every time. It is not fair to blame everything on his voice, Frans has even worse vocal abilities and Sweden managed to end up at no. 5. The staging was bad though, it is like no effort was put into it. And after seeing everyone again on the final night, I think he should have qualified, there were at least 5 countries in his semis that I thought they are not going to go through. I really do think that he would have qualified if the staging was more professional, more creative - not so bland really.

Yeah, I'm surprised too. I don't really get it - Looking at the results in Semi 1, even San Marino got better points (49 and they were 12th) and I at least thought they had a singer who was worse than Nicky and the song was even more cheesy. It was like a circus and the guy basically recited the lyrics. Sunlight is not masterpiece of course but it is not that bad either in my opinion. I think he had negative press the moment the song was announced though, everyone just went on and on about his limited voice. I know I am biased of course but I don't think he has such a bad voice either like some claim he has. Somebody posted just his vocals on the semi final: So yeah, listening to that again, you can't say he didn't sing it well for his standards - again, if you don't like his voice even in the studio version, that is as completely different matter. The only thing that was a bit off is near the end in the last 20 seconds when he started running around the stage greeting the crowd so he was out of breath but the rest was perfectly fine. So there is nothing more he could have done vocally-wise. I guess be less nervous but even my Nina who has an amazing voice messed up a few notes in the semis and was even worse in the final. Pressure certainly gets to you when you think 200 million people watch you on TV. After all, we are talking about a guy who is basically an inexperienced singer because he had 8 minutes of solo in all of Westlife discography, you get more consistent with more experience - Mark was absolutely dreadful live in the early years :lol: It is funny though to read a lot of comments below his Youtube video that he should have qualified. Even Graham Norton on BBC while commentating the final said the same thing few times . Plus, the video passed 1 million views.

Here is another interview after everything - and again he pointed out "I don't know if it is true but I have been told" - he is not blaming anyone in my opinion. http://evoke.ie/showbiz/eurovision-twins-bawling-nicky-byrne

They took that out of that interview on his show, and yes he was misquoted - in fact, the headline is twisted, you see it in the text that he doesn't blame anyone, it is the people who are suggesting this. I didn't get impression that he thinks he didn't win because of bloc voting, he just gave opinion that he thinks possibly Sweden will win because of it - he never once implied or said he didn't get in because of eastern countries, other people are talking about it. Just like it was posted in the interview, he said: a lot of people telling me this morning they all vote for each other to make sure they're in the final because they're all against Russia. Whether you can believe all this type of stuff or not I'm not sure. (..) Plus, he said numerous times in the interviews before that the bloc voting has its effect but at the end of the day, the best song always wins. All he said that for some reason people didn't like his song, I don't think he blamed anyone. He simply said he thinks they gave a good shot but it wasn't enough. So Nicky is definitely not blaming anyone. I hate that newspapers twist words like this.

Nicky's reaction on his show: https://twitter.com/nbshow2fm/status/731073231180988416

Nicky's tweet: Amazing Time Amazing Support I gave it my all, I'm sorry I didn't get us there. I pass on the torch to someone else now next year. 🍀 Nick.