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Irish group in tune with their fans
2022-01-10 
From left: Irish pop group Westlife's Shane Filan, Markus Feehily, Nicky Byrne and Kian Egan visit Magic Radio in London on Nov 5. TRISTAN FEWINGS/GETTY IMAGES

Boy band Westlife performs their classic hits and domestic favorite in virtual concert, Chen Nan reports.

Popular Irish boy band Westlife held their first virtual concert through a Chinese social media platform, WeChat, on Dec 17, and attracted 27.9 million viewers.

During the concert, which took place in London and lasted for more than two hours, Westlife performed their hits, including Seasons in the Sun, You Raise Me Up and My Love.

They also amazed their Chinese fans by performing a popular Chinese song, The Ordinary Road, which was originally written and performed by Chinese singer-songwriter Pu Shu. The song had been viewed more than 72 million times by Dec 19.

In an interview Westlife did with China Daily after their virtual concert, the group said that they have been discussing the idea of a livestreaming concert for their Chinese fans for a long time and they were "completely blown away by the amount of people who watched the virtual concert, which exceeded all of our expectations and we couldn't be happier".

"It was great to see the comments in real time and to see how fans were reacting. We can't wait for what's next and also to come back to China to tour.

"We loved re-imagining some of our biggest hits. We wanted to create a more acoustic, intimate feeling and preparing the songs in this way was really special. We also performed Seasons in the Sun which we haven't performed in a long time. We really enjoyed it and now we'll definitely think about performing it more often," the group says.

During the virtual concert, Westlife member Kian Egan said: "When we performed old songs, memories came back. To sing these songs 20 years later, it still feels special and fresh."

Westlife performs at a music awards ceremony in Macao on Dec 8,2019. CHINA DAILY

They told China Daily that they fell in love with the Chinese song, The Ordinary Road, when they first listened to it and they learned the lyrics through English translation, which helped them better understand the essence of the song.

According to WeChat, the virtual concert's organizer, both parties agreed to have a Chinese song included in the concert. The Ordinary Road, which was featured in a Chinese movie, titled The Continent, directed by Han Han and released in 2014, is hugely popular among Chinese music lovers. According to WeChat, the song, which tells the story about growing up and coping with life's experiences, fits well with the music style of Westlife.

"The lyrics are beautiful. We spent countless hours on Zoom with a teacher who helped us all individually to learn our parts. It was a really fun and enlightening process," they explain.

During the virtual concert, they also received messages from their Chinese fans, some of whom have been listening to their songs for 20 years.

"I went to all of their shows when they came to China and I can sing all of their songs. There are lots of memories and it's so exciting to watch their concert online," one of their fans said in a message while watching the virtual concert.

"Due to the pandemic, we cannot have you here in China but it is good to see you singing onstage again for us," wrote another fan. "When you performed the song, The Ordinary Road, I was very touched. Thank you."

Westlife was formed in 1998, with Kian Egan, Nicky Byrne, Markus Feehily, Shane Filan and former member Brian McFadden, who departed the lineup in 2004.Their self-titled debut album, which was released in the United Kingdom in November 1999, was a smash hit. Their records sold more than 55 million worldwide and they achieved 14 UK No 1 singles. In 2019, they toured the UK, Ireland and Asia marking their 20th anniversary. On Nov 26, they released their 12th studio album, Wild Dreams.

As one of the most successful musical groups of all time, Westlife is one of the earliest Western pop bands to become popular in China. For a lot of Chinese fans, born in the 1970s and '80s, the band was their first access to Western pop music.

"We didn't realize how popular Westlife was until we landed at the airport in Beijing. There were thousands of people there waiting for us with greetings," recalled Byrne about their first trip to China during the concert. "Every time we went to China, we went to more and more places, like Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou. We got lots of great memories as well."

"When we performed shows in Beijing and Shanghai three years ago, we saw lots of fans waiting in the parking lot after the shows, which was a big surprise," recalled Filan during the concert. "Music for us is all about feeling. We can pass this feeling to our fans. We make them happy, which is the best feeling in the world."

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