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WESTLIFE!

THE I.O.U. Interview!! (now known as Westlife)

		The I.O.U. interview!
 O.k. So we're sitting inside the IOU tour bus. With 5 of he nicest guys
 you could meet. Sitting comfortably? O.k, then lets begin....

Marie and I are inside the IOU tour bus, and the guys are a bit (just a
 bit!!) hyperactive. Bryan is claiming loudly that " we don't smoke, we
 don't drink, we're all virgins"  (Whatever you say, honey.) The 
extremely sound tour manager, Graham, has rounded up the guys,  its 
about 7.45, the Beat hasn1t even started yet. The girls are all screaming
 from the walls and barriers at the guys. Thank God for Double glazing! 
 So, lets begin then!!

 
Kian: 	Tell us the questions before you begin.

Nicky: 	Nooooooo just ask them!

Us:    	No !Then you get to think about them!

Mark:  	Just  beat (pronounced "bate") away...Translation..: Just    	
       	throw them at us!!

Everyone starts going "Bate Away" " Bate Away"
(including me...then I'm attacked by stares from every corner of the
  bus...oops!)

Q.1. 		HOW WERE YOU FORMED?

Bryan ...(starts going into the formation of the body!!)

Lets NOT go there!

O.k. Lads. Introduce yourselves first!!
  
KIAN:	"I'm Kian" 
 
NICKY	"I'm Nicky"

BRYAN	" I'm David" (David?????) No no no..(half laughing) " I'm Bryan"

MARK: 	" I'm Mark"

SHANE	"And I'm Shane"

Q.1.HOW WERE YOU FORMED?

KIAN:  	Basically what happened was we were in a local production  in 
        Sligo, of Grease, and we were sitting at a table, at a party 
        after  it , and we started singing , and somebody said "That 
       sounds really good, would ye think about doing something serious?"
       And we were like.. "nah" we wouldn't do something like that.. and it
       just took off from there!!!! There were 6 Sligo guys at that
       stage, and  we went on then and did a show in the theatre in Sligo
    ,  performed our own single ...someone said that to Louis  Walsh..and
       Shane1s brother met Louis Walsh's brother

SHANE: 	My MOTHER met him.

KIAN:	Thats what I said

Everyone in unison... You said his "Brother".

KIAN: 	I'm Sorry.

SHANE: 	Me mother

KIAN:	His Mother met Louis Walsh's brother in Kiltimagh(Co. Mayo..where
      Louis is From) and it went on from there. We kept 3 of the guys
      from Sligo, and brought in 2 guys from Dublin...

BRYAN:	(to us) "How were youse formed?" 

no comment!


Q.2  HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN YOU GET SCREAMED AT IN THE STREET?

NICKY:	(joking) We never get screamed at !! 

US: 		Yeah Right! (Pointing out the window) Whats that then?

NICKY:	I dunno really...Its flattering, I suppose really..for Kian 		
     	and Bryan they enjoy it the most, because they get most 		of it...
       they get a lot more than the rest of us do. We all 
    		enjoy it, but its flattering in a way..I'm wafflin' really!!!
(followed by much laughter)

SHANE:	Its good, it shows you have support.

Bryan is looking at some thing out if the window.... what's up?

(BRYAN gets really excited when he sees a fight outside the window...
 "A fight lads... Look look look..they're going to jump into the river"
(followed by a 10 second silence when everyone watches intently to see
 what happens!)

Silence is broken by....

BRYAN:  	(Doing fighting sound effects!)Yeay.. he's got him in a head 
         lock (very excited)
KIAN: 	(gets all serious) O.k, lads, O.k. now, come on. Lads, lets do 
       the interview lads, come on seriously now lads...




(Marie makes sure this question gets in...)

Q.3. WHEN WAS THE LAST IME YOU LIED TO GET YOUR WAY WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX?

KIAN: 	(giggling) Last night!!!
(The others confirm this!!!) 3It was, and all!2

us:		Elaborate, please!

KIAN:  	I was in a night Club in Sligo 

BRYAN	(interupts in a female voice) I Love You!

NICKY: 	Last time I lied??? I can't actually remember..I do it that 
        much! Probably the night before last..No, last night too! I was
        at a party, in Dublin.

BRYAN:	I never Lie!!   I always tell the truth! (yeah, right.)

MARK:	yeah , he does.

US: 		Have you just told a lie now?

BRYAN:	maybe....not. Ah, no, I always tell the truth.


SHANE:	Last night...In a night club

MARK:	You LIED to get your way with the opposite sex?

KIAN	:	You LIED Shane?

marie:	(just kidding) "This is disgraceful! I'm so Shocked!"

Then they get all defensive saying things like...
"Well we didn1t really LIE"
"Not in a bad way"
"Not all the time"

marie :	I'm just joking, lads.

MARK:	I'm the same as Bryan, I never lie. I'm an ANGEL!

(The conversation drifts to leaving Cert results....to 
let you know they
 all did very well....)


KIAN:	Come on now, lads, lets get the interview done and over with.

Q.4.DO YOU EVER LIE ABUT YOUR AGE?

sinead:       Seriously,we want the truth!!

MARK:        Yeah always(joke!)

BRYAN:       No I don't lie....

SHANE:       No obviously when you1re 16 you say you1re 18 to get 			
             into niteclubs. Everyone does that but I don't lie to say
           		I'm younger for the band
BRYAN:  	    If you're on holidays and, like, you see a girl and you
              say, you're like......nineteen... Oh yeah...I forgot, I 		
            don't lie.
NICKY:	     What Shane said really. You lie to make yourself older to 	
      	     get into a 21's nightclub
MARK:	       And you make yourself younger to get into 	football matches ,
            or to get Bustickets  
ALL:	      	Train fares!

BRYAN:	    55p please!  (putting on a childish voice) I'm  15.!!!!

So what ages are you really??

KIAN:      	18

SHANE:     	he's 18, (bryan),he's 18 (Mark)he's 18, (Kian)he's 19, 
           (Nicky)and I'm 19.
Us:		     So, who1s 17? It was in the Rte guide.

MARK: 	    I am.

KIAN:	     You're not 17, now are you?

BRYAN:	   It'll be in print

MARK:	   Oh yeah, the Pod.(Top Dublin Night Club) I'm 18.
(followed by lots of laughter)

BRYAN: 	(doing an impression of a bouncer)
		"I saw in the paper that you're only 17. You1re not getting in!!"


Q.5.WHAT WAS THE FIRST AND LAST RECORD YOU BOUGHT?

BRYAN:	Kylie Minogue!

NICKY:	Yeah, Kylie.


BRYAN: 	(starts singing) "Everybody's doing a brand new dance 	now..."

NICKY:	"Especially for you" by Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue.

MARK:	The first record I ever bought was....."Up Town Girl" by 		Billy
     Joel. (begins to sing) and the last one was..Des'ree, "Life" 
    (Everyone begins to sing "Life")
BRYAN:	The last one I bought was "Lost In Space" by the Lighthouse 
     family.	
sinéad:	Oh I HATE that song. 

BRYAN and SHANE:	Get out!! Get out!! Go on!!

(Bryan leans over an pretends to switch off the dictaphone)
sinéad:  " I'm sorry!!!!!!!"



Q.6. HOW MANY DRINKS DOES IT TAKE BEFORE YOU GET DRUNK??
NICKY:	I don't drink.

BRYAN: 	Don't drink.

(So I turned off the tape and asked the question again.)
(and got the same answers)

NICKY:	no seriously, we don1t drink that much.
(Lots of laughing and comments like "Be serious")

MARK:	I think we should answer the questions honestly	lads!

NICKY: 	No, honestly, I don't drink.

BRYAN:	5 pints.

SHANE:	I'd have a couple whenever we're going out  or something, but I
      don't drink much. I'm not a mad drinker.
marie:	It takes you 5 drinks before you get drunk?

NICKY:	It takes me one and a half, because I don't drink.

BRYAN:	It depends what you eat, it depends on the situation.

MARK: 	(joking) Between 4 and 5 bottles of Vodka!

KIAN:	Mark drinks Vodka like its water!

marie: 	Bottles?

BRYAN:	He drinks it all the time!  Drinks it with his Cornflakes 			
      and everything!

MARK:	Rice Krispies and Vodka!

marie:	Straight? Glasses or bottles?

MARK:	Well...naggins!!!!

Q.7. IS THERE A SPECIAL SOMEONE IN ANY OF YOUR LIVES?
SHANE:	Nicky's.

BRYAN:	Me Mother


sinead:	No no no no, as in Boyfriend/girlfriend.
(Followed by lots of laughter)

MARK: 	As in BOYFRIEND/girlfriend??? (joking sarcastically) Oh, yeah,
      I'm going out with this fella called......

(O.k. Sorry, Lads. As in GIRLFRIENDS.)

BRYAN:	We're not actually going out with anyone, only Nicky. 			
       Nicky's going out with Georgina.

MARK: Bertie Aherns Daughter!!(Bertie is the Taoiseach of Ireland!)

Q.8. WHY DO FAMOUS PEOPLE PRETEND NOT TO HAVE BOY/GIRLFRIENDS WHEN THEY
     REALLY DO?
KIAN: 	We're not famous, so we can't answer that question!

NICKY: 	I suppose its like, they wanna get fans, and they want to get
       people to buy their records, and they think that if they say
      they're going out with someone then the people mightn't. 

SHANE:	Then again, they might.

sinéad:	But Boyzone are NO.1, and they're all married , with 			Children.

BRYAN: 	They're established.

SHANE: 	5 years ago they didn't have girlfriends. 6 months ago 	they
        didn't have girlfriends. They just got married like 	that!
       (Snaps his fingers)

Q.9. DOES IT ANNOY YOU THAT YOU HAVE A SQUEAKY CLEAN IMAGE?

KIAN: 	We don't have a sqeaky clean image.

MARK:	I do!

sinéad: Oh, yeah. I quote... "We don't smoke, we don't drink, we 		
       don't..."
KIAN:	We  do have an Image though. If you're in a boygroup, you know
      you're going to have to have an image. You know you're going to 
      have to have an image like that. Its the life it is.
BRYAN breaks into his  rendition of "Life" again.

Well, thats it lads, thanks a million, and we'll see  ye around for the
  rest of the evening anyway!



THE STUFF THAT HAPPENED AFTER THE INTERVIEW.......

	
They sang 2 songs on stage, proving that they can indeed, and will have
 no problems in following in the steps of Boyzone. (It was at the Beats
 that they began too).

Nicky did a fantastic impression of Ronan Keating.....(his idol)
and Bryan did his Nick Carter impression for us.

The Water Guns that were going around the place ended up soaking  us at
 least 10 times (Thanks Bryan and Nicky) and then when Bryan gave me, (Sinéad)
 his Watergun for a minute, and I started chasing him with it, he ran 
into the tour bus..the CHICKEN!!!!!! I1ll get you someday Bryan!!

On Stage, in the end, when everyone who took part in the show got up 
and danced, IOU (and Men 2 b) started stripping, tearing their  t-shirts
 off while the FRIENDS theme song was playing....and the atmosphere was
 electric!

I.O.U. will be around for a very long time, so watch out for them!!!


-------------------------------------------------------------------------
THANKS TO:.. Bryan, Nicky, Mark, Kian, and Shane, aka IOU,  their tour
 manager Graham, all the staff at 2fm who let us backstage, and everyone
 who helped with this interview.

®This interview and all rights  belong to Sinéad Ní Mheallaigh and Marie
 Carr. No copying or reprdoucing permitted withour prior consent 
from
 the interviewers or the band. copyright 1998.