| LATEST BOYZONE NEWS/RUMOURS ON TOP |
| 31st
December 1999
* 2000- Smash Hits yearbook (thanx a lot to Pat BZ pat_bz@hotmail.com for providing the information to all fans) The Ro' Must Go On! Marriage, babies, bad haircuts, and 'that' Boyzone split. Ronan reveals all... You've done all right for yourself since you've been in Boyzone. What's been the highlight? There have been so many highlights of my career. It was amazing when we had our first No1 single with Words, then having a No1 album with Said and Done, then our first arena tour - there have been so many different factors.I couldn't pick any one thing! I've been very lucky. We've just kept going further and further, from Father and Son, through to A Different Beat, Picture of You, No Matter What, we've just turned the corner and kept on going... What's been your worst
moment on stage?
What do you do when
you get time off?
Blimey, you've got
horses, too!
You've also got loads
of famous chums...
What's the maddest
lads' night out you've had?
things like that! Do you and the other
fellas ever stay in and chill out together?
Who are you closest
to in the band?
What if you left?
Would Boyzone still
exist as a quartet without you?
How soon before Boyzone split? I don't know how it's going to work out, I really don't know what's around the corner. You're only as big as your last single and we're doing very well at the moment, so who knows? We do talk about our futures. If we split, I think we'd make a clean break. I don't think it'd be fair if our commitments lay in other places. What's left to achieve?
Do you regret any of
the band's images?
Which one of Shane's
haircuts is your favourite?
Does hangin' with the
boys from Westlife make you feel old?
Do you ever think about
how famous you are and panic?
What's Jack like to
look after?
*
BZ articles
****** Westlife Kian buys
Ronan odd present
*
Sunday World
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| 25th
December 1999
* Boywatch (thanx a lot to Hazel Nicholson hazelnicholson@hotmail.com for providing the information to all fans) MUSIC CENTURY CELEBRATION Over the last 12 months, the nation has been asked to take part in the world's biggest music survey, when the public were asked to make crucial decisions about the best music ever made across ten categories. Over 600,000 people took part in the voting, and winners from the poll were announced on a special celebration show which was screened on Channel 4 last month, presented by Radio One's Jo Whiley and MTV's Richard Blackwood. And despite only having being around for the last five years of this century, Boyzone were voted into the top 20 of the best band category - the category topped by none other than the Beatles! Not only that, but Ronan was also voted into the top 20 of the Best Male Artist category, won by Elvis Presley! So heaven only knows what the next century holds... CROSS YOUR HEART
IRISH ROVER
MIKEY MANAGEMENT
THE LIGHT STUFF
MEN IN WHITE
STEPHEN GOES GOSPEL
STOP PRESS! EXTRA
IRISH TOUR DATES
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| 18th
December 1999
* an article from 'Daily Telegraph' (thanx a lot to Laura Archdale rozone@clarehouse.demon.co.uk for providing the information to all fans) Ronan be the first pop president? Driven, rich, handsome and a consummate showbiz diplomat - the sky's the limit for Boyzone's Ronan Keating, says Neil McCormick WHEN I was led into a chaotic backstage dining facility at Wembley Arena last week to meet Ronan Keating, it was impressed upon me that the Irish heart-throb was due on stage in exactly 45 minutes. To be more precise, he was due under the stage in 45 minutes, to take his place on a hydraulic platform on which he and his fellow members of Boyzone would be elevated through trap-doors, amid explosions and clouds of smoke, to appear before a packed house already being whipped into a hysterical frenzy by the harmony group's backing band.The point being that the schedule was tight and I was already having to compete for Keating's attention with the myriad demands of tour, managers and Keating's chic young wife, who sat next to him lovingly stroking his neck throughout (although it's hard to say if that was more of a distraction for him or me). So you can imagine that I was none too thrilled when an aide interrupted us for the second time in five minutes to suggest that there was someone waiting outside who Ronan really should go and meet. To be fair, Keating looked genuinely embarrassed, but, given the circumstances, I told him to go ahead. It really wouldn't do to keep the Prime Minister's wife hanging about in a corridor all night. "Mrs Blair's a lovely lady," he announced when he returned. "Her children are big fans, really big fans." Well, what would you expect him to say? Keating is a particularly well-groomed showbiz diplomat. In contrast to the egocentricity of so many young pop stars, he is modest personified. "I've been lucky" appears to be his personal mantra.In a half-hour conversation, he ascribed his success to good fortune at least a dozen times, apparently considering himself lucky to have joined Boyzone, who were lucky to have got on to the boy-bandwagon at the right time, and lucky to have managed the transition from teenybop fodder to the kind of mainstream appeal that has helped them sell 12 million albums.It would seem that luck also played a significant part in the number-one success of Keating's debut solo single this year (When You Say Nothing At All, from the film Notting Hill), his burgeoning television career (he has presented the MTV awards, Miss World, the Eurovision song contest and his own BBC1 talent show, Get Your Act Together) and his astute co-management of another Irish boy band, Westlife, whose recent spate of hits sees them well placed to succeed Boyzone in the teen-dream stakes.And of course he's been lucky in love, with a beautiful wife and child whom he clearly adores. With luck like his, it's a wonder Keating just doesn't take off for Las Vegas. "It's a glamorous lifestyle and a wonderful life," Keating declared. "I've loved every minute of it for the last six years and I want to continue it on for another 60 years, please God!"A blond, blue-eyed, handsome young man, Keating speaks quickly and confidently, only the incessant tapping of his right foot suggesting that he might feel any tensions at the fast-approaching deadline for his spectacular stage entry.Yet polite and accommodating as he is, interviewing him can be a frustrating experience. He has the politician's knack of diverting the conversation to his own agenda, and is inclined to broad, innocuous statements and well-meaning platitudes. A question about the increasingly well-oiled marketing machine behind the Nineties teen-pop explosion was blandly parried with the old chestnut about how wonderful it was for "young people" to have something of their own because "it's better than being on the street doing drugs". I wasn't aware it was such a cut-and-dried choice.In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Keating does go into politics some day. His modesty cannot quite disguise the fierce sense of ambition that has driven him to achieve so much, so young. Although this veteran of the boy-band scene has been in the public eye so long you could be forgiven for thinking it was time his group changed their name to Manzone, he is only 22. "I'm getting old for this game, aren't I?" he chuckled.Keating was only 16 when he joined 300 hopefuls at an audition in Dublin in 1993, where show-band manager Louis Walsh was attempting to assemble Ireland's first boy band. These days, when the city is hailed as a cultural hot spot and Irish stars such as B*Witched and the Corrs regularly grace the covers of Smash Hits magazine, it is hard to imagine just how unlikely the prospect once seemed of a glamorous pop sensation ever hailing from the Emerald Isle"Dublin's become so cosmopolitan now, it's fantastic. But it wasn't six years ago," said Keating."It's unbelievable how quick it happened and it's probably half our fault. It was very difficult for us to begin,because we got such a hard time. We were ridiculed, laughed at and slagged off. The way the Irish were it was always rock'n'roll and the drink. The sweetness and innocence of pop music was a million miles away. We've travelled the world now but firstly we travelled Ireland, in a white Transit van, doing all the crap nightclubs and getting cigarette butts and bottles of beer thrown at us. But we just stuck in."In the middle of a sell-out arena tour, including a remarkable string of five nights at Wembley, Keating sounded oddly nostalgic about these humble origins. "It was difficult, but I think it made us stronger, and we look back at it now as the best days of being in this band, the most innocent and naive times. After that the politics emerged and egos emerged and it all just turned into a rat race, really. That's what really happens when it starts to get big."The teen scene is populated by youngsters who want to be stars at any cost, and Keating was a typical wannabe. Before joining Boyzone he sang Nirvana and U2 covers in a band who took their name from an obscure Beastie Boys track. "It was the other side of the book from hopping around the stage in tailored suits, but I wanted to be in any band if it meant being successful," Keating admitted. "I love pop music, every form of popular music. You know, U2 is pop music to me."An increasingly accomplished songwriter, Keating spoke admiringly of the craft of pop, using the word gimmick as if it was the highest form of praise. "It's very difficult to come up with something clever in a song that people can listen to once on the radio and be singing it all day.And that's what it's about, that's what has people buying records." His remarks were peppered with sales statistics and marketing strategies, baldly outlining his hope that the latest Boyzone single, Every Day I Love You, would drive their greatest hits album, By Request, back up the album charts because "Christmas is the massive market, that's when the big guns come out."It is easy to see why Louis Walsh involved his ambitious young protégé in helping launch Westlife. "I suppose it seems a bit bizarre," Keating conceded of his management sideline. "It's a lot of fun and it's a learning process. I keep my eyes open and listen to everything. A lot of people don't do that. They get themselves surrounded by 20 bodyguards and never see what actually goes on in this business."A calm centre of a storm of backstage activity, Keating clearly has his eyes on the prize. When a tour manager reminded him that it was 1 minutes to showtime and he still had to change into his costume,Keating nodded pleasantly. "I'll be with you in a minute," he said. "I've just got to go and say hello to a sick child." *
an article about Ronan and Stephen
Lesley Grant PR Boss
Stuart Bidwell Record
Producer
The Ideal Boyzone Christmas
Present!
Every Day I Love You
Boyzone have had an incredible 16 top three singles in their career. Ronan and the band have already had three number ones this year with When The Going Gets Tough, You Needed Me and When You Say Nothing At All, from the soundtrack to Notting Hill.A fourth No.1 will make it their best year ever for chart singles.They also scooped Best Album award and Best UK & Ireland act in the MTV Europe awards.So far their greatest hits album By Request has sold over million copies in UK. It spent nine weeks at No.1! Boyzone's movie is due to hit the big screen in the year 2000. RONAN ON HIS FAMILY
RONAN ON FLYING WITHOUT
WINGS
STEVE ON SOLO SUCCESS
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| 12th
December 1999
* BBC news (thanx a lot to Hazel Nicholson hazelnicholson@hotmail.com for providing the information to all fans) Award for Boyzone's Stephen And despite the disparaging nature of some of the awards, there was genuine warmth towards Boyzone's Stephen Gately, who won Hero of 1999.The singer announced in June that he was gay and had a boyfriend, which could have upset his millions of young female fans while he was at the height of his career.But they rallied round and flooded the Boyzone website with messages of support, which was also reflected in the awards, which are voted for by readers of Smash Hits magazine.The singer was delighted to receive it, and appeared to be very moved by the occasion.Dozens of artists received awards at the event, which was presented by pop group Steps and attended by thousands of screaming fans. Smash hitlist The full list included: Best Band on Planet Pop - Backstreet Boys; Best British Band - 5ive; Best Non-British Band - Backstreet Boys; Best New Act of 1999 - S Club 7. The best Best Female Solo Star was Britney Spears; Best Parent in Pop -Ronan Keating; Best TV Actress - Patsy Palmer. Best DJ on Radio - Dr Fox; Best Single of 1999 - I Want It That Way(Backstreet Boys); Best Album of 1999 - Millennium (Backstreet Boys). Best Pop Video - Larger Than Life (Backstreet Boys); Best Male Solo Star -Robbie Williams; Best TV Programme - EastEnders. Best TV Actor - Jack Ryder; Most Fancied Female - Britney Spears; Most Fancied Male - Ronan Keating; Favourite Sports Star - Michael Owen. Hero/Heroine of 1999 - Stephen Gateley; Best Indie/Rock Act -Stereophonics; Best Dance/Soul Act - TLC; Worst Group - Spice
Girls.
*
Sun Article
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| 4th
December 1999
* Radio1 article onn ROTY (thanx a lot to iskali@usa.net for providing the information to all fans) Britney: hot favourite for record of the year The shortlist for the Record of the Year has been announced, with Britney Spears currently 2-1 favourite to win in a massive TV phone poll which takes place on Saturday. Not far behind is Ronan Keating with ‘When You Say Nothing At All’, currently at 7-2. There's no nomination for Boyzone, who won last year, but Westlife are nominated for their hit track, ‘Flying Without Wings’. Most of the shortlisted acts are pop acts and Britney Spears says that there's one band to thank for that: "It’s really amazing how like four years ago pop wasn’t around at all, and I think the Spice Girls and a lot of the boy groups coming out really opened the door for me. It’s good for me", she told Radio 1. Also in the running are ATB, Martine McCutcheon, S Club 7, Eiffel 65, Vengaboys, Mr Oizo, Lou Bega and Christina Aguilera. Christina says that it's the icing on what's become a very big cake this year: "Absolutely amazing. At times it’s a bit surreal, you know, ‘coz you go from like wanting this dream and praying for it so badly to just all of a sudden having all these things that come true for you", she told Radio 1. "Even meeting certain idols that I’ve had for a long time now,you know, being in their environment now, being a part of it. To walk down the street and get recognised or sign an autograph. Just little things like that make it just so worthwhile", she says. "You know, know that you’re inspiring people and having fans out there - not only in your home country, but all over the world. It’s pretty cool." Others nominated include Ricky Martin, who’s looking good at 5-1. The Latino hunk’s sold over three quarters of a million copies of his nominated track, ‘Livin La Vida Loca’ in the UK. Shania Twain’s at 10-1, Macy Gray’s at 16-1, Shanks & Bigfoot are there at 25-1, Phats & Small for ‘Turn Around’ are at 40-1, and TLC for ‘No Scrubs’ are currently at a disappointing 66-1. Phone voting will take place on Saturday night at 5.30. The 20 acts will then be whittled down to 10 for the final which is on 11th December. Organisers are hoping that everyone nominated will play on the night and rumours are that Jennifer Lopez is so desperate to come over to play she's spending millions of pounds on an elaborate performance of ‘If You Had My Love’ - she’s lagging behind at a mere 80-1. Whitney Houston's ‘My Love Is Your Love’ and Alice Deejay's Better off Alone’ bring up the rear - both at 100-1. Ronan, who was playing Manchester with Boyzone on Tuesday night, had only a few choice words to say: "Please God, please God, please God.Thanks a million!", he said. Full list of nominees
for Record of the Year:
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