Post by shayne on Aug 27, 2006 19:18:16 GMT 8
If I Was Watching Me On TV I Would Probably Think, 'He's A Little Bollix' - 27 August 2006
Louis Walsh Interview. Shortened and only includes the bits he mentions Westlife.
LOUIS WALSH is the Truman Capote of his generation - relentlessly observant, murderously witty and shamelessly catty. Often in thesame sentence . . .
…
He is not a fan of Bob Geldof either. "I think the 45 people who went to see him in Rome recently were very, very brave," Louis laughs, referring to poor Geldof's disastrous concert in Italy. "We have that many people in the loo at a Westlife gig. I don't like Geldof's music at all. He is a Mick Jagger impersonator."
…
Dazzlingly scandalous, Louis casually reveals conversations that were possibly never meant for public consumption. However, since he does so with a wit worthy of Dorothy Parker or Tallulah Bankhead, you have to adore him. When Louis said on Celebrity X Factor that contestant Gillian McKeith "looks like she was hit by a bus", he was merely saying what most of us were thinking. (Gillian later told the Sun that Walsh needed "a super-charged enema".) Likewise the notorious comment about rotund Green Party TD Dan Boyle on Celebrity You're a Star . . .
"I couldn't understand the uproar when I said, 'Get rid of the fat one'," he smiles now. "I thought he would have taken it in fun. It wasn't meant to be a personal thing. And the fat one took it personally and threw a wobbler. Wobbly threw a wobbler! I was just trying to be funny and he had absolutely no sense of humour. I think all politicians are the same. I don't believe any of them. I don't trust any of them. Generally Irish politicians are the oddest-looking shower of people I have ever seen."
Even Nicky Byrne from Westlife's father-in-law?
"I think they are all awful," he reiterates. "Absolutely no star quality, the lot of them."
…
Clearly, the Irish priesthood's loss is popular music's gain. "I am just a man," he claims, "who understands pop." This is something of an understatement. He has had more number one records than any Irish manager in popular history. He created bands like Boyzone, Westlife and Girls Aloud and made them into global phenomena. He made Shayne Ward an international star.
…
A firm believer in loyalty, Louis went to support his old friend (and co-manager of Boyzone) John Reynolds at his Midlands Festival recently in Co Meath. He delighted in how well Shane Lynch did on the recent Love Island reality show. He keeps in regular contact with Brian McFadden.
He hasn't lost touch with the ex-Westlife star, nor with himself. Louis has the emotional intelligence to admit that he is more proud of his friendship with Joan Rivers than of any other celebrity contacts he has. He laughs. "She is 73 and she is brilliant. She is a great woman and a very nice woman off camera and off stage. She is a one-off."
…
Unforgettably, Louis gained additional renown by making up the odd story or two about his bands to keep them in the papers: sensational falsehoods like Westlife in near-fatal plane crashes and Stephen Gately getting engaged to Baby Spice Emma Bunton.
…
Was Kerry Katona the Yoko Ono influence of Westlife?
"No. I just think Kerry and Brian were too young to get married. They wouldn't listen to anybody. They wouldn't listen to me. They shouldn't have got married." There is a pause and then a knowing wink. " . . . to each other". He laughs. "But who am I to tell them? Brian is really happy. We are best friends. We are probably closer and more honest than we ever were. I don't know any band that gets on as well as me and Westlife and Brian."
…
Shedloads of money and gargantuan success haven't blunted his ambition. "I do want to do one more boy band by the way," he admits. "And I'm going to do it next year. It will be five boys. That's allI know."
Does that mean you are making the funeral arrangements for Westlife? "Oh no. Westlife have crossed over. Their audience is not young kids any more. Westlife can go on as long as they want because their audience are mammies and daddies now.
"Westlife are like the Bee Gees," he says. "And they are happier as a four-piece, even though I am still really good friends with Brian McFadden. Honestly! Honestly! Honestly!" he roars like his mum getting him up for altar boy duties at mass.
"There is absolutely no bullnuts there. Westlife are even doing a duet with Delta," he says referring to Brian's chanteuse girlfriend Delta Goodrem.
…
His trusty Blackberry whirrs again. It is Simon Cowell. And then Rebecca Loos. And then Shane Filan from Westlife. Louis blows the froth off yet another cappuccino and looks out the window of this famously trendy Dublin cafe.
Barry Egan
Credit/Source: www.unison.ie
Louis Walsh Interview. Shortened and only includes the bits he mentions Westlife.
LOUIS WALSH is the Truman Capote of his generation - relentlessly observant, murderously witty and shamelessly catty. Often in thesame sentence . . .
…
He is not a fan of Bob Geldof either. "I think the 45 people who went to see him in Rome recently were very, very brave," Louis laughs, referring to poor Geldof's disastrous concert in Italy. "We have that many people in the loo at a Westlife gig. I don't like Geldof's music at all. He is a Mick Jagger impersonator."
…
Dazzlingly scandalous, Louis casually reveals conversations that were possibly never meant for public consumption. However, since he does so with a wit worthy of Dorothy Parker or Tallulah Bankhead, you have to adore him. When Louis said on Celebrity X Factor that contestant Gillian McKeith "looks like she was hit by a bus", he was merely saying what most of us were thinking. (Gillian later told the Sun that Walsh needed "a super-charged enema".) Likewise the notorious comment about rotund Green Party TD Dan Boyle on Celebrity You're a Star . . .
"I couldn't understand the uproar when I said, 'Get rid of the fat one'," he smiles now. "I thought he would have taken it in fun. It wasn't meant to be a personal thing. And the fat one took it personally and threw a wobbler. Wobbly threw a wobbler! I was just trying to be funny and he had absolutely no sense of humour. I think all politicians are the same. I don't believe any of them. I don't trust any of them. Generally Irish politicians are the oddest-looking shower of people I have ever seen."
Even Nicky Byrne from Westlife's father-in-law?
"I think they are all awful," he reiterates. "Absolutely no star quality, the lot of them."
…
Clearly, the Irish priesthood's loss is popular music's gain. "I am just a man," he claims, "who understands pop." This is something of an understatement. He has had more number one records than any Irish manager in popular history. He created bands like Boyzone, Westlife and Girls Aloud and made them into global phenomena. He made Shayne Ward an international star.
…
A firm believer in loyalty, Louis went to support his old friend (and co-manager of Boyzone) John Reynolds at his Midlands Festival recently in Co Meath. He delighted in how well Shane Lynch did on the recent Love Island reality show. He keeps in regular contact with Brian McFadden.
He hasn't lost touch with the ex-Westlife star, nor with himself. Louis has the emotional intelligence to admit that he is more proud of his friendship with Joan Rivers than of any other celebrity contacts he has. He laughs. "She is 73 and she is brilliant. She is a great woman and a very nice woman off camera and off stage. She is a one-off."
…
Unforgettably, Louis gained additional renown by making up the odd story or two about his bands to keep them in the papers: sensational falsehoods like Westlife in near-fatal plane crashes and Stephen Gately getting engaged to Baby Spice Emma Bunton.
…
Was Kerry Katona the Yoko Ono influence of Westlife?
"No. I just think Kerry and Brian were too young to get married. They wouldn't listen to anybody. They wouldn't listen to me. They shouldn't have got married." There is a pause and then a knowing wink. " . . . to each other". He laughs. "But who am I to tell them? Brian is really happy. We are best friends. We are probably closer and more honest than we ever were. I don't know any band that gets on as well as me and Westlife and Brian."
…
Shedloads of money and gargantuan success haven't blunted his ambition. "I do want to do one more boy band by the way," he admits. "And I'm going to do it next year. It will be five boys. That's allI know."
Does that mean you are making the funeral arrangements for Westlife? "Oh no. Westlife have crossed over. Their audience is not young kids any more. Westlife can go on as long as they want because their audience are mammies and daddies now.
"Westlife are like the Bee Gees," he says. "And they are happier as a four-piece, even though I am still really good friends with Brian McFadden. Honestly! Honestly! Honestly!" he roars like his mum getting him up for altar boy duties at mass.
"There is absolutely no bullnuts there. Westlife are even doing a duet with Delta," he says referring to Brian's chanteuse girlfriend Delta Goodrem.
…
His trusty Blackberry whirrs again. It is Simon Cowell. And then Rebecca Loos. And then Shane Filan from Westlife. Louis blows the froth off yet another cappuccino and looks out the window of this famously trendy Dublin cafe.
Barry Egan
Credit/Source: www.unison.ie