After Dinner Speakers: Westlife, Jude Law, Joan Collins

This Irish boy band, originally known as Westside, emerged in the late 90s as the highly successful protégés of Ronan Keating of Boyzone. The three founding members, Kian Egan (b. 29 April 1980, Sligo, Eire), Shane Filan (b. 5 July 1979, Sligo, Eire) and Mark Feehily (b. 28 May 1980, Sligo, Eire), came together in a local Sligo production of Grease. They formed IOU with three fellow actors after friends encouraged them to continue singing, and began performing cover versions in local clubs. A demo tape of a track written by Filan and Feehily, "Together Girl Forever", found its way to Boyzone manager Louis Walsh. Suitably impressed, Walsh hired them to support US boy band Backstreet Boys when they visited Dublin. A change of line-up ensued, with three of the original members making way for ex-soccer player Nicky Byrne (9 October 1978, Dublin, Eire) and Bryan McFadden (b. 12 April 1980, Dublin, Eire). Keating became involved with the band as co-manager in April 1998. After a showcase appearance at London's Café de Paris in February 1999, the band changed their name to Westlife after learning of the existence of several American acts performing as Westside. Groomed as natural successors to Boyzone, the quintet's debut single "Swear It Again", was a highly predictable Irish and UK chart-topper in May. The follow-up, "If I Let You Go", repeated the feat when it entered the UK singles chart at number 1 in August. "Flying Without Wings" made it three number 1s in a row in October. Their status as the most popular boy band of the moment was underlined when their lame double a-side, featuring cover versions of Abba's "I Have A Dream" and Terry Jacks' "Seasons In The Sun", topped the charts for four weeks over Christmas and the new year. They created UK chart history in April 2000 when "Fool Again" became their fifth number 1 single in a row. Later in the year, the group's duet with Mariah Carey on a cover version of Phil Collins' "Against All Odds", and "My Love", became their sixth and seventh number ones respectively. Both singles featured on Coast To Coast, a virtual rewrite of their debut album. Their Christmas single "What Makes A Man"/"My Girl" was pipped to the coveted number 1 slot by children television's character Bob The Builder. The group bounced back to the top in March 2001 with their cover version of Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl", released for the Comic Relief charity. In November, the anodyne "Queen Of My Heart" earned the group their ninth chart-topper. The quintet notched up their tenth number 1 in February 2002 with "World Of Our Own". The catchy "Bop Bop Baby" was a notable failure, only reaching number 5 in May. Normal service was resumed in November, when "Unbreakable" debuted at number 1.