AINT THAT A KICK IN THE HEAD

Westlife in 2004 (L-R): shane, nicky, mark, brian, kian.

well, MARK FEEHILY of irish boyband westlife has publically told everyone he's gay. the band and his family had always known, but mark said "it was the right" time to just let the public know.

so what does that mean? not much, really.

i don't know if you guys know, but i'm a westlife fan - there i said it. those of you who know me well know the story behind it, but for those of you who don't, here's a bit of insight.

when i went to japan back in year 10 there wasn't much english music floating around. despite all the poorly written english plastered on billbaoards and vending machines, there was very little by way of music. so after 25 days and on my way home from the airport my sister put the radio on and on came a westlife song. it was a comforting feeling to hear something in english, and what was more significant was that the voice on the radio could actually sing.

being in australia, we don't get much of anything from the UK when it comes to entertainment or whatever, and apart from the very rare occaision that a song was played on the radio, there wasn't much westlife in australia. then in 2001 they made the radar here and their music video for "when you're looking like that" was on rage. basically, the clip was jsut of the fives guys (now four, after the departure of brian mcfadden (you know, the guy who's going out with delta goodrem?)) going around the world doing something that they loved.

its easy to do that when you're selling 30million albums at a time, but i think all of us can at least do that one thing - and that is have the time of our lives with our closest friends, and looking back on life and confidently saying to yourself "damn, i had a pretty good crack at life".

and that was it. while majority of their songs are cheesy and ballardy, it was the feeling that they, as a group, gave me. something that back in year 12 i needed, something to work for. i don't expect many people to empathise with me, but i think everyone has something that, even if they don't want to admit to it, makes them smile on the inside. if it's not music, it might be a movie. if not a movie, maybe a video game. who knows, but all i know is that you should hold onto what makes you happy.

-LOki