Westlife, who have sold more than 45 million records worldwide and scored 14 number one singles in the UK alone, will end their farewell tour by performing together for the last time at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland on June 23rd 2012. Tickets for the final concert originally sold out in an incredible five minutes leaving thousands of fans sorely disappointed. Those fans and others will now be able to participate in this unforgettable moment by attending live screenings in cinemas across the UK, the Republic of Ireland and beyond.
Fans in the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Malta, the Netherlands and Norway will all be able to watch the show live in one of over two hundred cinemas after BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, concluded a deal with Sony Music and Westlife to co-produce a live film of the event. BBC Worldwide also recruited alternative content provider ‘BY Experience’ to deliver the event to cinema.
Westlife said: “Over the past 14 years we were lucky enough to have a pop career that any band or musical artist would have been proud of. During that time we developed and built up an amazing bond with our fans all around the world.”
“On June 23rd 2012 we will wrap our musical career as a band with one amazing final show in Croke Park Dublin, Ireland. We're working hard to make it everything we had ever dreamed of from our final concert - a farewell and a homecoming in front of 85,000 fans.”
“It is bound to be a hugely emotional night and we expect to have tears in our eyes for nearly every song. The fact that the show will be beamed to our fans in cinemas around the world only adds to our excitement. We're delighted to be working with BBC Worldwide to make this a reality.”
“Westlife has changed our lives and this final night will live on in us all forever.”
Salim Mukaddam, Director of Music at BBC Worldwide, said: “Westlife has been a major presence on the pop music landscape for the past 14 years. The final performance at Croke Park is set to be an emotional night and a real celebration of the boys’ career. Only 85,000 fans can be present in the stadium, but we’re delighted to be able to extend the event to their millions of fans across the UK, Ireland and further afield who can now be part of this incredible event at their local cinema. We worked hard with Westlife and Sony Music to strike an innovative deal and we hope this is the first of a number of these kinds of events that you’ll see from BBC Worldwide.”
The Westlife Farewell event follows the success for BBC Worldwide of the international theatrical release of Robbie Williams at the Electric Proms and the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms to cinema audiences. BBC Worldwide will be partnering again with BY Experience to bring this unique event to audiences worldwide.
Robbie Williams previously kicked off his comeback with a live performance at the Electric Proms in 2009. BBC Worldwide licensed the live show to over 250 screens in 23 countries setting a new Guinness World Record for the most simultaneous cinematic screenings of a live concert. The show was also shown latterly in cinemas in South Africa and Australia. Last Night of the Proms has also been screened in cinemas in Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand every year since 2009.
