They've done it! They've knocked Saint Cliff off the Number 1 perch in the Christmas charts in Britain. Aileen O'Reilly on the phenomenal success of Westlife:- 

Within ten short months of exploding onto the world stage, Ireland's latest batch of coiffed popstrels, Westlife, have notched up four consecutive number 1s with combined sales in excess of £1 million, a debut album with sales in excess of one million copies and, oh yes, this week they've also become the only Irish band to scoop the coveted number 1 Christmas slot. 

Right now, Westlife are deemed such hot ``pop property'' that every single TV appearance they deign to fit into their schedule has the ability to generate sales in excess of 1,000 units in the host country alone. That's serious chart control. 

Of course, ask Westlife manager, Louis Walsh, who his favourite boy band are and he'll instantly respond, ``Westlife, they're the best group in the world.'' 

The answer may sound trite, however therein lies the key to Westlife's current spiralling success ... 

You see it would be grossly naieve to assume that these boys are Walsh's favourite ``cause celebre'' because of what they have achieved to date in their short careers Shane, Nicky, Mark, Bryan and Kian are only in that enviable position because they have been deemed necessary players in the absolute fantasy band that Walsh engineered out of the ashes of an original idea called I.O.U. 

From day one the Boyzone impresario decided that Westlife were going to conquer the world - regardless of what that meant for the troop of innocents, going by the name of I.O.U., who first made his pulse race and dreams of conquering the States seem a tangible reality. 

The original Sligo sextet may have thought that their time had come when they found themselves centre stage supporting the Backstreet Boys in the RDS in March of last year, however, within a very short time Walsh had wielded his surgical blade and severed the band in half while auditions were quickly organised to suture the amputation and complete the physical architecture of the ``international pop terminators'' that he had
in mind. 

Walsh knew what he had both Shane and Mark had the necessary vocal prowess to carry the band while Kian had the ``cute'' angle all sewn up all he wanted was one or two ``tall good lookers'' to complete the line up and give the quintet balance and Irish pop would have it's own internationally laminated pop sensations ready for the offing. 

The same day that Bryan McFadden (tall, blonde, Leonardo Di Caprio look-alike) and ex-Leeds footballer Nicky Byrne were picked, Michael Garrett, one of the original members, was given his marching orders. 

Within half an hour the deed was done and the newly cemented quintet had their first ``pep'' talk from Walsh which included direct instructions on where they were to be seen, not to be seen, what to eat, what to wear, what to say and do - all while getting used to suddenly spending their every waking moment together. 

Being on the judging panel for those few days meant that I was on hand to observe Walsh hammer his pop fantasies into a physical reality. 

From day one I saw how Westlife were engineered to the highest spec and detail to achieve everything they have done to date. There is no mystery and precious little luck involved they were built to carry the success and escalating record sales that now hang so beguilingly on their well toned shoulders. 

The reality, I quickly learned, is that pop music is fuelled as much by money and shrewd marketing as it ever was by chance, talent and timing. It isn't just VERY BIG money anymore as far as boy bands go it's the musical equivalent of Barings Bank and just as easy to topple with bad timing, a missed opportunity or one wrong move too many. 

I Have A Dream, their latest release, is already a bigger Irish single than Elton John's Candle In The Wind. Their album is top of the Irish charts and pre-sales of their first three number 1's exceeded 300,000 copies apiece. 

They have the muscle of RCA behind them to sign the cheques and a SWAT team of the music industry's biggest and brightest producers, songwriters, designers and choreographers
orchestrating their every move. 

The three minutes of slick pop mastery that makes up the video for their third number 1 single, Flying Without Wings, cost a cool quarter of a million for one day's work and by the time that single hit its target in the charts that figure had quadrupled to £1 million (the current asking price for any release with an outside chance of hitting a home run). 

It was penned by the UK's leading pop alchemists, Steve Mac and Wayne Hector. Swear It Again, their debut single, was also penned in the UK and was released at the start of April. If I Let You Go, was written and produced by the Cherion Group in Stockholm the same stable from which Backstreet Boys, Five and Britney Spears have received chart topping career breaks. 

But then again, as Simon Cowell, head of RCA admitted after he'd handed over a cool £4 million deal to the boys five minutes after hearing them sing for the first time, ``I believe in going from inception to success in a very short period of time'' he explains. ``Either the band are off the ground straight away or it's not happening as far as I'm concerned.'' 

The man who launched Robson & Jerome and invested £3.5 million Five's debut album, admits that it's no longer enough for a band's success to be imminent it must be instant or it's a non runner. 

Walsh is more philosophical about his five charges and admits that there is a genuine bond there that has made their working relationship far more that of friends than manager and protoege. 

``Apart from the fact that I'd buy their album if I wasn't managing them, they're all nice people'' he grins. ``I actually really like them as a bunch of lads and I respect their attitude I've never seen five people want something so much. They're all hungry for this just like I am. That's why we spark together. 

The Boyzone manager admits to living and breathing nothing but Westlife these days and has tunnel vision as far as the band's continued rise to fame is concerned. 

``They will be the hottest band to hit the world since the Spice Girls emerged from the UK'' he states plainly. ``They've arrived on top in an unbelievably short space of time no other band has done that since the whole Spice phenomenon hit. 

``Now when you hear a Westlife record you know it's them. They're going to go the distance, there's no question of that. They're going to take on America in March and the rest of the world the week after that. 

``It's simple'' he concludes, ``this is the best vocal group in the world at the moment.''