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Post by petertong on Nov 4, 2007 6:31:01 GMT
Hi Stephany, I took my neighbor and her son to Celtic Woman tonight (here in Grand Rapids, MI). Back in Apr 3 I had travelled with some friends to Detroit's Fox theatre also for Celtic Woman (back when Hayley was performing with CW). I loved the show tonight but without Hayley there singing it was like a huge hole... at least for me. It was still very enjoyable, but just not to the heights of enjoyment I had back in Apr... Orla, Chloe, Lisa, Mairead and new member Lynn performed live six or seven songs during a skating show last Saturday in the US. I read that a recording of Hayley's 'Prayer' was also used to accompany an ice skater. Good to know that Hayley is not forgotten and still given some exposure thanks to Celtic Woman  Stephany |
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Post by Stephany on Nov 11, 2007 21:42:00 GMT
Now I NEED to see the show! Hi Northern_Lights, You can watch this 'Celtic Woman - Skate For the Heart Show' on 13th January 2008 on NBC. As a reminder, Celtic Woman headlined this ice skating charity show in a live performance recorded on 27th October. Lynn Hilary was with the girls but a few Hayley songs ('Prayer', I believe) were also picked by the skaters. Stephany |
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Joe
Administrator
Supporting Hayley since 2003!
Posts: 6,715 
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Post by Joe on Nov 11, 2007 21:47:27 GMT
Now I NEED to see the show! Hi Northern_Lights, You can watch this 'Celtic Woman - Skate For the Heart Show' on 13th January 2008 on NBC. As a reminder, Celtic Woman headlined this ice skating charity show in a live performance recorded on 27th October. Lynn Hilary was with the girls but a few Hayley songs ('Prayer', I believe) were also picked by the skaters. Stephany Wow...thanks for this, Stephany! I'll have to mark this on the calendar. Even though Hayley won't be in it...I will still watch it! Joe |
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Post by Nordly on Nov 12, 2007 1:31:19 GMT
Hi Northern_Lights, You can watch this 'Celtic Woman - Skate For the Heart Show' on 13th January 2008 on NBC. As a reminder, Celtic Woman headlined this ice skating charity show in a live performance recorded on 27th October. Lynn Hilary was with the girls but a few Hayley songs ('Prayer', I believe) were also picked by the skaters. Stephany Wow...thanks for this, Stephany! I'll have to mark this on the calendar. Even though Hayley won't be in it...I will still watch it! Joe She DOES sing for it though! I wonder what the dresses are like- I wish I could have gone, but my mom said no. It's just a two hour drive! |
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Post by Libby on Jan 8, 2008 5:43:17 GMT
I just want to remind everyone that the skating special is on this coming Sunday! I'm so happy to know that someone skated to Hayley. I wonder who it was. Going by the cast list, I'm hoping it will be Ekaterina Gordeava. I like her style best out of the group, which I think would fit the song "Prayer" very well. See who the skaters are here: www.dissonskating.com/our_events/07_shows/Skate%20for%20the%20Heart_07.html |
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Post by moscapoet on Jul 9, 2008 20:54:02 GMT
I've been wondering something. The biographies of Hayley and Meav are on the CW website, yet nowhere does it say they are no longer with the group. I'm not sure what to make of that. Any ideas?
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Post by milewalker on Jul 9, 2008 21:40:06 GMT
I've been wondering something. The biographies of Hayley and Meav are on the CW website, yet nowhere does it say they are no longer with the group. I'm not sure what to make of that. Any ideas? I dont know that I have ever seen an official website run as well as a fan site would be. In general there are issues with both accuracy and updating. Jon |
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Post by moscapoet on Jul 11, 2008 19:20:38 GMT
So it would appear. That's either very sloppy or worse yet deceitful if it is intentional. I agree with you though that fan sites seem to be far more current and have better information on the artists than official sites for the most part. Thanks for the reply.
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Post by larryhauck on Mar 11, 2010 15:28:50 GMT
As I was perusing some older threads I came across Celtic Woman with Hayley.
I recall watching PBS in 2007 and happened on to the Celtic Woman in Slane Castle. I had never heard of them before and when they sang I was impressed with their talent and the production. Well I was impressed by them till Hayley appeared and I remember saying to a friend that this girl was head and shoulders above the other girls. My friend who at one time was a professional musician in St Louis agreed.
PBS was promoting their appearance in St Louis so the next day I was on the phone for tickets. Well I found that Hayley was not scheduled to appear in St Louis as she and Meav ware alternating months on the tour.
The next scheduled appearance for Hayley would be in Nashville Tennessee. I went on line and purchased tickets for Nashville which is 325 miles from St Louis.
When Hayley appeared and sang Lascia I was instantly Hayley-Wowed and have traveled to the U K and Ireland six times to see her in concert.
Since that concert in 2007 the Celtic woman have toured the U S every year they are here in the U S as I write this post.
Thinking about this in retrospect have caused me to wonder the following:
1. Would it have been possible at that time for Hayley to join the group permanently.
2. Although Hayley was enjoying limited success in the U K would the additional exposure have provided
her with more opportunities since all the concerts were sold out from coast to coast in the U S.
3. Wouldn't exposure to a broader spectrum of venues particularly the East and west coasts of the U S,
given her obvious superiority to the other girls, perhaps been observed by someone who may have been instrumental in advancing her career.
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4. In as much as Meav and Hayley were alternating months would the opportunity for Hayley to make
appearances in other venues in her off times given her yet more exposure. Not large venues but
more intimate places.
5. And finally and perhaps the most important thing. Would the Celtic Woman group been able to keep her
and would her existing contractional agreements permitted it.
Well just some musings of some hypothetical things.
Would anyone care to make a comment on my musings.
Larry
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Post by roger on Mar 11, 2010 21:07:18 GMT
Hi Larry, Interesting questions which I will endeavour to answer. I must emphasise though that these are merely my personal opinions and not necessarily representative of the decisions that were made at the time about which we were not informed. 1. Would it have been possible at that time for Hayley to join the group permanently. Not really. Or more to the point, she would not have wanted it. First and foremost, she is a solo performer and always will be. Any association with other singers or groups will always be temporary - either for a one-off event or for the duration of one tour. When we first learned that she would be joining Celtic Woman, I was told by her manager that she would be "dipping in and out in between persuing her solo career". 2. Although Hayley was enjoying limited success in the U K would the additional exposure have provided her with more opportunities since all the concerts were sold out from coast to coast in the U S. Do you mean more opportunities in the US or the UK? Okay, I will answer both - no extra charge! In the US, I suppose that may have been possible but unlikely. She appeared for approximately half of the concerts and the exposure she gained from them didn't exactly make her solo career take off in the States. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the other half, had she done them, would not have done so either. That is, not enough to justify the additonal time and effort it would have taken. In the UK, it is more likely to have been the other way about. Most Brits had never heard of Celtic Woman before Hayley's association with them. 3. Wouldn't exposure to a broader spectrum of venues particularly the East and west coasts of the U S, given her obvious superiority to the other girls, perhaps been observed by someone who may have been instrumental in advancing her career. Yes, but the operative word there is "perhaps". Of course, there can be no guarantees. You would know better than I as to what the chances may have been of that happening. Whatever, it was never an option because, as you said, she was alternating with Maev and also had other commitments in the UK in between her two legs of the CW tour in the US. And for all she knew, those UK commitments may have been even more likely to lead to further interest in her. One of her projects at the time was to work on the "Different Voices" project with Debbie Wiseman which was expected to be to her benefit. . 4. In as much as Meav and Hayley were alternating months would the opportunity for Hayley to make appearances in other venues in her off times given her yet more exposure. Not large venues but more intimate places. She did. Okay, it was only one event in New York but, as I said above, she had other commitments elsewhere. There would have been another (in the UK in between her two spells with CW) but she had to cancel at the last moment due to illness. That was within 24 hours of her return from the States and so, with hindsight, we can probably conclude that she was in need of a break. 5. And finally and perhaps the most important thing. Would the Celtic Woman group been able to keep her and would her existing contractional agreements permitted it. No. I don't think Celtic Woman or their management team ever had any intention (or wish) to retain Hayley permanently and Hayley certainly didn't. It was basically an open-ended but intermittant project to (hopefully) enhance Hayley's profile in the US and to do the same for Celtic Woman in the UK. For reasons we were never told, Hayley's association with them was terminated before the scheduled UK (and European) leg of the tour which, as I'm sure you are aware, was cancelled. That was my longest post in months. Gotta go and have a lie down now!  Roger |
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Post by larryhauck on Mar 11, 2010 21:38:32 GMT
Hi Larry, Interesting questions which I will endeavour to answer. I must emphasise though that these are merely my personal opinions and not necessarily representative of the decisions that were made at the time about which we were not informed. 1. Would it have been possible at that time for Hayley to join the group permanently. Not really. Or more to the point, she would not have wanted it. First and foremost, she is a solo performer and always will be. Any association with other singers or groups will always be temporary - either for a one-off event or for the duration of one tour. When we first learned that she would be joining Celtic Woman, I was told by her manager that she would be "https://i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gifipping in and out in between persuing her solo career". Do you mean more opportunities in the US or the UK? Okay, I will answer both - no extra charge! In the US, I suppose that may have been possible but unlikely. She appeared for approximately half of the concerts and the exposure she gained from them didn't exactly make her solo career take off in the States. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the other half, had she done them, would not have done so either. That is, not enough to justify the additonal time and effort it would have taken. In the UK, it is more likely to have been the other way about. Most Brits had never heard of Celtic Woman before Hayley's association with them. Yes, but the operative word there is "perhaps". Of course, there can be no guarantees. You would know better than I as to what the chances may have been of that happening. Whatever, it was never an option because, as you said, she was alternating with Maev and also had other commitments in the UK in between her two legs of the CW tour in the US. And for all she knew, those UK commitments may have been even more likely to lead to further interest in her. One of her projects at the time was to work on the "https://i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gififferent Voices" project with Debbie Wiseman which was expected to be to her benefit. . She did. Okay, it was only one event in New York but, as I said above, she had other commitments elsewhere. There would have been another (in the UK in between her two spells with CW) but she had to cancel at the last moment due to illness. That was within 24 hours of her return from the States and so, with hindsight, we can probably conclude that she was in need of a break. 5. And finally and perhaps the most important thing. Would the Celtic Woman group been able to keep her and would her existing contractional agreements permitted it. No. I don't think Celtic Woman or their management team ever had any intention (or wish) to retain Hayley permanently and Hayley certainly didn't. It was basically an open-ended but intermittant project to (hopefully) enhance Hayley's profile in the US and to do the same for Celtic Woman in the UK. For reasons we were never told, Hayley's association with them was terminated before the scheduled UK (and European) leg of the tour which, as I'm sure you are aware, was cancelled. That was my longest post in months. Gotta go and have a lie down now! Roger Hi Roger Thanks for your thoughtful reply to my hypothetical queries. I was not aware that Hayley was omitted from the European portion of the tour. Actually I had never heard of Hayley or the Celtic Woman prior to that show on PBS. Did the group cancel Hayley or was it Hayley who canceled. All my comments were more inquisitive that suggestive. But the fact is that I turned into an instant fan of Hayley and not the Celtic Woman. They will be in St Louis later this month an I won't bother to see them. What I really want is for Hayley to achieve all the success that she is definitely due her. I certainly understand the difficulty of succeeding in the U S. I've been critical of our entertainment industry for years. I think the talent pool in the U S is very shallow possibly due our propensity to accept mediocrity. But thats another topic and only my opinion. Larry |
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Post by martindn on Mar 11, 2010 21:59:13 GMT
Hi Larry,
Yes, there was certainly a UK/Euro tour planned for CW. I even had tickets!
My understanding was that the tour was cancelled followig the sudden departure of Meav and Hayley. Clearly they couldn't go on tour without either finding replacements, who would have to learn the songs, or changing the arrangements to work with only three singers. It seems neither was practical, and since in Europe, people would have gone to see CW becuse it included Hayley, not because they were known for any other reason.
ISTR that the official reason given for the cancellation was "poor ticket sales". That might have been an issue too. Celtic music seems to do poorly in England at least, I remember seeing Anuna in concert once, they were absolutely wonderful but I also noticed a lot of empty seats.
Another reason why I don't think Hayley would have gone the way you suggest Larry is that we know Hayley likes to be in charge, and to run things her way. With CW the management, not the artists run things. If someone in the US had wanted to take her on, they might have wanted to do it their way and not hers. I think Hayley values her artistic freedom very highly, and would not put up with other people telling her what to sing and how to sing it for long. And I think that is a good thing, and we see her now developing into an innovative and original artist. This could not have happened if she let someone else pour her into a mould.
Martn D
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Post by comet on Mar 12, 2010 0:00:28 GMT
Hi Larry, Greetings from freezing Dublin.. There is more on the old official forum about Hayley and Celtic Woman bb02.sov.uk.vvhp.net/hayleywestenra/YaBB.pl?num=1178681755You may have to dig around on the old forum a bit.. the search function seems to be "punctured" and not much use. There is a lot of interesting info about why Hayley quit CW. The management according to member Alcan had a lot to answer for, he implied they were a bunch of money grabbing "Certain type of file or rasp" people I think life on the road in the tour buses took it's toll on Hayley, |
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Post by Richard on Mar 12, 2010 9:30:42 GMT
Hello Larry and everybody!  I had a ticket to see Celtic Woman at the Royal Albert Hall, but I wasn't too disappointed when the UK tour was cancelled. Hayley is too individual to fit comfortably into a group, so her solo career should always take priority.  Best Wishes, Richard  |
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Post by mihizawi on Mar 12, 2010 23:03:13 GMT
Well... I expressed largely my opinion on Celtic Woman on the topic about their new album. However, I'll repeat that, for me, the golden age of Celtic Woman was the New Journey album, not only due to Hayley's presence, but, yes, Hayley was very important for that.
And, hmm... don't know if it has something to do with her collaboration with Celtic Woman, but I associate that year (2006) with the start of Hayley's maturing as a singer and jumping to another level: from being just a perfectly pitched young teen singing sensation with an incredibly crystal voice to what she is now, a very conscious and creative artist and a very high level singer. Could it be that the time spent with Celtic Woman gave her a boost to work even harder?
Michal
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