Hayley Instore at HMV London!!!!!

[roger]

Hello Nick,

The performance will be on the ground floor right at the back where there is a stage area. Several of us will be there so I hope we get to meet you.

Roger

[HWI]

Hi guys,

Please give Hayley my love and tell her I'm sorry I could not be there today - I'm driving Taylor and her mum through Wales today. And that's a tale of woe so far. The exhaust on my car snapped on the way home last night, so I have to go and hire a car before setting out.

I will be buying my copy of Odyssey later and will have to pretend I was there today.

Have fun guys.

Cheers,
Keith.

[roger]

Will do Keith. I'm sure Hayley will forgive you just this once!

Please give my love to Taylor and Susan.

Cheers,
Roger

[Natasha]

Have fun everyone!! Your all so lucky to be getting the UK version of "Odyssey" today - I'm going to order mine soon hopefully! lol.

Natasha

[roger]

Hi everyone,

Having seen Hayley in Piccadilly just five days ago, today's event in HMV was a lovely little bonus.

There is a small platform at the back of the store where Hayley performed three songs. They were, 'Prayer', 'What You Never Know' and 'Both Sides Now'. This was the first occasion that I had seen her singing with only a backing track but it made no difference to the quality of her performance. She looked and sounded as delightful as ever.

Within a few minutes of her final song, the signing session began. To be honest, I was not impressed with the way this was handled. A security guy told us that we were limited to one item per person. Fair enough perhaps, but they should have made that clear at the time of purchase. Some people may well have bought several copies in the belief that they would ALL be signed. They will have been disappointed.

My next cause for dismay came when it was very nearly my turn to meet Hayley. Another security guy (the place seemed to be swarming with them) took my CD insert and asked if I wanted a name on it. "Yes, hers", I said with some sarcasm. He asked what MY name was. "It's okay", I said, "she knows". The point is, people were not allowed to tell her their own name. We could only convey this information through a third party! We couldn't even hand her the insert; security had to do it for us! For those who had not previously met Hayley, an opportunity to have just the briefest word was denied. Of course, none of this was Hayley's fault.

And so those of us from HWI gathered nearby having had our ONE CD signed. I spoke briefly to Steve until Hayley came over to join us once the rest of the throng had disappeared. I think most of us managed to have a few words with her and, as ever, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and well worth the trip to London.

Soon after we left the store came, for me, a rather sad moment. This was the time when I had to say goodbye to Belinda and Kimberley. I have known Belinda for almost two years and she has become a very special friend even though we had never met until last week. To have her here in the UK as a part of the group that attended these past two events was very special. It was lovely meeting them both. I wish them a safe journey home (they leave tomoroow evening) and I hope we meet up again some day.

I will post to the appropriate thread in a few days with my views on the UK version of Odyssey but I can tell you now, they are going to be good!

Oh yes, thanks for the quarterpounder at MacDonalds, Richard!

So long, Hayley. See you in Liverpool.

Roger

[Dave]

Yes as Roger said, it was a most enjoyable evening! We were right at the front, of course, but a sizeable group of press photographers were in front of our barrier so it was hard to take photos until they sat down. Hayley sang only three songs as she had to do the signing afterwards then move on to "The Choirboys" launch this same evening.

The bonus was when Hayley's Manager Steve (and his new 'trainee' assistant!) came over to chat to us all, then even better, Hayley herself had a brief chat with us all and said her goodbyes to Belinda and Kim, who are about to return home to NZ

I decided not to join the signing queue but to take some photos instead, after persuading a stern looking security guard to let me stand where I wanted to! Finally, after saying our goodbyes to Belinda and Kim, four of us headed for the nearest MacDonalds to eat (and for me to have my first 'meal' of the day, lol) and to talk about... Hayley! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

With lots of pleasant memories of the day, we headed off onto the Underground before going our separate ways. I'll post a few photos of the event shortly!

Dave

[Dave]

Here are some of my photos of the HMV event i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Hayley singing.... err... I've forgotten which song!

Roger, Chris and Paul in the queue for Hayley. I've no idea where Richard is hiding, or who the guy at the desk is!

Hayley as she signs Roger's CD cover.
He's the one on the right of the frame and he didn't hear me yelling for him to turn round and look at the camera i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

After the signing, Hayley chatting to Richard... yep, that's his head poking into the left of the frame! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Dave

[Joe]

Hi Dave,

WOW!! Such wonderful pictures, thanks! Loved your commentary of the event too. Fancy those security guards! Roger having to hand the insert to him and he's standing so close (middle pic). I'm sure it was worth it, eh Roger? Great commentary also!

I wonder what the security will be like when Hayley's in the USA?

Another great job team HWI
Joe

[nick0208uk]

Hi all,

I did make it in the end, i knew you lot were around somewhere but never actually came across you, well not as far as i know anyway. Hayley was on good form, a pleasure to be at.

I'd already ordered the UK verion of Odyssey before so i brought my copy of "What You Never Know" along and Hayley signed that for me instead. I did want to say more to her as, well it's not often [virtually never in my case] you get such an opportunity and i wanted to thank Hayley but there wasn't much time for chit chat.

I got it signed though, and the whole event although a bit after the Lord Mayors show-ish, when compared to last Thursday, it was most was enjoyable and i am better for it.

I had never been to a “signing” before so I have nothing to compare it with, I had to leave my rucksack to one side before I stepped on the stage [a new environment for me so I was more than glad I didn’t make an [censored] out of myself and tip down them afterward] , the situation had to be managed in some way, granted it was a little like an assembly line in a factory at times but the staff and management were reasonable/amiable enough I thought. That’s just my experience mind you but there we go

Was it just me or was there an insane amount of flash photography yesterday?

And did you wonder what was going on near the front of the shop or on the street? Before the Maori group arrived that is, i mean i couldn't see it but it was a bit weird for a minute.

Oh and thanks for the pictures Dave, although i was only 3 people from the front or so [in the middle column if you will or i beleive it was], the view i had was still a bit blurry, lacking detail, something i live with but now this is not so in this case.

Nick,

[Lothar]

Hi Dave,
many thanks for the nice impressions of the photos you made.
Kind regards, Lothar

[Raymond]

Thank you for the photos.

[Richard]

Hello everybody! :wink:

As Roger said, last night was a lovely little bonus coming so soon after the wonderful concert in St. James's Church. I thoroughly enjoyed Hayley's short performance at HMV, and I'm glad I waited around after she signed my copy of "Odyssey", because we all had a much nicer little chat with her afterwards, as you can see in Dave's photos. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

I've now seen and met Hayley eight times in two years, and I can honestly say that she's exactly the same person that I met at the Fairfield Hall in Croydon on 1st October 2003. Thank you Hayley for another wonderful experience. From now on, HMV stands for Hayley's Magical Voice! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

I listened to the UK version of "Odyssey" last night and I love it, so I'll post my thoughts after I've played it a few more times.

Now I hope to see Hayley and everybody else again somewhere in November.

Bye for now,

Richard

[roger]

Nick, you must have been right behind us as we were in the middle column too! Yes there was a lot of flash photography, especially during the first song but that was largely from the press.

Talking of photographs, yours are great Dave. I haven't uploaded mine yet but I doubt if they're up to your standard due to my inferior camera (and its even less *ferior* owner!). If I have anything worth seeing, I will post them here.

Roger

[sal]

Thanks for posting the pictures - they look great.

[sal]

I typed 'Hayley Westenra HMV maori' into google to see if any more picyures came up, and to my suprise they did! There are a lot of pictures on this site and it is called www.wireimage.com - it appears to be a site full of celebrity photos and events. There are some great ones of Hayley, especially with the maori's - here is the direct link:

www.wireimage.com/GalleryListing.asp?navtyp=gls====139720&nbc1=1