Westlife wow Chinese fans with song in Mandarin

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Nicky Byrne , Kian Egan and Shane Filan of Westlife performing at O2 Arena, London in 2022. /MAR/Capital Pictures/MEGA

Irish pop band Westlife have delighted their Chinese army of fans by recording their new single in Mandarin.

'Love + Courage' was made using artificial intelligence (AI). Released through Chinese online music platform Tencent Music, it's already been streamed more than a million times in its first week.

The group's vocals were created using Kugou AIK, which calls itself the world's first multi-lingual AI singing tool. Kugou is said to allow users to sing and record songs in 10 languages and a remarkable 15 Chinese dialects.

The song is a cover version of popular Chinese singer Jason Zhang's 2016 single.

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A Westlife statement read: "The fan response from us singing 'The Ordinary Road' in Mandarin was truly overwhelming and this just felt like it could be another fun thing to do for our Chinese fans. It took months to get it right as we wanted it to be the perfect reflection of our voices and we are thrilled with the final version."

Westlife, who first shot to fame in 1999 with Number One single 'Swear It Again' and have sold more than 50 million records world-wide, are one of the biggest international acts in China and particularly popular on social media platforms there.

In December 2021 27.9 million viewers watched the band's virtual concert on Chinese social media platform WeChat.

In a statement, Tencent Music Entertainment said: "Since the release of their album Wild Dreams in 2021, Westlife have continued to deepen their connection with China and Tencent Music Entertainment."

It added: "'This ongoing mutual dedication is why we have chosen Westlife as the first international artist to collaborate with to release AI music. 'We hope to use AI technology to bring Westlife a bit closer to their fans in China."