Well see the Irish can get very touchy about being called Irish as opposed to British or from the UK, didn't want any misunderstandings, lol
Popular in the UK? Hmm! All of them?
I think maybe you're informations a bit sketchy or a little out of date, so in the interests of mult-national relations i'll update
Victoria Beckham - Popular? Depends what for really. As far as singing/music goes no I wouldn't say she's popular, the general feeling is she has little to no talent for it, that's why she doesn't sell records in any great quantity, always mimes and was dropped from her last recording contract for poor album sales.
Popular/Famous because she is married to David Beckham arguably the most popular/famous footballer in the country, Yep you could say she has a talent for basking in reflected glory and is very definitely the woman behind the man. Together they're a celebrity couple, on her own she's simply an ex spice girl although the tabloids/media love her because she sells newspapers/magazines but due to her private life rather than her *cough* musical abilities.
Westlife - Popular with their die hards fans who it seems just love cover after cover after cover etc etc and are satisfied with the attitude that Brian McFadden once displayed at CDUK when he said "why bother to sing when I can turn up, mime and get paid the same amount of money" a true artist, or rather should I say professional, obviously, lol.
Popular with the record company yes because they do as they're told and churn out what seemingly appears to be the same song over and over and over and over again but nevertheless which their fans seem to rush out to buy in their droves, I have no idea why and neither do most of the rest of the British public but there you go it's a mystery that will no doubt continue to be speculated about throughout homes accross the nation until such time as I expect that the lads decide to thankfully and mercifully call it a day.
Gareth Gates - A sad sad story, the cute little choirboy who looked like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, bravely overcoming the adversity of having a debilitating stutter by entering a national singing competition one day and confounding the judges by singing like a, weeeell like an average good looking boyband member, although the media being the savy types that they are and sensing the potential for a great story dubbed it "like an angel" Hooray! we can hype this kid to the max and make shedloads.
All went swimmingly in the beginning for dear sweet brave Gareth, the teenyboppers loved his little spikey haircut, his cheeky smile, his phwoarness! well what passes for phwoarness if you're under the age of pubity at least plus a few mis-guided women of lets say a certain age who had long since forgotten what sexiness or being sexy actually means
I digress
All through PI he was touted as the favourite (despite the truth which was that Will won the vote in 6 out of the last nine shows) kiddies pinned him to their walls, screamed Gareeeeeeeeth! Gareeeeeeeth! whenever they were in the vacinity of him singing which probably accounts for the fact that the "he sings like an angel" tag wasn't shown up for the exageration it was sooner, poor lambs they just couldn't hear him
They all expected him to win, to be the POP IDOL, the kiddies hit that redial button like there was no tommorow, Gareth must win, Gareth must win they chanted whilst they wore their fingers down to little stubbs and calouses formed. Alas it wasn't to be and at the final hurdle he lost out to the better singer because when it really mattered the Great British public had their say and chose talent over image.
All wasn't lost for Gareth though, Simon Cowell loved him, he was in his own words, like the son he'd never had and like all doting Daddy's proceeded to ignore the public's decision and support the runner up instead sometimes at the expense of Will, the true winner.
For the first year after the competition and with the backing and support of Simon Gareth seemed to go from strength to strength. Unfortunately as his popularity grew so did the size of his ego and head. The momentum from the show continued to carry him though, that plus the fact that the media saturated the market place with his image, you couldn't go into a newsagents, supermarket or store without seeing his face staring back at you, it was horrible I tell you! ewww!
Then disaster struck in the form of Jordan, a glamour model with pneumatic breats who putting it as kindly as I can is considered to be a bit of a slapper in this country and is notorious rather than famous for any special talent. Apparently sweet choirboy Gareth had a fling with her during Pop Idol. Nothing really shocking in that you'ld suppose, he was a normal healthy 17yr old lad after all who no doubt was overwhelmed with lust for the pneumatic breats which as a lot of men are in this country wasn't so exceptional.
Unfortunately for Gareth she was seven months pregnant with another mans child at the time and he lied to his fans and the public about the affair on several occasions. Jordan meanwhile was made to look like a fool in the press because of his denials and the Gareth fans HATED her with a passion for daring to speak ill of their idol, unfortunately not realising that she'd been telling the truth the whole time.
For months Gareth continued to lie and deny the affair, it was too incongruous for the choirboy and the slapper to have had a relationship after all and Gareth had a career to think about, records to sell.
Things then started to take a down turn for Gareth, other up and coming acts began to emerge on the UK scene, Busted and Blazin Squad to name just two, his fickle teenage fan base began to shift their allegiance to the next "Big" thing, Gareth was too innocent, too much a good two shoes and a Karaoke singer, in playgrounds accross the country it began to be very uncool to be a Gareth fan, his tag of "singing like an angel" became "he's a miming puppet" "nothing but a manufacted act" "he doesn't have any real talent, he's naff" his record sales began to fall, his popularity nosedive.
Drastic measures were needed to stop the decline, what to do? Eureka! we'll change his image, sex it up, give him a new sound, a new look that'll do the trick. So the spikey haircut was consigned to the past, the white suit of UM and the black suit of Anyone of Us was ditched in favour of a flowing white shirt and Jeans combination in the hot sun for "Sunshine" and Gareth finally admitted the truth about his affair with Jordan.
Unfortuately for Gareth the master plan didn't work, instead of people thinking he was now cool and sexy, with a bad boy edge to him, they just thought he was a desperate and fairly immature pop star who was arrogant enough to think he could fool and lie to his fans and the public for months and they would then just turn around and forgive him for it. They didn't.
Gareth's first album sold 435,000 copies, his latest has only sold 68,000 copies, his fan base and popularity have dwindled to almost nothing. Only the die hard fans remain but 68,000 people is not enough to sustain a career in the UK's industry. The only thing which could save him would be talent but as his only talents are that he's an average singer at best and that he plays piano and guitar to an acceptable but not exceptional standard there's very little for him to fall back on as far as his career in the UK is concerned.
Kylie, Robbie and Will are all loved by the Great British public, they all have varying degrees of talent in terms of singing, showmanship and image but they all do share one thing in common, they all three of them have likeable personalities. individual charm and charisma which endear them to the public and make people buy into them as artists.
Oh! I forgot Ronan, erm! oh well guess that says it all really, he's inoffensive enough to pass by unnoticed by most of the population whilst still managing to appeal to his own fans.
Here endeth the lesson, lol!
I digress
I'm so cool all the time