Joe GallopAn audience of nearly 28 million tuned in to a livestreamed Westlife performance produced by Driift Live, which was broadcast by Tencent’s WeChat (Weixin) across China on 17 December.
Filmed at London’s 400-capacity Bush Hall, it was the band’s first ever livestream concert and the first ever livestream concert by an international artist in China to be delivered by WeChat Channels – a video and livestreaming platform within WeChat. The social media platform is China’s largest with over 1.2 billion users.
The event was filmed by director Chris Howe, whose work includes productions for Coldplay, Elton John, Justin Bieber and Robbie Williams.
The show received 160 million likes during the 100-minute stream and included a cover performed by Westlife in Mandarin of ‘The Road to Ordinary’ by Chinese singer Pu Shu. It was followed by an extended Q&A where the band members answered questions from their Chinese fanbase.