List of The X Factor finalists (UK series 3)

List of The X Factor finalists (UK series 3)

The third UK series of The X Factor was broadcast on ITV between 19 August and 16 December 2006, with Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh mentoring and judging the finalists. Auditions were held in cities around the UK and Republic of Ireland - London, Manchester, Birmingham, Dublin, Leeds and Glasgow.

Contents

16–24s

Nikitta Angus

Nikitta Angus (born 19 October 1988 in Manchester, England) raised in Glasgow. Her aunt, Katie Angus, was in Sharon Osbourne's category but failed to make the final 4. At her audition Nikitta Angus performed "Dimming of the Day" written by Richard Thompson, which she recorded with her aunt for her mother's funeral in 2005. Angus was due to be a contestant in 2005 but was knocked down by a car ten minutes before her audition. She was eliminated in the fifth week (finishing in 7th place) after appearing in the bottom-two showdown with Ray Quinn.

In 2010 Nikitta's career began an upward climb, collaborating with many household names in the production of music for her forthcoming album. Nikitta can also be seen as a model, representing various fashion franchises across the UK, and is managed by Northern Star Artist Management.[citation needed] In July 2010, she participated in the TV show Don't Stop Believing with cheerleading squad Blok and two other singers, but was eliminated by the judges after the group lost a sing-off.[1]

Angus is currently a member of reality group G*Mania. [2]

Leona Lewis

Leona Lewis (born 3 April 1985) grew up in North London and often listened to her father's record collection. She says "I loved listening to Minnie Riperton and Anita Baker, plus 80s big vocalists Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Oleta Adams and more recently Eva Cassidy, and at the age of six I decided to be a singer".

Lewis wrote her first song at the age of 12, and attended the Sylvia Young stage school and the Brit School. Her audition performances for The X Factor were "Over the Rainbow", "I Have Nothing", and "Without You".

Lewis went on to win the contest, becoming the first woman to do so. Her first release was the song "A Moment Like This".

Lewis's vocal talents were consistently highly praised by all three judges throughout the competition, and on occasions she was compared to Mariah Carey. On the 9 December show Simon Cowell remarked that of all Pop Idol and The X Factor performances, her performance of "Over the Rainbow" was the best he had ever witnessed. The only criticisms she received, both from the judges and in the press, were related to her confidence. Cowell also commented throughout the show that Lewis's lack of awareness of her talents was what made her special. As with all X Factor winners before and after her, Lewis never fell into the bottom two throughout the live finals.

Following the release of Lewis's second single "Bleeding Love" and debut album Spirit, she became the biggest selling The X Factor contestant and the first to have international success. On 17 April 2008, Spirit debuted at number 1 on the American Billboard 200 album charts, with her single "Bleeding Love" simultaneously reaching the top spot.

Ashley McKenzie

Ashley Frank McKenzie[3] (born 1986 in Croydon, Surrey) is one of five children; he has two brothers, David and Rory, and two sisters, Leah and Ella. Ashley's cousin is the Northampton Town footballer, Leon McKenzie. Ashley is very interested in gymnastics and has won many awards for his skills. He has done modelling work for Storm and Topman in the past.

Ashley was in the bottom three during the third week of the live shows but avoided elimination. He was eliminated in week four.

Ray Quinn

Ray Quinn (born 25 August 1988) lived with his parents in Liverpool at the time of the show, and was studying Performing Arts at The Merseyside Dance and Drama College, with one year of his course remaining. He has two older brothers who own a carpet warehouse. At college he received some vocal training and had also learnt to dance to quite an advanced level. Quinn is also known for playing Anthony Murray in the TV soap opera Brookside. This role won him the 2002 British Soap Award for Best Dramatic Performance, and the storyline in which he featured won Best Storyline. Quinn has also appeared in a children's drama called Cactus Jack.

Many of Quinn's X Factor performances had an old-fashioned feel, and in the earlier stages of the competition he was criticised by Louis Walsh for repeatedly performing swing-style numbers. Sharon Osbourne christened him "panto boy" and the judges generally queried his ability as a pure singer as opposed to a "song-and-dance man". In the later stages the judges seemed satisfied that the range of his performances had widened.

Quinn was in the bottom two in the fifth week along with Nikitta Angus, but survived elimination. Quinn finished as runner-up behind Leona Lewis. He later appeared as a judge on the show Baby Ballroom.

In 2009, Quinn won the popular ITV1 show, Dancing on Ice.

Over 25s

Robert Allen

Robert Allen lived in Essex at the time of the show with his girlfriend Samia, whom he met at an open mike event. Allen has one brother and one sister. He used to be in a gospel group called The Continentals and another group called Citizen K. Allen has trained in method acting, had professional dance tuition and can play clarinet to grade 4. Allen's audition performance of "Let It Be" was well received by the judges, and at bootcamp he sang "Crazy".

Allen was in the bottom two three times, and was eliminated the third time, on 18 November.

Kerry McGregor

Kerry McGregor, a full-time mother from West Lothian, broke her back when she was 13 and was left paraplegic, dependent on a wheelchair and crutches to get around. In 1997, she entered A Song for Europe but lost out to Katrina and the Waves. She also sang on the track "Freedom" by dance act QFX, which reached #21 in the UK Singles Chart. In 2003 she appeared in three episodes of the Channel 4 comedy The Book Group, playing Carol Ann.

In the X Factor audition stages, she performed the songs "Show Me Heaven", "Something", "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" and "You've Got a Friend".

McGregor was eliminated by the judges in the third live show.

Ben Mills

Ben Mills, from Ashford, Kent, had been running his own marquee company for four years. He had been singing for twenty years, and performed in pubs and clubs in his local area. His claim to fame before taking part in The X Factor was putting up a marquee for Jools Holland. He has one sister and one brother. Mills has a Diploma in music and also plays piano and guitar. Mills' biggest performance to date had been at the Guildford Folk and Blues Festival. Mills was also a keyboard player in the tribute band to The Doors called The L.A. Doors.

He was in the bottom two for the first time in week seven alongside Eton Road but survived elimination. Mills was voted off The X Factor in the semi-final, finishing in third place.

Dionne Mitchell

Dionne Mitchell was born and raised in London and lived with her parents at the time of the show. Mitchell has two older sisters and four older brothers. She had been singing for six years after joining a theatre company and performing in a play. After the show the company asked her to stay on. She had also performed in clubs and as a backing singer at concerts.

Mitchell was in the bottom two in week one, but avoided elimination. However, she was automatically eliminated by the public in the third week, having received the fewest votes in the special double-elimination show.

Groups

4Sure

4Sure are Andrew Fisher, Kriss Jones, Donovan Bailey and Jermaine Sanderson.

Donovan Bailey formed the band in 2005 after asking Jones to sing to him over the telephone. Sanderson and Fisher were mutual friends who joined the group at the same time. They had performed around the country at various holiday parks and pubs and chose the name 4Sure because they were "four guys sure of their destiny". In fact, their destiny was elimination in week two.

Since leaving The X Factor 4Sure have been busy writing and recording new songs and have also supported Boyz II Men on their UK Tour as well as other American artists.

Eton Road

Eton Road were originally made up of Anthony Hannah, Danny Morris, David Heath and James Edwards. The name was spelled "Eton Rd" in the show's captions.

The four had known each other since they attended a dance school called Chiltern Casting on Eaton Road together when they were younger. They named themselves after the road, slightly changing the spelling. They had all been singing for a number of years in shows, competitions and cabarets. However, they had only been together as a group for four days when they auditioned for The X Factor. From their first audition, Simon Cowell branded Anthony Hannah as "the odd one" in reference to his distinct look. At the age of 14, Hannah took part in Stars in Their Eyes Kids, performing as Robbie Williams.[4] He also performed with Gareth Gates on Top of the Pops in 2003, after winning this opportunity in a competition.

Eton Road were in the bottom two for the first time on 18 November, but were saved by Cowell. The following week they were in the bottom two again, and were eliminated by Cowell, who had the casting vote on both occasions.

After The X Factor they performed at over 300 gigs and had a very big fan base. In August 2007 Anthony Hannah left and was replaced with 19-year-old Marcus Collins. Hannah has since been in the recording studio and has gigged up and down the country, including an appearance at London's biggest gay club, G-A-Y.[5]Anthony did a one off gig for his fans in the Wirral, in 2009. Anthony is rumoured to appear in Mersey Shore, a spin off of Jersey Shore. He is currently recording abroad and has a famous boyfriend to boot, Harry Derbridge of The Only Way Is Essex. Mersey Shore is based around their relationship. No official comment by Anthony has yet being made.

Eton Road's debut single, "Wishing", received its first airplay on Thursday 4 October 2007 on a local Liverpool late night radio show, though they had not yet signed to a record label. In September 2007 their official website (http://www.etonroad.org.uk) and official MySpace site (http://www.myspace.com/officialetonroad) were launched. Their debut single, "Wishing", was released in January 2008 and reached #5 on the IndieStore.com charts. In January 2008 they were signed by Malcom Feld. In March 2008, Marcus Collins was advised to leave the band. Collins is now pursuing a solo career and writing new material to perform with a 10-piece band. In 2011, Collins auditioned for the eighth series of The X Factor, and made it to the live finals. David Heath, James Edwards and Daniel Morris decided to carry on as a trio, but in October 2008 Eton Road announced that they had split on their official Myspace account.

Just after the split Danny Morris launched a solo career. In October he performed at the Big Brother Halloween Party in Leicester, he switched on Christmas lights in and around Liverpool with Juice FM in November, and in December 2008 he performed alongside Diana Vickers and Ruth Lorenzo (2008 X Factor finalists) in the Pop Factory Tour. He is now signed to o9 Management in Liverpool.

Danny Morris has now started touring with his Overload Tour and is set to perform his show at St George's Hall in Liverpool in May 2009. His tour has also sponsored a local under 16s football club – Parkfield JFC. The Overload Tour

The MacDonald Brothers

The MacDonald Brothers are Brian MacDonald and Craig MacDonald.

Brian (born 28 November 1986) and Craig (born 16 December 1985) lived at the time of the show with their parents and have a half brother from their father's previous relationship. The MacDonald Brothers had been singing together seriously for three years at weddings and clubs, and occasionally performed backing vocals. One of their biggest performances as The MacDonald Brothers had been in front of Hugh Grant at the Ceilidh Dance.

The MacDonald Brothers were repeatedly rubbished by Simon Cowell, who called their performances "dreary" and "pointless" and expressed amazement as the pair continued to survive the vote. They were finally eliminated on 2 December 2006, finishing in overall fourth place. At the series 4 Glasgow audition, Cowell made a "formal apology" to Scotland that they had been represented by the brothers in series 3.

The duo have, however, been popular in their native Scotland, with their first album reaching number 1 in the Scottish charts and number 18 in the UK charts. Their second album, The World Outside, is due for release.[when?]

They have also toured with Westlife and are currently signed to Scottish music label The Music Kitchen.

The Unconventionals

The Unconventionals - Andrew Newey, Drew Jaymson, Elizabeth "Liz" Ewing, Lucy Newton, Nicola Dawn and Tom Newman.

The Unconventionals came together just a few weeks before their appearance on The X Factor. Drew Jaymson and Andrew Newey had known each other since 1990 when they both performed at a charity gig. Liz Ewing was brought into the group after working with Jaymson on the musical Grease. Nicola Dawn and Lucy Newton knew Jaymson from their time working on the Boy George musical Taboo in London's West End. Tom Newman, Dawn's boyfriend, was the only member who was previously unknown to most of the group. The Unconventionals had had only one performance of note, a charity performance at the night club Too 2 Much.

Since leaving the X Factor they have toured alongside the MacDonald Brothers, supporting Westlife at Wembley Arena and The Point, Dublin. They also opened for Tom Jones and Beverley Knight in London.

The Unconventionals officially announced the release of their debut single "Abstract YoYo" for 14 September 2009, as a digital-only release. A video for the single has also been produced http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbwmbRHk5H0 . An physical release album entitled "Flower To The People" was released in July 2010 and features Little Britain's Matt Lucas as a guest rapper. A number of Sir Bernard Chumley's 'associates' are also reported to make an appearance on the record which received extensive airplay and acclaim on BBC Radio 2. There were four further single releases "Push The Button", "Top Of The World", "Strawberry Sunshine" & "Long Distance Christmas". They also recorded the song "Stop Telling Me Lies" written for them by Tom Watkins (Bros, East 17) and Nicky Graham (Bros), and the theme tune to the reality series Working 9 to 5. Along the way, original members of the group Drew, Tom and Andrew were joined by three new girls, West End musical performers Kelly-Ann Gower, Melissa Jacques and Laura Lee.

Original band members from the X Factor series have all achieved individual success - Nicola Dawn has toured the world as lead singer/narrator in Cirque Du Soleil, Lucy Newton went on to perform on the West End stage in such musicals as Wicked (Glinda u/s) and Priscilla Queen of the Desert.[citation needed] and Liz Ewing garnered great acclaim as Shirley also in Priscilla Queen Of The Desert at London's Palace Theatre. Drew Jaymson has continued writing and performing with major names, in addition to his musical theatre activities. Tom Newman toured the UK in the controversial play Future Me, and Andrew Newey has toured internationally as part of another 3 boy 3 girl vocal group The WestEnders.

See also

References

  1. ^ Deanie, Marc (22 July 2010). "Leona told me to go for it on Dont Stop Believing". The Sun (London). http://www.thesun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/3063906/X-Factor-star-Nikitta-Angus-has-second-shot-at-fame.html. 
  2. ^ G*Mania
  3. ^ Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1984-2004.
  4. ^ "Ant takes off pop's Rob". The Sun (London). 1 November 2006. http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,11050-2006500569,00.html. Retrieved 1 November 2006. 
  5. ^ www.myspace.com/anthonyhannah

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