- Sinéad Quinn
Sinéad Quinn (Irish: "Sinéad Ní Chuinn") (born
24 March 1980 atIrvinestown ,County Fermanagh ,Northern Ireland ), graduate of theUniversity of Hull was a contestant in the first series of the UKBBC TV series "Fame Academy " in 2002. She later went on to sign arecord deal , release an album, and have a #2 UK single. She currently lives inSt Albans with fiancé Paul Stewart, drummer withThe Feeling . They became engaged on9 October 2007 and will marry in Ireland in December 2008."Fame Academy"
Sinéad did not enter the "Fame Academy" in the same way as the other contestants. The first eleven contestants were picked by the show's judges, but the final contestant was picked through a public vote in the first programme of the series. Sinéad,
David Sneddon and Paul MacDonald sang in this vote but Sinéad won the public's support. She gained 51% of the votes and won her place in the "Fame Academy".The fan base Sinéad built up in the first programme stayed with her during the whole series, and allowed her to reach the final. During this time she sang a range of songs from Macy Gray's "I Try" and Garth Brook's "
If Tomorrow Never Comes " to "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction " and "Don't Speak".In the final, Sinéad was up against David Sneddon (who had entered the Academy at a later date due to
Naomi Roper pulling out due to illness) andLemar Obika . She finished second with 2.5 million of the 6.5 million votes cast [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/2743985.stm] . Although missing out on the guaranteed record deal and living the "lifestyle of a star" for a year, she had the attention of the music industry.Music career
Within a week of leaving the "Fame Academy", Sinéad signed a £1 million, five album record deal with
Mercury Records [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/2593633.stm] .Her debut single, "I Can’t Break Down", was released
10 February 2003 . It reached number 2 in the British charts, being beaten to the top spot byt.A.T.u. . The single sold around 70,000 copies, finishing in 65th place for the top selling UK singles of 2003.Sinéad's follow up single "What You Need Is" only reached number 19 in the charts, and her self-written album, "Ready To Run", peaked at number 48.
Sinéad's only other releases to date was on the "Fame Academy Album" alongside all the other Fame Academy contestants and guest vocals on fellow contestant
Malachi Cush 's debut album.Live performances and songwriting
Both before and after "Fame Academy", Sinéad was a keen songwriter and performer. The show allowed her to develop her song writing talents and provided her with her first ever singing lessons. The "Fame Academy Tour", which followed the series, gave Sinéad her first major public performances outside a TV studio.
In the three years since leaving the "Fame Academy", Sinéad has had a regular list of public performances. With the backing of a guitar based group she went on a University tour in 2003. She has played to a full-house at
Music Live 2003 at theNational Exhibition Centre and in 2005 she supportedChildren in Need with a performance and sang at the switch-on of Christmas lights inCoventry . She has also taken part inRTÉ 's TV show - "The Lyrics Board " and on New Year's Eve, 2005, she performed on another RTÉ television show - "Everyone's A Winner", singing Sheryl Crow's song - "Everyday Is A Winding Road".Also in 2005 Sinéad was invited by the Irish President,
Mary McAleese , "to a reception to celebrate (her) contribution to the entertainment industry in Ireland" at the Presidents official residence,Áras an Uachtaráin [http://www.sineadquinn.info/forum/index.php?showtopic=2802] .Sinéad has been touring with SSVC performing for the
British Armed Forces around the world. Of note is the fact that while in Cyprus a special "Going Out Tonight" show was put on for those living on theRAF Akrotiri base, unusual because this meant it was open to anyone living on the base, including families of forces members, whereas these shows are normally reserved forservicemen on operations.Sinéad played the role of Beth in the 2007 live tour of
Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds . Also in 2007 she performed at and judged each of the nine regional finals for Girl Guiding UK's talent competition 'Guiding Star' [http://www.girlguiding.org.uk/guidingstar/] and also appeared at the Grand Final in Sheffield on30 June 2007 as a performer and a judge.Whilst she's concentrated on smaller intimate gigs in 2008, mainly in smaller locations in London, she'll be the support act for
Lulu at theChichester Festivities in July.Discography
Albums
ingles
External links
* [http://www.sineadquinn.info Sinéad Quinn official fan site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/sineadquinn Sinéad Quinn's MySpace]
* [http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=33480523622 Sinéad Quinn Facebook Group]
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