Susanne Manning

Susanne Courtney (née Manning) (born 1982) was a contestant on the second series of "Pop Idol" in the UK in 2003. She was known for her husky voice and caused the most headlines out of all the contestants at the time. She now appears on the Andrew Peach Show on BBC Radio Berkshire, broadcasting in Reading every weekday morning.

At her audition she sang "Killing Me Softly". Neil Fox and Nicki Chapman reckoned she had potential and both voted 'yes' to put her through. Pete Waterman, however, said that he saw her music career as a crazy dream and voted 'no'. Simon Cowell then told her that he disagreed with Pete and she was put through to the theatre stages.

The judges failed to see anything special in her at the theatre stage but put her through the first round. She herself never expected to get through but the judges gave her a chance in the top 50.

In her group heat, she sang "Take a Little Piece of my Heart" by Janis Joplin. She received a mixed response. However, she got the third highest votes and missed out on a place in the top 10 by only 0.7%. She was pipped by Brian Ormond and Kirsty Crawford.

However, during the wildcard show, she was the judges first choice and the public gave her the highest amount of votes and she made the top 12.

At the start of the live shows, she became the favourite. She sang "Ironic" and Pete Waterman called it "bloody marvellous". In the first week she got the highest votes; during the second week Simon Cowell branded her as "awkward". She still managed the 4th highest votes. In the top 6 show, where she sang "Ticket to Ride" during the Beatles week, she ended up in the bottom 2 with Roxanne Cooper but managed to survive till the top 5.

At that point, stories emerged of her branding fellow contestant and overall winner Michelle McManus a "fat cow". Susanne denied the claims vigorously, and many suspected that it was a story leaked by Pop Idol PR to boost ratings and enhance the chances for Michelle to win the contest. However, she lost a massive chunk of her fan support and was voted off.

"Pop Idol" performances

Post-Idol Career

After being voted off Pop Idol she joined BBC Radio Berkshire as a broadcast assistant. She now features on the station as a presenter for The Session show, and also on the Andrew Peach breakfast show. In 2005 she married Andrew Courtney, former drummer of Pure Reason Revolution.

External links

* [http://www.broken-tears.org/fan/susanne/ Susanne Manning Fan]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2006/02/01/radioberks_susanne_courtney_feature.shtml Susanne Courtney on BBC Radio Berkshire]