Ray Quinn

Infobox musical artist 2
Name = Ray Quinn
Background = solo_singer

---

Birth_name = Raymond Arthur Quinn
Alias = Ray Quinn, Quinny
Born = birth date and age|1988|8|25
Origin = Childwall, Liverpool, England
Instruments = Singing
Genre = Vocal jazz, Pop , Swing.
Occupation(s) = Singer, Actor, Student
Years_active = 2000–Present
Label = Sony BMG (2006–2007)
Associated_acts = Leona Lewis
URL = [http://www.rayquinnmusic.com/index.html rayquinnmusic.com]
Current_members =
Past_members =

Raymond Arthur Quinn (born 25 August 1988 in Liverpool, Merseyside) is an English actor,singer and dancer, third of three sons brought up in Childwall by parents Val and Ray Snr. Ray now resides in Widnes with his partner of three years Kirsty McInerney.

Early life

Quinn attended Rudston Junior School in Childwall and Gateacre Comprehensive School, Liverpool. From a very young age a major influence in his life was his singing coach Suzanne Taylor. His interests in music often led to him being isolated from his peers during his childhood, he described his schoollife as "humming his favourite songs in the corner of the playground whilst all the other lads would be playing football or other things that teenagers would get up to. Quinn went on to study Performing Arts at Merseyside Dance and Drama College for a three year course where he completed two years before joining the X Factor finals.

Acting career

Quinn is known for playing teenager Anthony Murray in the Channel 4 soap opera "Brookside".

Filmography

* "Merseybeat" (2003)
* "Doctors", "Owen Miller" (2006)
* "The Afternoon Play", "John Reilly" (2005)
* "Brookside", "Anthony Murray" (2000-2003)
* "Bulletproof", 'Ben' (2006) short film, Cannes Film Festival
* "Cactus Jack", 'John' (2005) Short film, BBC

Theatre

1998
* "Me and My Girl", Dancer - Empire Theatre, Liverpool
* "Peter Pan", dancer, actor and singer (Lost Boy) - Neptune Theatre, Liverpool

2004
* "Buster", Actor - Liverpool Playhouse

2008
* "Grease", dancer, actor and singer (Doody) - Piccadilly Theatre, London [cite web |url=http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/news/latest/view/item100392/Quinn-swings-into-Grease/ |title=The Official London Theatre Guide - Quinn swings into Grease |accessdate=2008-05-29 |date=2008-05-28 |work=The Official London Theatre Guide |publisher=The Society of London Theatre]

Ray will also be appearing in this years Production of Aladdin at the [http://www.thebroadwaytheatre.co.uk Broadway Theatre] , Peterborough. He will be playing the role of Aladdin. For more information [http://www.downtownproductions.co.uk Click Here]

Dance

Disco - British Champion; Ballroom - British Champion, European Champion, World Latin Champion;Latin - British Champion;Modern - British Champion;Ballet - Advanced Level;Tap - Advanced Level;Modern - Advanced Level;Jazz - Advanced Level;Acrobatic Skills i.e. Summersaults, no hand cartwheels

Radio

The Lost Boys - Narrator of book for Big Toe Radio, September 2004

Millions - Narrator of the film for Big Toe Radio, November 2004

Awards

* 2002 - Best Dramatic Performance, The British Soap Awards
* 2002 - Best Storyline, The British Soap Awards
* 2002 - Best Young Actor, Inside Soap Awards
* 2002 - Best Performance in a Network Soap, Royal TV Society
* 2005 - Manchester Talent Competition- £5000 prize
* 2007 - Scouseology Award, Best Personality
* 2007 - Liverpool Local Hero Awards, Contribution to Music

inging career

February 2005 - Tsunami Appeal - Performance - Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.

Quinn finished a respectable 2nd in the 3rd series of The X Factor (2006). He was runner-up to Leona Lewis who was said to be "the best contestant ever on reality TV".

Many of Ray's X Factor performances had an old-fashioned feel, and in the earlier stages of the competition he was criticised by Louis 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 some of the judges seemed satisfied that the range of his performances had widened. Quinn earned the nickname of 'the Munster' in the press, for his strong physical resemblance to one of the Munsters. Quinn did not accept this as an insult, instead choosing to receive it as a compliment.

Ray was in the bottom two in the fifth week along with Nikitta, but survived elimination. Ray was the runner up, finishing in second place behind Leona Lewis.

He was in Simon Cowell's category, the 16-24s. Initially, Quinn didn't make Cowell's final seven, but Cowell felt he had made a mistake, and expanded the final seven to a final eight, including Quinn. Quinn was eventually chosen to be in Simon's final four, and went through to the live rounds on Saturday nights and eventually to the final itself. After X Factor, Quinn was signed by Sony BMG and on January 16 2007 recorded a swing album [cite news
title = X Factor loser Ray wins record deal
url = http://www.examiner.ie/breaking/story.asp?j=13331950&p=y333y996&n=13332038&x=
publisher = Irish Examiner
date = 18 December 2006
accessdate = 2006-12-18] at the Capitol Records Tower in Los Angeles [cite news
title = X Factor's Ray heads to Sinatra studios
url = http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds40862.html | publisher = Digital Spy
date = 18 December 2006
accessdate = 2006-12-18] His debut album "Doing It My Way" was released 12 March 2007, the same day as fellow X Factor finalist Ben Mills. His debut album went straight to number one in the UK charts. His album also went Gold in the first week [cite news
title = Quinn wins X Factor album battle
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6464527.stm
publisher = BBC
date = 18 March 2007
accessdate = 2007-03-18]

Ray participated in The X Factor UK and Ireland Tour during February and March 2007

Ray embarked on his own (sell out) solo tour in September through to November 2007 [cite news
title = Ray Quinn announces UK tour
url = http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/xfactor/a42842/ray-quinn-announces-uk-tour.html
publisher = Digitalspy
date = 17 February 2007
accessdate = 2007-03-13]

BBC Songs of Praise - Big Sing - PerformanceBBC Songs of Praise - Christmas Big Sing - Performance

Ray was dropped by his record label Sony BMG on 6 November 2007 [ [http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/xfactor/a79304/ray-quinn-dropped-by-record-label.html The X Factor - News - Ray Quinn dropped by record label - Digital Spy ] ]

In a Countdown of 'The Top 50 Reality TV Stars' presented by Chantelle Houghton on the music channel Smash Hits Ray appeared at number 30.

In November 2007 Ray recorded a cover of the song 'You to me are everything' for the album 'Liverpool: Number ones Album', and in January 2008 Ray performed at the Number One Project concert at the Echo Arena, Liverpool.

Ray continues to perform at public and corporate gigs and makes regular television appearances. In June of this year he will be going on the west end show Grease playing the T-bird "Doody" until November when he will join the cast of Aladdin at the [http://www.thebroadwaytheatre.co.uk Broadway Theatre] , Peterborough. He will be playing the role of Aladdin. For more information [http://www.downtownproductions.co.uk Click Here]

Discography

Albums

Other activities

Ray was a judge on reality show "" in 2007, having been a Champion Ballroom dancer himself, alongside Theatre and Television actress, Bonnie Langford and Ballroom Dancing Legend, Pierre Dulaine.

Ray Quinn also appeared on Britain Sings Christmas in December 2007 alongside many celebrities.

BBC - CBBC March 2008 - Ray completed all of his challenges on Hider in the House.

ITV - June 2008 - This Morning - Ray performed Summer Nights with the West End cast of Grease. ITV - September 2008 - Everybody Dance Now - A one off show presented by Fearne Cotton celebrating the UK's favourite dance crazes - Ray performed Greased Lighting with the West End cast of Grease.

Interests - Ray likes to keep fit by going to the gym, loves driving, sketching, drawing, rollar blading and artwork.

References

External links

* [http://www.rayquinnmusic.com Official website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/rayquinn30010 Official myspace]
* [http://www.downtownproductions.co.uk Aladdin Panto]

*imdb name|id=0703967|name=Raymond Quinn