Sinéad Quinn
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Sinéad Quinn (Irish: Sinéad Ní Chuinn) (born March 24, 1980 at Irvinestown, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland) was a contestant in the first series of the UK BBC TV series Fame Academy in 2002. She later went on to sign a record deal, release an album, and have a #2 UK single. She currently lives in London with partner Paul Stewart, drummer with The Feeling.
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[edit] 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) and Lemar Obika. She finished second with 2.5 million of the 6.5 million votes cast[1]. 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.
[edit] Music career
Within a week of leaving the Fame Academy, Sinéad signed a £1 million, five album record deal with Mercury Records [2].
Her debut single, "I Can’t Break Down", was released February 10, 2003. It reached #2 in the British charts, being beaten to the top spot by t.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 #19 in the charts, and her partly self-written album, Ready To Run, manage a peak of just #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.
[edit] 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 the National Exhibition Centre and in 2005 she supported Children In Need with a performance and sang at the switch-on of Christmas lights in Coventry. She has also took part on RTÉ's TV show - "The Lyrics Board" and Sinéad has also performed on New Year's Eve, 2005, on an RTÉ television show - "Everyone's A Winner", in which she sung 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 [3].
Sinead 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 the RAF Akrotiri base, unusual because this meant it was open to anyone living on the base, including families of forces members, whereas these shows are reserved for servicemen on operations.
Sinead has just signed on to play the role of Beth in the award-winning Live production of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds which will tour Arenas in the UK in December 2007.
[edit] Discography
Ready To Run - July 14, 2003. Highest chart position: 48
