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Carly Smithson

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Carly Smithson

Carly Smithson (née Hennessy) (born September 12, 1983) is an Irish singer, and a finalist on the seventh season of American Idol.

Biography

Early years

Carly Smithson was born Carly Hennessy in Dublin, Ireland to Luke Hennessy and Mary Murray. She grew up in Dublin. When she was 14, she moved to the United States. She currently lives in San Diego, California with her American husband, Todd Smithson.

Career

Smithson released an album for MCA Records called Ultimate High in 2001 as Carly Hennessy.[1] The album did not find an audience, selling fewer than 400 copies in the first three months[2] [3]despite MCA Records spending over $2 million on the production and promotion of the album.[3] The album was released on November 13th, 2001. [3] Its commercial failure was documented in an article in The Wall Street Journal.[4] Despite low record sales, she later won a Meteor Award in 2003 for Best Irish Female Singer. [5]

Hennessy was signed to MCA Records during the same time period that Randy Jackson (an American Idol judge) was the senior vice president of A&R at MCA Records.[6] Hennessy was at MCA in 1999. Randy started at MCA in 1998 and was there for 4 years.[7] According to a new report, a former employee of the label said that Jackson was aware of Hennessy, and even complimented her talents on a number of occasions.[8]

Some of Hennessy's music was written by Danielle Brisebois, who has also written for Natasha Bedingfield and Kelly Clarkson. One of the songs by Brisebois – "Just Missed the Train", originally recorded by Norwegian artist Trine Rein – was featured on both Smithson's album and Clarkson's debut album Thankful.

Hennessy auditioned for American Idol in Las Vegas during the show's fifth season; she made it to Hollywood but was disqualified purportedly because her visa had expired. She married a US citizen at some point after this. [9]

Hennessy (now going by her married name of Carly Smithson) successfully auditioned again for Season 7 of American Idol and made the top 24. Shortly thereafter, articles appeared in the mainstream press pointing out connections that had been reported in various blogs for the previous month [10] [11]. Smithson acknowledged her previous record deal on the February 20, 2008 episode of American Idol, and stated that the record label 'imploded'. Smithson was actually dropped from the label one year prior [12] to the purchase of MCA Records by Geffen Records.

American Idol performances during voting weeks

Week # Theme Song choice Original artist Order # Result
Top 24 (12 Women) 1960s "The Shadow of Your Smile" Tony Bennett 12 Safe
Top 20 (10 Women) 1970s "Crazy on You" Heart 1 Safe
Top 16 (8 Women) 1980s "I Drove All Night" Cyndi Lauper 4 Safe
Top 12 Lennon/McCartney "Come Together" The Beatles 5 Safe
Top 11 The Beatles "Blackbird" The Beatles 7 Bottom 3
Top 10 Year They Were Born "Total Eclipse of the Heart" Bonnie Tyler 7 Safe
Top 9 Dolly Parton "Here You Come Again" Dolly Parton 5 Safe
Top 8 Inspirational Music "The Show Must Go On" Queen 6 Bottom 31
Top 7 Mariah Carey "Without You" Mariah Carey 2 Eliminated


Discography

Albums

Singles

  • "I'm Gonna Blow Your Mind" (2001)
  • "Beautiful You" (2001)

Filmography

  • Fools of Fortune (1990)

References

  1. ^ Ho, Rodney (2008-02-18). "ATL has several ties to 'Idol' top 24". Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  2. ^ Pop Singer Fails To Strike a Chord Despite the Millions Spent By MCA
  3. ^ a b c http://aaahq.org/southeast/2003/cases/SubID_249.pdf
  4. ^ Ordoñez, Jennifer. "Pop Singer Fails To Strike a Chord Despite the Millions Spent By MCA". The Wall Street Journal. Mirror
  5. ^ ShowBiz Ireland - Samantha Mumba's Nipples Pop-out for the 2003 Meteor Awards: Photos
  6. ^ Jackson Playing In Mca's Band | Business solutions from AllBusiness.com
  7. ^ The Daily Vidette
  8. ^ Star Picks Up On Carly Smithson-Randy Jackson Connection | Vote For The Worst
  9. ^ Gary Levin, "Cowell juggles many duties", USA Today, November 17, 2005.
  10. ^ Irish Idol: Smithson's Secret Past - Reality Rocks
  11. ^ Gorman, Steve (2008-02-15). "Ex-MCA flop advances on American Idol". Reuters.
  12. ^ http://aaahq.org/southeast/2003/cases/SubID_249.pdf
  13. ^ a b Carly Hennessy : Artists

External links

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