X Factor :Previous X Factor contestants.

Steve Brookstein winner of 1st X F actor show.

2007-12-09T03:29:00.000-08:00

Steve Desmond Brookstein was born 10 November 1968. He is a British singer, probably best known as the first winner of The X Factor in December 2004 with two thirds of the telephone votes.

On 8 January 2005 Steve Brookstein's cover of Against All Odds reached number one in the UK singles chart, staying there for one week. His first album Heart & Soul debuted at the top of the UK album chart in 2005.

In 1996, Steve had previously appeared on LWT's The Big Big Talent Show, compered by Jonathan Ross, where he came second. He also sang in a northern soul group called 'The Four Vandals'.
Steve Brookstein's debut album was released 9 May 2005, five months after his single went to number one. The album also went to number 1 in the UK. 12 weeks later, just eight months after winning the competition, he was dropped. By November 2005, Brookstein was once more singing in pubs.

Maria Lawson

2007-09-08T07:52:00.000-07:00

Maria Lawson born and raised in London. She is the youngest in a family of five, with three brothers and a sister. She started singing at the age of five. Before finding fame on the TV show The X Factor, Lawson was in a band called Skye. This band was managed by her husband. Maria was also represented well by the independent publisher, Peer Music.. Maria Lawson started her career as a singer/songwriter. In 2004, she auditioned for the 1st series of The X Factor but she was rejected by judge Simon Cowell. Later n 2005 she auditioned for the 2nd series of the show.
On the 5th round of the show, Lawsons performance of "Brown Sugar," by The Rolling Stones was widely regarded unsuitable, lyrically and in terms of its appeal to a largely teenage audience, and she finished in the bottom two with Irish 4 piece The Conway Sisters.

Addictiv Ladies

2007-08-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

Addictiv Ladies Fleur East, Nicola Owusu-Akontoh, Vivienne Umeh and Stephanie Yamson, from Walthamstow london.The four 17 year olds are very beautiful and glamorous. Faye Sawyer, who is stylist for all the acts this year, has done the ladies proud. Addictiv Ladies is made up of Fleur East, 17, Nicola Owusu-Arontoh, 16, Stephanie Yamson, 17, and Vivienne Umeh, 17. The girls are all studying for A-Levels and have known each other since nursery.Their favourite artists are Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men. The group was formed three years ago as the girls used to sing together at a drama and song youth centre and decided that they make a good group. Simon Cowel says to the girls after there 2nd performance on the show "I've got to tell you girls, I had a couple of sleepless nights after I put you through. However, I think you did fantastic tonight, like Sharon said, I love your youth, I love your energy and I'm glad I put you through girls.

The Conway Sisters

2007-08-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

The Conway Sisters were a semi-pro singing group from Ireland who have fame through their appearances on The X Factor. Laura, Marie, Sharon and Sinead Conway grew up with a passion and love of music and performing. In 2003, they released their debut single, "What Do You Do?", which debuted in the Top 20 and launched a tour of Ireland. A second Top 20 single "Now That It's Over" followed, and in 2005 their third single "Miss You", was released, which also entered the Top 20 spot. Week 5 of The X Factor final stages, The Conways found themselves in the bottom two acts with crowd favourite Maria Lawson. Lawson was voted off by Louis which resulted in booing from the audience. The decision provoked controversy in the media, when it was revealed that Louis had known the Conways prior to the competition. The Conways worked for the next episode of the show without wanting Simons guidance, an act which the judge said earned the group much respect from him. Once they were voted off the show, the group claimed that Louis had been their real mentor. Simon Cowell said they were four of the most talented singers he had had the privilage to work with. On the final X Factor show, they performed with the other 7 finalists from the live shows at venues throughout the UK. In August 2006 Laura announced that the Conways had split up and want to pursue individual career paths. Laura Conway intends to pursue a solo music career and has her own website and forum.

Eton Road

2007-08-27T09:55:00.000-07:00

Eton Road, Anthony Hannah 17, Daniel Morris 17, David Heath 19 and James Edwards 20, The four have known each other since they attended a dance school, Chiltern Casting together when they were much younger. They named themselves after the road, slightly changing the spelling. They have all been singing for many years in shows, competitions andmany gigs, but they had only been together as a group four days when they auditioned The X Factor. Simon branded Anthony as "the odd one" in reference to his distinctive look. At the age of 14, Anthony took part in the kids version of Stars in Their Eyes, performing as Robbie Williams. He has also performed with Gareth Gates on the Top of the Pops in 2003. Eton Road were in the bottom two for the 1st time on 18 November, but Simon Cowell saved them. The following week they were in the bottom two again, and were eliminated by Cowell.

The Unconventionals

2007-08-27T09:50:00.000-07:00

The Unconventionals. Andrew Newey (38), Drew Jaymson (41), Elizabeth "Liz" Ewing (37), Lucy Newton (25), Nicola Dawn (33) and Tom Newman (39). were eliminated in the first week The Unconventionals came together just a few months before their performance on X Factor. Drew and Andrew have known each other since 1990 when they both performed at gigs. They now work together at the London Palladium. Drew is an usher and Andrew works in sales. Liz was introduced into the group after working with Drew on the musical Grease where they played boyfriend and girlfriend. Nicola and Lucy knew Drew from their time working on the Boy George musical Taboo. Tom is the only band member who was previously unknown to the group. He is Nicola's boyfriend. The Unconventionals have had only one performance since the x factor which was a charity performance at the night club Too 2 Much.

Journey South

2007-08-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

Journey South are a musical duo from Middlesbrough, England. They initially performed in pubs and clubs throughout Great Britain for over 8 years before achieving 3rd place fame on the The X Factor in 2005. The duo have been influenced by Bon Jovi, U2 and Mary J Blige for their work. They have signed with BMG, the label which they released their debut album, Journey South, on March 20, 2006.
On 26 March 2006, their debut album entered the UK album chart at # 1 selling 216,000 albums in its 1st week, beating X Factor finalist Andy Abraham. Also their 1st week sales were higher than Shayne Ward's who won the X Factor show. Journey South released their first single on 19 June 2006. It was a double A-side featuring their cover of Ocean Colour Scene's "The Circle".
Journey South appeared on the P&O ferry in June 2007 as a cabaret act, together with Chico Slimani and Steve Brookstein.
Journey South's second album is set to be released in October 2007 along with a single in late September 2007.

Brenda Edwards

2007-08-27T09:28:00.000-07:00

Brenda was in the '25 and over' category. The first show saw her singing the Dusty Springfield hit 'Son of a Preacher Man'. Them followed by performances of 'Rescue Me', and 'I'll Never Love This Way Again'which won her a place in the semi-finals, where she was voted out after her version of Aretha Franklin's 'Respect' and Nilsson's 'Without You'. Brenda was born in Luton, Bedfordshire and has a brother called Rodney. On 22 December 1974, her parents were tragically killed in a car accident, so both Brenda and Rodney were raised by their grandmother, aunties and uncles. Brenda’s grandmother was a member of the local Pentecostal church and Brenda began attending from the age of 8. It was here that Brenda was to first realise her love of music by singing in the Sunday school junior choir.

Chico

2007-08-26T05:40:00.000-07:00

In 2005, Chico auditioned for The X Factor show. He practiced his singing mostly in the bathroom.
His real name is Yousseph Slimani (born April 2, 1971),and of Moroccan descent who rose to prominence in the UK after reaching the quarter finals of the 2005 series of the talent show.
Chico was born in Wales to a Sunni Muslim mother and Sufi Muslim father, but when his parents split up he went to live with his grandparents in Morocco
Chico's 1st audition was very notable because judge Simon Cowell walked out in disgust after his audition but Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne voted him through to the second round.Chico released his debut single, "It's Chico Time", in February 2006, which entered the UK Singles Chart at number one on 5 March 2006. He also took part in a nationwide X Factor tour, which began in Newcastle upon Tyne. "It's Chico Time" remained at # one for two weeks. Chico's 2nd single, a cover of the song "D.I.S.C.O." entered the chart at number twenty-four the following August.

Andy Abraham

2007-08-26T05:34:00.000-07:00

Andrew Abraham (born 1964 in London). He was the runner up of the second series of The X Factor.
Before applying for The show, Andy was a dustman. Andy has 2 children by his wife Denise, and a daughter called Tara and a son called Jacob.
Andy was pipped to the post onThe X Factor by Shayne Ward by only 1.2% of the public vote for the show. Andy was mentored by Sharon Osbourne throughout the competition although fellow judges Simon Cowell and Louis also praised the singer all through the competition.
On 26 March 2006, Andy's debut album entered the UK album chart at # 2 selling 176,000 albums in its 1st week being beaten to the top spot by fellow X Factor finalists Journey South.
In 2006, Andy's debut album is the 12th highest selling album of the year with total sales of around 252,000.
Andy's second album Soul Man wasn't as popular yet it still managed to make the Top 20 in the UK Charts.

Ray Quinn

2007-08-26T04:31:00.000-07:00

Quinn was runner up to Leona Lewis in the third series of the famous talent show X Factor He was in Simon cowell's category, the 16-24s, Ray didn't make Cowell's final seven, but Cowell felt he had made a mistake, and expanded the final seven to 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 16-1st 2007 recorded a Swing album.
His debut album went straight to # one in the UK charts. His album also went gold in the first week.
Raymond Quinn attended Rudston Junior School in Childwall,Ray described his school life as "humming my favourite songs in the corner of the playground while the rest of the lads would be playing football or other things that teenagers would normally do.

Shane Ward

2007-08-18T18:05:00.000-07:00

Shayne Thomas Ward (born 16 October 1984 in, Manchester) is an English pop singer of Irish descent who rose to fame in UK and Ireland after winning the 2005 series of the talent show The X Factor. Ward has a long-term girlfriend, Faye. He has six siblings, a twin sister named Emma. before his participation in The X Factor, Shane was in a band called Destiny with two women named Tracy Murphy and Tracey Lyle. They performed at pubs, clubs and other venues. Ward also reached the final thirty of Pop stars the rival. His 1st single, "That's My Goal", was released in the UK on December 21, 2005 and became the Christmas # one in 2005. It sold 313,000 copies on its first day of sales.

Leona Lewis 2006 winner

2007-08-18T10:36:00.001-07:00

Leona Lewis who won last years X Factor. She was auditioned in London singing ‘Over The Rainbow’ by Eva Cassidy. All three Judges were impressed with the performance, with Simon saying “she looked terrific and when it was good it was great.” Louis agreed saying “she was the whole package.” Simon, Sharon and Louis all sent Leona to Bootcamp.On the first day of Bootcamp Leona sang ‘I Have Nothing’ by Whitney Houston. Simon and Sinitta both agreed that she was terrific and looked like a star.
History. Leona is the middle child of three, with two brothers, Kyle and Bradley.Leona has been singing since she could talk, but really started to hone her talent when she enrolled at Sylvia Young and then the Brits Academy. At the age of 13, Leona entered the Lady D under-18 talent show at the Hackney Empire, and won.Leona has taken part in many talent competitions, shows and acoustic gigs with her major performances including The Hackney Empire.Although Leona’s big passion is singing she is also a keen dancer and actor. Leona is currently in a relationship with Lou who is 21. They’ve been together four years, but have lived on the same street since they were both ten. Leona has another passion, which is her pet rotweiller Rome.