More Info on Carly HennessySimilar Undetermined MusicSearch Artistopia
Biography
Infobox musical artist| name = Carly Smithson| image = Carly Smithson in parade.jpg| caption = Smithson in the American Idol Experience motorcade at Walt Disney World in 2009.| background = solo_singer| birth_name = Carly Sarah Hennessy| birth_date = Birth date and age|mf=yes|1983|9|12| birth_place = Dublin, Ireland|Dublin , Republic of Ireland|Ireland | origin = San Diego, California , United States | genre = Rock music|Rock , Pop music|pop , Soul music|soul | occupation = Singer-songwriter , actress | instrument = singing|Vocals | years_active = 1990–present| label = Independent (1993–1999) MCA Records (1999–2002) Universal Republic (2009–2011)Cite news| url= http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS171127+28-Oct-2009+BW20091028 | work=Reuters | title=Universal Republic Records Signs New Rock Band We Are the Fallen | date=October 28, 2009| associated_acts = We Are the Fallen | website = http://www.myspace.com/carlysmithson www.CarlySmithson.com Carly Smithson (born September 12, 1983 as Carly Sarah Hennessy http://www.tv.com/carly-smithson/person/613676/summary.html) is an Irish people|Irish Soul music|soul / pop rock singer-songwriter and actress who was the sixth place finalist on the American Idol (season 7)|seventh season of American Idol . In 2001, Smithson released her first studio album for MCA Records called Ultimate High . Smithson was dropped from the record label in 2002. After being introduced to record producer Ben Moody in early 2009, plans for Smithson's post- Idol solo album were scrapped and instead she is now the lead singer of the gothic metal band We Are the Fallen .Cite news|url= http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/americanidoltracker/2009/06/carly-smithson-to-join-forces-with-exevanescence-musicians-to-become-the-fallen.html |title=Carly Smithson to join forces with ex-Evanescence musicians to become the Fallen |publisher=LA Times |date=June 18, 2009 |accessdate=June 18, 2009
Biography
Early life and education
Smithson was born in Dublin , Ireland , to her parents Marie Murray and Luke Hennessy.Cite news| url= http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1014678641479060480.html? mod=Page+One | work=The Wall Street Journal | title=Pop Singer Fails to Strike a Chord Despite the Millions Spent by MCA | first1=Jennifer | last1=Ordoñez | date=February 26, 2002 http://blog.mattgoyer.com/stories/2002/02/21/popSingerFailsToStrikeAChordDespiteTheMillionsSpentByMCA.html After living 6 months in Dublin, Smithson and her parents moved to Johannesburg , South Africa . She lived there until they moved back to Dublin when she was 4 years old. Smithson began singing around the age of 4 and has also had some experience with acting. She was featured in advertisements for Denny's Sausage for three years, starting at the age of five. In 1990, Smithson played Young Marianne in Fools of Fortune . http://www.geffen.com/carlyhennessy Carly Hennessy. Geffen . 2001-08-08. Two years later, in 1992, she joined the cast of Les Misérables and starred as Little Cosette in Ireland. When she was 10 years old, she released an independent CD titled ''Carly's Christmas Album which was released in the United Kingdom . When Smithson was 14, her parents divorced . A year later, in 1999, she and her father moved to the United States in order for Smithson to pursue a career in music. Smithson is a Dropping out|high school dropout .
Personal life
After Smithson's record deal with MCA Records dissolved, she decided to take a break from music. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1586223/20080424/index.jhtml Carly Smithson Says 'Idol' Is 'A Bit Of A Struggle For The Ladies'. MTV . 2001-04-24. She met her husband Todd Smithson, a tattoo artist, in San Diego . They lived in Marietta, Georgia , for a few years, where Smithson worked at an Irish bar called Fado. In a coincidental connection, Michael Johns (singer)|Michael Johns (an American Idol season 7 finalist) performed weekly at Fado, under his real name Michael Lee. http://www.accessatlanta.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/accessatlanta/peachbuzz/entries/2008/04/25/a_good_sign_for.html 'Idol' Hopeful Ousted, But Upbeat. Atlanta Journal-Constitution . 2008-04-25. In 2005, Smithson and her husband moved to San Diego , where they currently reside. Smithson has an older half-brother named Nik http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/carly-smithson/bio/292522 Carly Smithson Biography. TV Guide . and a younger sister named Shannon. Smithson also works at Nothing Sacred, a tattoo shop in San Diego owned by her husband. Smithson has nine tattoos. During the time that she was on Idol , reports claimed that her unfinished sleeve tattoo on her right arm seemed to be a drawing of Amy Winehouse . However, in a interview after her elimination, Smithson clarified that it is a drawing of a Japan ese Geisha , based on a painting that she owns. http://realitytvmagazine.sheknows.com/blog/2008/04/28/american-idol-carly-smithson-explains-tattoo-is-not-amy-winehouse/
Career
Ultimate High (1999–2001)
Main|Ultimate HighBefore the marriage to her husband Todd Smithson, Smithson (as Carly Hennessy) released an album for MCA Records called Ultimate High in 2001. Despite MCA Records spending over $2 million on the production and promotion of Smithson's debut album, it sold only 300 copies in its first three months.Cite web|url= http://aaahq.org/southeast/2003/cases/SubID_249.pdf |title=The Brief Career of Carly Hennessy (A Look at the Economics of Pop Music) |format=pdf |work=American Accounting Association Smithson has stated that the uptempo party record did not have the opportunity to find an audience, due to it being released so soon after the events of 9/11, as well as the record company's untimely merger with a parent company. Though some established artists like SherylCrow survived the merger, yet-to-be-released artists did not. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html? res=9C0CE2DB143CF932A15751C1A96E958260& n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/M/Music. The New York Times In the album, Smithson covered Danielle Brisebois ' "Just Missed the Train". Kelly Clarkson covered the same song on her 2003 album, Thankful (Kelly Clarkson album)|Thankful . After American Idol , Ultimate High was quietly reissued by Universal Music, both to physical and online music retailers. For a brief period after Smithson's elimination, the album peaked in the Top 10 of Amazon.com|Amazon 's Top Selling Digital Albums, as well as being featured on their MP3 homepage.
American Idol
Season 5
Smithson auditioned in Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas , Nevada for the American Idol (season 5)|fifth season of American Idol and was unanimously accepted by the judges. However, she was later disqualified because the paperwork for her work visa was delayed.
Season 7
In 2007, Smithson auditioned again for the American Idol (season 7)|seventh season of American Idol making it to Hollywood, but this time with the proper paperwork. She advanced with a unanimous vote after singing " I'm Every Woman ". Simon Cowell noted that he remembered her from her season 5 audition. In Hollywood, she sang Heart (band)|Heart 's " Alone (Heart song)|Alone " for her audition and once again received a unanimous praise from the judges. Smithson was one of the first foreign contestants to make the show's Top 12 with the other one being Michael Johns who was an Australian . Smithson was eliminated on April 23, 2008. Her final song performance was " Superstar (Jesus Christ Superstar song)|Superstar " from AndrewLloyd Webber 's Jesus Christ Superstar . The performance was considered to be one of her best by the judges. The day before she was eliminated Cowell stated, "I thought that was the best performance of the night so far.", prompting Smithson to pull out a T-shirt sent to her by her fans with a sign on it that said "Simon Loves Me (this week)". After it was announced that she was eliminated, Cowell said: "I apologize for giving you a compliment last night—kiss of death, but let me tell you, Carly, you can leave with your head held high".
American Idol controversy
Shortly after it was announced that Smithson had made the show's Top 24, articles appeared in the mainstream press questioning her selection because of her previous record deal. Randy Jackson also worked for MCA during the same time that Smithson was signed. http://www.allbusiness.com/services/motion-pictures/4801703-1.html Jackson Playing In Mca's Band | Business solutions from AllBusiness.com http://www.dailyvidette.com/media/paper420/news/2005/02/03/EZone/american.Idol.Judge.Randy.Jackson.Strives.For.Stardom-851165.shtml The Daily Vidette Despite this, she still remained on the show. After her elimination, Smithson briefly acknowledged the situation in interviews. On The Ellen Degeneres Show , she stated that she felt that she was "kind of singled out" and she added that "The media kind of does what they do and I got a lot of weird and negative press very early on but, you know, I just kind of held my head high and it kind of got forgotten about as the show went on." She adds "You know, a lot of the people had professional careers that were involved and I actually hadn't really had lots of stage experience and a lot of the other people had and I think that's more of the experience that you really need on that show." http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=8ORlJswDmMY Smithson's elimination came as a surprise to viewers as she was considered one of the front-runners on the show. This prompted an unprecedented reaction, with bloggers questioning the popular program's credibility amidst reports from fans of busy signals throughout the voting period. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1586223/20080424/index.jhtml Carly Smithson Says 'Idol' Is 'A Bit Of A Struggle For The Ladies' MTV 2001-04-24 http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2008/04/american-idol-7.html Los Angeles Times 2008-04-23 http://www.courant.com/news/chi-american_idol_personalsapr24,0,6746074.story Chicago Tribune http://articles.latimes.com/2008/04/23/calendar/et-channel23 'Idol' votes no on tallies http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2008/04/american-idol-8.html Los Angeles Times One writer for Entertainment Weekly called the show "America's Embarrassing Lapses In Judgement", saying "Carly Smithson was sent packing, despite a rendition of "Jesus Christ Superstar" that Jesus himself would have been hard-pressed to top". http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/04/on-the-scene--3.html? cid=112140438#comment-112140438. Entertainment Weekly . 2008-04-23. There were renewed claims of "fixing" and calls for the show to publish precise voting totals, resulting in a press release credited to Fox and show producers: "The network and producers will not disclose voting tallies for the competition, as the release of such information would only serve to create additional rumor and speculation", conflicting with executive producer Ken Warwick's claim that they were open to scrutiny, quoted "No one is saying you can't look at them."
note|1|Note 1: Smithson was saved first from elimination.
note|2|Note 2: When revealing the results, Ryan Seacrest simultaneously declared Smithson and Syesha Mercado safe.
Post- Idol
After she was eliminated from American Idol , Smithson appeared on talk shows, including Live with Regis and Kelly , The Tonight Show with Jay Leno , Access Hollywood , Today (NBC program)|Today and The Ellen DeGeneres Show .
Smithson completed the American Idols LIVE& #33; Tour 2008 , which ran from July 1, 2008 to September 12, 2008. She performed " Bring Me to Life " by Evanescence , " Crazy on You " by Heart (band)|Heart , and " I Drove All Night " by Cyndi Lauper . Smithson returned to Idol during its American Idol (season 8)|eighth season , as a mentor to contestants taking part in Boot Camp Training during "Hollywood Week," although this footage did not appear on the show's broadcast. Later, during the February 18, 2009 live semifinals results show, Smithson and fellow season 7 contestant Michael Johns (singer)|Michael Johns performed "The Letter," a song they had also performed for the Idol Finale the previous season. She also appeared in the season 8 Grand Finale, where she served as a correspondent covering the events of the celebration in San Diego, Adam Lambert 's hometown.
Two of Smithson's own original songs, titled "Let Me Fall" and "Lay with Me," were featured in an LA Times Interview video of Carly recording songs for her post-Idol album. In the interview, Smithson revealed that " pop rock " was the sound she had chosen and explained "I don't want to go too hard rock or too Pop music|pop ." http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=Bo26k6DWhFA Smithson was putting the finishing touches on the album when it was announced on June 18, 2009, that she would be joining forces with Evanescence co-founder Ben Moody in a new band called We Are the Fallen , thought to be named after Fallen (Evanescence album)|Evanescence's first album . http://www.popeater.com/music/article/carly-smithson-in-evanescence-offshoot/532428 Carly Smithson in Evanescence Offshoot The solo album Smithson had been recording was reportedly scrapped.
On October 28, 2009, it was announced that We Are the Fallen , along with Smithson, had signed with Universal Republic . The band released their first album on May 11, 2010. After touring and releasing two singles, it was announced that the band was dropped by Universal Republic on May 27, 2011 but would not be disbanding.cite web |url= http://www.facebook.com/note.php? created& & note_id=10150199240394581 |title=NEWS& #33; - A message from Ben Moody.... |date=May 27, 2011 |accessdate=May 27, 2011 |publisher=We Are The Fallen (OFFICIAL)
In December 2010, Smithson began singing with Cirque du Soleil in Viva Elvis . She continues to perform in the production in Las Vegas while recording new music with We Are the Fallen. http://twitter.com/carlysmithson
http://www.mcarecords.com/artistMain.asp? artistid=186 Official artist page at MCA Records
IMDb name|0377281
We Are the Fallen|collapse=offAmerican Idol 7 Persondata | NAME =Smithson, Carly | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH =September 12, 1983 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Dublin, Ireland|Dublin , Republic of Ireland|Ireland | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Smithson, Carly Category:1983 births Category:American Idol participants Category:Female heavy metal singers Category:Female rock singers Category:Irish singer-songwriters Category:Irish expatriates in the United States Category:Irish pop singers Category:Living people Category:We Are the Fallen members Category:People from Dublin (city) Category:People from San Diego, California Category:Blue-eyed soul singers
