Hazel kaneswaran
| கசெல் கணேசுவரன் Hazel Kaneswaran |
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|---|---|
| Born | Blanchardstown, Ireland |
| Genres | Pop, soul, R&B |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, recording artist, television personality |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Associated acts | Dove, Girls Aloud, Jedward, Donna and Joseph McCaul |
| Website | www |
Hazel Kaneswaran is an Irish recording artist, singer-songwriter and television personality who has been involved in the Irish music industry since 1996. Among her siblings are model Gail and singers Siva of the group The Wanted and David of the band Zoo.
Kaneswaran was born and raised in Blanchardstown, Dublin by her Singaporean father of Sri Lankan Tamil descent and Irish mother. Her father worked as a local window cleaner. It was through him that she acquired her love of soul music. When her father died suddenly, aged 44, responsibility fell to Hazel, helping her mother to raise her six younger brothers as well as supporting the family financially through her job as an assembly line worker at a Thermo King refrigerator factory.
Hearing about Kaneswaran through her sister, Gail, rapper and choreographer Graham Cruz contacted Hazel in order to collaborate. Along with Donald Ade-Onojobi, they formed the soul-pop act called Dubh which is the Irish language word for "black". After finding that people found this name difficult to pronounce, they soon changed it to the similar-sounding "Dove". Dove's first record, "Don't Dream", a cover of Crowded House's 1986 hit "Don't Dream It's Over" was released on August 16, 1999 by ZTT Records. "Don't Dream" reached number 6 in the Irish charts while Dove were nominated for three awards at the 1999 Hot Press Awards for Best Single, Best Pop Act and Best New Act While successful in Ireland, "Don't Dream" failed to replicate this success in the UK and was the last release by Dove under ZTT Records.
In 2002 Kaneswaran, who was pregnant at the time, travelled to Glasgow to audition for ITV1's televised musical talent show "Popstars: The Rivals". After impressing judges Louis Walsh and Geri Halliwell with her version of Joan Armatrading's "Love and Affection", Kaneswaran initially qualified for the final round of competition. However, when it transpired that she was ten days older than the maximum age limit for the auditions, she was disqualified from competing. Soon afterwards, she gave birth to her baby boy in October, 2002. The eventual winners of Popstars: The Rivals went on to form the girl band Girls Aloud, with Kimberley Walsh taking Kaneswaran's place. She remained on good terms with Louis Walsh, with the producer asking her to write songs for Jedward.
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