Sinéad Quinn

Sinéad Quinn (Irish: Sinéad Ní Chuinn; born 24 March 1980) is an Irish singer, best known as a contestant in the first series of the UK BBC TV series Fame Academy in 2002. She later went on to sign a recording contract, released an album, and had a #2 UK single.

Quinn 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. Quinn, David Sneddon and Paul MacDonald sang in this vote but Quinn won the public's support. She gained 51% of the votes and won her place in the Fame Academy.

The fan base Quinn 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 No Doubt's "Don't Speak".

In the final, she 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.

Within a week of leaving the Fame Academy, Quinn signed a £1 million, five-album record deal with Mercury Records. Her debut single, "I Can’t Break Down", was released 10 February 2003. It reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart, 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. The video was directed by Dani Jacobs and filmed in the empty Fame Academy house. Her follow-up single "What You Need Is" reached number 19 in the same chart, and her self-written album, Ready to Run, peaked at number 48 in the UK Albums Chart.

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