The Conway Sisters

The Conway Sisters were a semi-professional singing group from County Sligo, Ireland who achieved a measure of fame through their appearance in the final stages of the second UK series of television talent show The X Factor in 2005.

Laura, Marie, Sharon and Sinead Conway were born and raised in Sligo, Ireland. The four sisters grew up with a love of music and performing, and in 2002 they formed The Conway Sisters. Throughout that year they wrote, produced, and recorded music, and played locally. In 2003, they released their first single, "What Do You Do?", which debuted in the Top 20 in Ireland, 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 in Ireland. Their self-financed debut album, Waiting for You, was released in May 2005.

In May 2005 the sisters auditioned for the UK television programme The X Factor in the hope that they would crack the UK market. Along with eleven other acts, they made it through to the final live stages of the competition in which viewers vote for their favourite acts.

In week 5 of The X Factor knockout stages, The Conways found themselves in the final showdown for the first time, facing the judges' expulsion vote together with crowd favourite Maria Lawson. Lawson was voted off on the casting vote of Louis Walsh, prompting booing from the studio audience and fellow judge Sharon Osbourne to claim that "he voted with his passport" (referring to the fact that both Walsh and the Conway Sisters are Irish). The decision provoked controversy in the UK media, especially when it was revealed that Walsh had known the Conways personally prior to the competition.

Following their nomination for expulsion and the generally negative comments of their mentor, Simon Cowell, the Conways worked for the next episode of the show without Cowell's guidance, an action which the judge said earned the group more respect from him. Despite this, Cowell persisted with negative comments when he considered them appropriate. They were eliminated in week 7, their third consecutive week in the bottom two, after Cowell voted against them – the first and so far only time that an X Factor judge had voted off their own act despite not needing to as they only had one act in the bottom two. Upon their dismissal from the competition, the group claimed that Louis Walsh had been their true mentor.

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