Irish ‘Idol’ Rocks Fox

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Irish Voice News

Irish ‘Idol’ Rocks Fox

January 30, 2008

By April Drew

IRISH-born singer Carly Smithson, nee Hennessy, advanced to the Hollywood stages of Fox TV’s American Idol season seven last Tuesday, January 22, when her powerful vocals won the hearts of the three judges.

After performing a spectacular rendition of “I’m Every Woman” by Chaka Khan on Tuesday, Paula Abdul said, “That’s what we wanted to hear,” while waving her hands in the air approvingly.

Simon Cowell added, “That wasn’t as good as two years ago,” but he gave her the thumbs up for Hollywood. Randy Jackson was also enthused, proclaiming, “100 million times yes, you can blow.”

Smithson, 27, who sports an upper arm tattoo, tried out for American Idol in 2005 but was disqualified from the competition because of visa issues.

“I was waiting for my visa papers and they didn’t come through on time so I was disqualified. I cried for days. I was devastated,” she told American Idol viewers on Tuesday.

Smithson, who owns a tattoo shop with her husband in San Diego, is no stranger to the entertainment business. In 1999 she released an album as Carly Hennessy called Ultimate High with giant recording moguls MCA Records. MCA spent $2 million promoting the album.

However, Ultimate High hit a staggering low with a mere 378 copies being sold in its first week of release.

Smithson is no stranger to the limelight. Her mother, a top Irish fashion model in her day, had her daughter posing for commercial ads back home before Carly could even walk. The family moved to South Africa for a short stint but returned to Dublin again, where young Hennessy’s musical talent became rapidly apparent.

At the age of nine, she was chosen out of 2000 kids for the role of Little Cosette in an international production of the musical Les Misérables. At the age of 10 Smithson reordered her own collection of Christmas holiday songs, which were distributed throughout Ireland and the U.K.

Smithson also stared in the movie Fools of Fortune at a young age, and when she reached 12 she was most recognizable as the smiling Irish face for Denny’s Irish sausages. She appeared on billboards across the country as a model for a national campaign for Denny’s.

Wanting to take her career further, she moved to Los Angeles with her father/manager Luke Hennessy. It was there at the age of 18 she impressed MCA Records President Jay Boberg who gave the young Irish girl a $2 million contact.

In 2002 Smithson opened for Bryan Adams in Dublin Castle and a few months later performed at a free outdoor concert in Phoenix Park in Dublin to over 100,000 people. She performed her Irish hit “I’m Gonna Blow Your Mind” from her Ultimate High album.

Speaking on camera after receiving her golden ticket to the Hollywood rounds, which will feature 50 contests battling it out for the top 24 places, Smithson said through tears, “Everything’s been, like, right there in front of me and I just haven’t been able to hold on to it. I think this is my year.”

Her previous record deal has stirred plenty of online debating as to whether or not American Idol should allow contestants with previous singing careers to be on the show.

However, Idol chatter over the Internet has rumored that Smithson has made it into the top 24 contestants. Will the Irish tattooed Dublin lass be the next American Idol? During the next few months, the country will decide.

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