Michelle McManus
McManus performing at Hamilton Palace, Hamilton, Scotland in 2009.
Background information
Also known as	Michelle
Born	8 May 1980 (1980-05-08) (age 29)
Origin	Glasgow, Scotland
Genres	Pop, Dance
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, Host, actress
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2003–present
Labels	Sony BMG (2003-2005) McManii Records (2006-present)
Website	MichelleMcManusmusic

Michelle McManus (born 8 May 1980, Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish singer, actress and talk show host which won the second series of the UK Talent show Pop Idol ^[1].

Michelle's debut album The Meaning of Love was released on 16 February 2004 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The album debuted at Number 3 on the UK Album Charts^[2] and Number 64 on the Irish Album Charts^[3].The first single from the album "All this Time" was released in January 2004. The song debuted at Number 1 on the UK Singles Charts where it stayed for 3 weeks.^[2]. In Ireland, the song debuted at Number 5 before rising to 2.^[4]. The second single from the album of the same name "The Meaning of Love" was released in 2004. The song debuted at Number 16 in the United Kingdom^[5] and Number 29 in Ireland.^[6]

Early life

Michelle was born on 8 May 1980 in Queen Mothers Hospital, Glasgow, Scotland to John McManus and Helen McManus.^[7][8], and is the oldest of five sisters. Before auditioning for Pop Idol Michelle lived in the Glasgow district of Baillieston, to the east of city with her mother and sisters.^[8]

Pop Idol

In early 2003, McManus auditioned for the second season of Pop Idol, along with thousands of other aspiring singers from around the UK. Of the four judges, Pete Waterman in particular was critical as to whether she could make a career in the music industry, mainly due to her size. However, she was the favourite of Simon Cowell, and after being put through to the semi-final stages, the public voted McManus into the top twelve, though she entered the finals as the bookmaker's rank-outsider. Throughout the finals, McManus was in the bottom 3 only once, and on 20 December 2003, she was declared the winner of Pop Idol.

Performances

Post-Idol career

Following her win on the second season of Pop Idol, McManus was immediately signed to the Sony BMG record label, and going under the single name Michelle, her debut single "All This Time" was released in January 2004. The song went straight to number one on the UK Singles Chart, and stayed there for three weeks.^[9] Her debut album, The Meaning of Love was released on 16 February 2004 and peaked at number three.^[10] The title track of the album was released as the second single, however it stalled at number sixteen in the charts.^[11]

In July 2005 it was announced that McManus had parted company with her management company 19 Entertainment, 19 months after winning Pop Idol. She then went on to sign with Sanctuary Entertainment. During a 2007 appearance on ITV's Loose Women, McManus stated that she believes that she was dropped due to her weight, as her record company could not build any merchandise around her image. McManus released a book in December 2005, You Are What You Eat: Michelle's Diary which documented her journey from winning Pop Idol to appearing on You Are What You Eat, to recording her second album.

McManus has presented on the Scottish radio station Clyde 1, as well as announcing the Scottish votes during Making Your Mind Up 2006 programme. In November 2006, McManus was a reporter on Children in Need live from Scotland. In December 2006 she released a DVD called The Life Plan (26 December 2006) ^[12] In December 2007, McManus was seen in a run of the Musical Discotivity at the Arts Theatre in London's West End.

In November 2008, Michelle switched on the Christmas Lights in Kilmarnock, Scotland. ^[13]

After taking time away from the music industry in order to perform in theatre productions such as The Vagina Monologues, McManus decided to set up her own record label in order to release new material, named McManii Records. She made two appearances on the television show Loose Women, on the first she stated that she was taking her time with her second album as she wanted to make it something to be proud of, and on her second appearance she talked of her departure from Sony BMG, stating that it was a mutual agreement. In November 2007 a single, Just For You was released. It was intended to be on her second album, Dancing To A Different Beat, which was scheduled for release in 2008.^[14][15]

On 22 June 2005, McManus appeared on a 60-minute television special of You Are What You Eat with the author and TV personality Gillian McKeith. A follow-up was broadcast on 13 December 2005, which caught up on how she was doing since the last programme. As of October 2006, McManus had lost 10 stone, but is planning on losing more to get to her target of 10 stone and a size 12. McManus has said that she may have surgery to remove excess skin from around her arms, legs and stomach.

Michelle appeared as a guest host on the Scottish TV show The Hour twice in the Summer of 2009. She has also hosted a BBC Scotland radio show titled Lets Do The Show Right Here This is Michelle's second series of the successful fundrasing programme.^[16]

Discography

Albums

Singles

Notes

• a ^ "Breaking Free" was originaly being promoted in 2006, but the release date for the song was cancelled.

TV Appearances & Filmgraphy

References