| Name |
Mary Byrne |
| Height |
|
| Naionality |
Irish |
| Date of Birth |
3-November-1959 |
| Place of Birth |
Ballyfermot, Dublin, Ireland |
| Famous for |
Singing |
Mary Byrne is an Irish singer-songwriter from Ballyfermot, Dublin. She rose to fame in 2010 after becoming a finalist on the seventh series of The X Factor in 2010. Following her elimination in the live semi-final, she signed a record deal with Sony Music Ireland. Byrne and her fellow The X Factor finalists gained a number-one single on the UK Singles Chart and the Irish Singles Chart after releasing "Heroes" a cover of David Bowie, in aid of Help for Heroes. Her debut single, "I Just Call You Mine" was released on 4 March 2011. Mine & Yours, Byrne's debut album was released 28 March 2011 in the UK. The album was produced by hit-maker Nigel Wright. In June 2011, Byrne was asked to perform at a special gala performance in Dublin to mark Queen Elizabeth II's visit to the Republic of Ireland. She was also Neil Diamond's special guest at the Aviva Stadium, where she performed in front of 55,000 people. August 2011 saw Byrne appear in GREASE: The Musical at the Grand Canal Theatre in Dublin. She began work on an autobiography, This Is My Life, and was released on 21 October 2011 in the UK and Ireland. Mary decided to leave Sony Music as she accepted a new record deal offer with Decca Music and Universal Music, who are confident they can 'get her music career up and off the ground'. She has produced her second album, called ...with Love. In 2012, Byrne appeared on Celebrity Bainisteoir.
Byrne entered reality television show The X Factor in 2010. In her audition, she said that she wanted to be a singer all her life but had very low self-esteem holding her back but 'got the confidence to go out and do it in the last 5 or 6 years'. She impressed the judges with her performance of "I (Who Have Nothing)" and was put through to the next round. At the judges' houses she performed "Fix You", and was put through to the live finals, even though she forgot a few words to the song. Her employer, Tesco Ireland, started a campaign to persuade all staff to support her. On the first live show, Byrne gained the most public votes by singing "It's a Man's Man's Man's World". The audience gave Byrne a standing ovation after the performance and the longest round-of-applause of the series. Mary was in the 'Final Showdown' twice. The first time she was in the Bottom 3 with fellow contestants Wagner, and Katie Waissel. As Waissel received the fewest votes she was automatically eliminated leaving Mary to battle against Wagner in the Final Showdown. The following week she was in the bottom two with Cher Lloyd. This was when Mary was eliminated from the show by the judges. This later became controversial, as the show stated that the contestant with the fewer public votes would be eliminated, but it turned out that Byrne in fact received more votes than Cher. Mary performed a total of 15 different songs, on 13 occasions in front of the judges:
