Amelia Lily | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Amelia Lily Oliver |
Born | Nunthorpe, England | 16 October 1994
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
|
Years active | 2011–present |
Labels | |
Website | amelialily |
Amelia Lily Oliver (born 16 October 1994) is an English singer and television personality. In 2011, she became a finalist on the eighth series of The X Factor , where she finished in third place. In 2017, she finished as runner-up on the twentieth series of Celebrity Big Brother . In 2020, she began appearing in the MTV reality series Geordie Shore .
Following The X Factor, Lily signed a record deal with Sony, and released a single titled "You Bring Me Joy". The single peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, and number 21 in the Republic of Ireland. Lily's follow up single, "Shut Up (And Give Me Whatever You Got)", charted at 11 on the UK Singles Chart. Lily's third single, "Party Over", peaked within the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart. [1] In 2015, Lily joined the cast of American Idiot , in the lead role of Whatsername.
The daughter of Aranka Bradley and Barry Horowitz, Amelia Lily Oliver was born in Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough on 16 October 1994. She was educated at Chandlers Ridge Primary School and Teesside High School. Lily began her musical career as a secondary school pupil by posting videos of herself singing on YouTube. [2] Her cover of Adele's "Someone Like You" garnered over 1 million views. [3] From the age of 13, she began writing songs with her guitar, and aspired to be a country singer. [4] She was also a figure skater for 6 years during her childhood. [4] She was also working on the tills at a garden centre in Nunthorpe. In a Sugarscape interview in August 2012, she revealed that she wanted to be a nun when she was younger. [5]
In 2011, Lily auditioned for the eighth series of The X Factor in Liverpool in front of judges Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow, Kelly Rowland and Tulisa. She sang Erma Franklin's "Piece of My Heart" and won praise from all four judges. Barlow said, "...oh my goodness, 16 years old that was incredible. That absolutely lifted the top of this arena, well done. Amazing vocals. Amelia I am blown away..." [6]
She progressed through to bootcamp and then to judges' houses, where she sang "E.T." by Katy Perry in front of Rowland and guest judge Jennifer Hudson. Lily made it to the live shows in Rowland's Girls category (solo females aged 16–24), along with Misha B, Janet Devlin and Sophie Habibis. She performed "Billie Jean" on the first live show (Britain vs America). The judges loved her performance with Walsh saying, "Amelia, you deserve to be on that stage"; Barlow also gave her thumbs-up, commenting, "That was a really great opening to the show", but she was the first of Kelly's girls to be eliminated from the show on 9 October by her mentor as there was no public vote in the inaugural live show. After her surprise elimination, Lily continued to perform at clubs. Prior to the sixth live show, it was announced that Frankie Cocozza was removed from the show after breaking competition rules and that the public would be given the chance to reinstate a contestant eliminated during the first live show. Lily was voted back into the competition after winning 48.8% of the vote, beating duo 2 Shoes, James Michael and Jonjo Kerr. Her comeback performance of "The Show Must Go On" received critical acclaim from all the judges. She was automatically put through to week 7 by the public vote.
In week 7, she sang "Think" by Aretha Franklin. Despite positive comments from the judges, she was in the bottom two with Craig Colton, and was saved after Barlow and Tulisa voted to send Lily home while Rowland and Walsh voted to send Colton home. The result went to deadlock for the first time in the series. Lily advanced to the quarter-final in week 8 while Colton was sent home. In the quarter-final, Lily again received critical acclaim from the judges for her two performances: "China in Your Hand" and "Since U Been Gone", with Barlow commenting that her first performance was "really nice to hear it sung in tune". In the semi-final, she performed Motown classic "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "I'm with You" to win her place in the final. The next night, she won a place in the show's final at Wembley Arena. Throughout the series, she topped the public vote twice and was in the bottom two only once before reaching the finals, where she sang "Ain't No Other Man" and performed "River Deep – Mountain High" alongside Rowland. She finished the competition in third place.
Episode | Song | Theme | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Audition | "Piece of My Heart" | Free choice | Advanced |
Bootcamp 1 | "You've Got the Love" (group performance) | Bootcamp challenge | Advanced |
Bootcamp 2 | "Nobody Knows" | Bootcamp songs | Advanced |
Judges' houses | "E.T." | Free choice | Advanced |
"You and I" | Free choice | ||
Live show 1 | "Billie Jean" | Britain vs America | Axed by Kelly Rowland Eliminated |
Return vote | N/A | N/A | 1st (48.8%) Reinstated |
Live show 6 | "The Show Must Go On" | Lady Gaga vs Queen | 1st (27.4%) Safe |
Live show 7 | "Think" | Movies | 5th (11.3%) Bottom two |
Results show 7 | "You and I" (final showdown performance) | Save me song | Advanced to the quarter-final via deadlock |
Quarter-Final | "China in Your Hand" | Guilty pleasures | 1st (23.8%) Safe |
"Since U Been Gone" | Musical heroes | ||
Semi-Final | "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" | Motown | 3rd (21.4%) Safe |
"I'm with You" | Song to get you to the final | ||
Final | "Ain't No Other Man" | Free choice | 3rd (26.5%) Eliminated |
"River Deep – Mountain High" (with Kelly Rowland) | Mentor duet |
After Lily embarked on the X Factor tour 2012, it was announced that she had signed a £500,000 record deal with Sony subsidiary Xenomania. [7] In September 2012, she released her debut single, "You Bring Me Joy", which reached number one on iTunes following its release, [8] eventually charting at number two in the UK. [9] Her second single, "Shut Up (And Give Me Whatever You Got)", was released in January 2013, peaking at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. Her third single, "Party Over", was released in April 2013 [10] and reached number 40.
Her debut album was planned to be released on 29 April 2013, [11] and was to be titled Be a Fighter. Lily described the album as featuring an eclectic range of genres—"There's a bit of dubstep on there as well which I think will surprise people! The sound is all over the place but I think the record works because we've only included songs that I really connected with." [12] Lily announced in July 2013 that the album's release had been postponed to record new material for it as she wanted it to be "perfect". [13] Be a Fighter appeared on online retailers later in 2013 with a new release date of 4 February 2014, but was subsequently taken down.
Lily was the support act for Girls Aloud's arena tour, Ten: The Hits Tour, participating from 21 February to 20 March 2013. [14] Lily was also the main support act for Olly Murs's gig at the INTRO Festival. [15] She also performed at Allstarz Summer Party at Madejski Stadium in Reading [16] and later Chester Rocks at Chester Racecourse in June 2013, both of which were alongside Jessie J and Lawson.
In July 2014, Lily announced the release of a single titled "California" with Warner Music, due for release 7 September 2014. Lily released the music video for "California" on 25 July 2014. In 2016, a CD featuring the explicit version of "California" appeared online, including two new tracks, "The Best Of Me Yet (Greatest Night)" and "U Get Me".
In November 2014, it was announced that Lily would be replacing Marcus Collins in the UK tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat [17] from February 2015. In May 2015, the London Evening Standard announced that Lily would be taking on the role of Whatsername when Green Day's American Idiot came to London. [18]
In 2017, Lily competed in the twentieth series of Celebrity Big Brother . She left the house on Day 25 as the runner up behind Sarah Harding. [19] Lily returned to the musical theatre stage in the 2017–2018 UK tour of Shrek the Musical in the role of Princess Fiona. [20] In October 2019, it was announced that Lily had joined the cast of the MTV reality series Geordie Shore . [21] In September 2022, Lily started hosting her own podcast called "The Talent Factory: Inside the Music Machine", on BBC Radio One. [22]
Lily credits Pink as her major musical influence and idol. [23] She also admires Kelly Clarkson, and cited her as her hero during The X Factor, singing one of her songs in the show's quarter final, "Since U Been Gone". [24]
Lily is a Type 1 diabetic, having been diagnosed with the condition aged three. [25] She is the sister of Any Dream Will Do 's Lewis Bradley. [26] [27] Her father, John Barry Oliver, was the manager of Billingham Town. [28]
Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK [29] | IRE [30] | NL [31] | SCO [32] | ||||||||||||||
2012 | "You Bring Me Joy" | 2 | 21 | 67 | 2 | Non-album singles | |||||||||||
2013 | "Shut Up (And Give Me Whatever You Got)" | 11 | 63 | — | 8 | ||||||||||||
"Party Over" | 40 | — | — | 36 | |||||||||||||
2014 | "California" | 83 | — | — | 43 | ||||||||||||
"—" denotes single that did not chart or was not released. | |||||||||||||||||
Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK [34] | IRE [35] | SCO [36] | |||
2011 | "Wishing on a Star" (as part of The X Factor Finalists 2011 featuring JLS and One Direction) | 1 | 1 | 1 | Charity single |
Danielle Jane Minogue is an Australian singer, television personality, and actress. She first gained recognition for her appearances on the television show Young Talent Time (1982–1988) and for her role as Emma Jackson on the soap opera Home and Away (1989–1990). Minogue began her music career in the early 1990s, achieving early success with her debut studio album, Love and Kisses (1991), which was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry, and included the hit singles "Love and Kisses", "Baby Love", "Jump to the Beat" and "Success". Following the release of her second album, Get into You (1993), Minogue's popularity as a singer had declined, leading her to make a name for herself with award-winning performances in theatre productions.
Gary Barlow is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That.
Cheryl Ann Tweedy is an English singer and television personality. Born and raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, she rose to fame in late 2002 upon winning a place in Girls Aloud, a girl group created through ITV's Popstars: The Rivals. While still in the group, she began a solo career in April 2009, and between then and 2014, she released four studio albums – 3 Words (2009), Messy Little Raindrops (2010), A Million Lights (2012) and Only Human (2014). Collectively, the albums included ten singles, five of which – "Fight for This Love", "Promise This", "Call My Name", "Crazy Stupid Love" and "I Don't Care" – reached the top position on the UK Singles Chart. Cheryl was the first British female solo artist to have five number-one singles in the UK, and she held the record until Jess Glynne overtook her in 2018.
The X Factor is a British reality television music competition, created by Simon Cowell. Premiering on 4 September 2004, it was produced by Fremantle's Talkback Thames and Cowell's production company Syco Entertainment for ITV, as well as simulcast on Virgin Media One in Ireland. The programme ran for around 445 episodes across fifteen series, each one primarily broadcast late in the year, until its final episode in December 2018. The majority of episodes were presented by Dermot O'Leary, with some exceptions: the first three series were hosted by Kate Thornton; while Caroline Flack and Olly Murs hosted the show for the twelfth series.
Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She won the fifth series of the talent television show The X Factor in 2008. Following the show, she was signed to Syco Music and released the winner's single "Hallelujah", which became the European record holder for the most singles sold over a period of 24 hours, selling 105,000 in one day, and became the top-selling single of 2008 in the UK and the UK's Christmas 2008 number one.
Tula Paulinea "Tulisa" Contostavlos is an English singer, songwriter, television personality, and actress. As a part of the R&B/hip hop group N-Dubz with her cousin Dappy and friend Fazer, they gained two platinum-certified albums, two gold-certified albums, five MOBO awards, a Brit Award nomination, thirteen top 40 singles, six silver-certified singles, and three Urban Music Awards.
Oliver Stanley Murs, known professionally as Olly Murs, is an English singer, songwriter and television personality. He rose to prominence after participating in the sixth series of the television talent show The X Factor in 2009, where he finished as runner-up. Following the show, Murs was signed to RCA Records and Sony Music in the United Kingdom, and Columbia Records in the United States.
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The eighth series aired on ITV on 20 August 2011 and ended on 11 December 2011. Dermot O'Leary hosted the main show on ITV, while Caroline Flack and series 6 runner-up Olly Murs co-presented the spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2. Louis Walsh returned to the judging panel and was joined by Gary Barlow, Kelly Rowland and Tulisa. Barlow, Rowland, Tulisa joined the panel replacing judges, Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole. Series 5 winner Alexandra Burke served as a guest judge for week 4 of the live shows due to Rowland having a throat infection.
"Down for Whatever" is a song by American recording artist Kelly Rowland featuring production collective The WAV.s, taken from Rowland's third studio album Here I Am (2011). The song was released on October 26, 2011. The Eurodance driven up-tempo song is the album's third international single and sixth overall and final single, released from October 26, 2011, by Universal Motown and Universal Music. "Down for Whatever" was written by Teddy Sky and Bilal Hajji and co-written and produced by RedOne, Jimmy Joker and The WAV.s. The song has been described as a Eurodance and Electro music. The song received mostly positive reviews from music critics, who say that the song is as catchy as Rowland's previous dance hits, "When Love Takes Over" and "Commander". It was also described as a "Radio friendly song".
"Run for Your Life" is a song by the British singer-songwriter and X Factor 2010 winner Matt Cardle. It was released on 9 October 2011 as the lead single from his first studio album, Letters (2011). The song was written and produced by Gary Barlow, and was the last song that Cardle recorded for the album. It reached number 6 on the UK Singles Chart.
Frankie Cocozza is a British singer from Brighton, England who was a former contestant on The X Factor. He is currently the lead vocalist of the pop rock band the Telescreen.
Kimberley Dayle Edwards, formerly known professionally as Kitty Brucknell, is an English pop singer. She rose to fame as a finalist on the eighth series of The X Factor in 2011, where she finished in seventh place.
Marcus Collins is an English singer who was a finalist on the eighth series of The X Factor in 2011. He was mentored by Take That frontman Gary Barlow, who continued to work with him on his debut album.
Janet Maureen Aoife Devlin is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter who competed in the eighth series of The X Factor in 2011, where she finished in fifth place. Her debut album Hide & Seek was released in 2013. After a string of EPs and singles, her second studio album Confessional was released in 2020.
Misha Amber Bryan, known by her stage name Misha B, is a British singer. She rose to notability as a finalist on the eighth series of The X Factor in 2011, where she finished in fourth place. Several sources have noted her powerful vocals.
"You Bring Me Joy" is the debut single by British singer Amelia Lily. The song premiered on The Hits Radio on 7 July 2012, after the radio premiere the song leaked online the following day. Officially it was released in the United Kingdom on 9 September 2012 through Sony Music. The song was written by Annie Yuill, Brian Higgins, Carla Marie Williams, Fred Falke, Luke Fitton, Matt Gray, Miranda Cooper, Owen Parker, Toby Scott and produced by Xenomania.
"Party Over" is a song recorded by British singer Amelia Lily. Written by Lily, Brian Higgins, Matt Gray, Miranda Cooper, Wayne Hector and Annie Yuil, and produced by Xenomania, It was released on 21 April 2013 and debuted at number 40 on the UK Singles Chart.
Samantha Florence Bailey is an English pop singer who won the tenth series of The X Factor in 2013. Following her win, her debut single, a cover of Demi Lovato's "Skyscraper" was released on 15 December 2013, achieving the Christmas number one on 22 December 2013. She was the first X Factor winner in three years to gain the Christmas number one spot.
Nicholas "Nicky" McDonald is a Scottish singer–songwriter and recording artist. He was the runner-up of the tenth series of The X Factor in 2013. After the show, he signed with RCA Records and released his debut album In the Arms of an Angel in March 2014. In the Arms of an Angel peaked at number one in his native Scotland, number six in the United Kingdom and number twenty-one in the Republic of Ireland. The album spawned one single, "Answerphone" which peaked at number twenty eight in Scotland and number seventy three in the United Kingdom. In 2018, McDonald released the single "Limelight", expected to be the lead single from his yet to be announced second studio album.
"Let Me Go" is a song by British singer-songwriter Gary Barlow. It was released in Ireland on 15 November 2013 and in the United Kingdom on 17 November 2013 as the lead single from his fourth solo album, Since I Saw You Last (2013). It was written by Barlow and produced by Steve Power. "Let Me Go" peaked at number two in the UK Singles Chart, becoming Barlow's sixth solo top 10 hit in the UK.