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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.

Beginnings

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. "Miss You" entered in the Top 20 in the Irish charts in May 2005. Their self-financed debut album, Waiting for You, was released in May 2005.

The X Factor

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. However, voting statistics revealed that Lawson received more votes than The Conway Sisters which meant that if the result went to deadlock, Lawson would have been saved.

In week 6, they were saved at the expense of Nicholas Dorsett in the final showdown. However, voting statistics revealed that if the result went to deadlock, Dorsett would have been saved.

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.

Following the final of The X Factor, they performed with the other Top 7 finalists from the live shows on The X Factor Live tour at venues throughout the UK.

Breakup

In August 2006 on the ITV show The X Factor – One Year On, Laura Conway announced that the Conways had split up for good. On their official website they said: "We will be finishing up as the Conway Sisters for now, we've come to a place where we want to pursue individual career paths and now we feel ready to do that! For the record there have been no fall outs or fights, it's all been very amicable and as sisters we're closer now than ever!"

Following the split, Laura Conway announced her intention to pursue a solo music career. As of 2008, she had a MySpace profile and YouTube channel.

Sinead Conway later performed with a Dublin-based band, "Red Shoes".

References

1. ^ "The Conway Sisters - MySpace Profile". Retrieved 23 September 2008.
2. "Chart search - results for "conway sisters"". irishcharts.ie. Irish Recorded Music Association. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022.
3. "The Conway Sisters - X-Factor Blog (Page 3)". Retrieved 23 September 2008.
4. ^ "The Conway Sisters - X-Factor Blog (Page 2)". Archived from the original on 16 December 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
5. "The Conway Sisters Split - Digital Spy (Post 1)". Retrieved 23 September 2008.
6. ^ "The Conway Sisters Split - Digital Spy (Post 29)". Retrieved 23 September 2008.
7. "Laura Conway - MySpace Profile - About Laura Conway". Retrieved 23 September 2008.

External links

• Archived snapshot of the former Conway Sisters website 15 July 2006
• Laura Conway's channel on YouTube

• Irish girl groups
• Musicians from County Sligo
• The X Factor (British TV series) contestants
• Musical groups established in 2002
• Musical groups disestablished in 2006
• 2002 establishments in Ireland