Carley Smithson

Carly Smithson is a pop/rock singer and actress, born Carly Hennessy, in Dublin, Ireland. Smithson began singing at the early age of 4 whilst listening to voices like Freddie Mercury, Aretha Franklin and Barbra Streisand in her childhood home. At age 5, Smithson appeared in her first movie, Fools of Fortune, alongside Julie Christy, Ian Glenn and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. In the 90s Carly appeared in national product advertisements across Ireland and was featured as the face of Denny's Sausage. 1992, she joined the cast of Les Misérables in Ireland and starred as Little Cosette at the Point Theatre. When Carly was 10 years old, she released her first Album in the United Kingdom, titled Carly's Christmas Album under Warner Music. Shortly after, Carly appeared as Annie in the Olympia Theatre in Dublin. A few years later, she and her father moved to the United States in order for her to pursue a career in music, within the year Carly was signed by the president of MCA Universal. 

Carly released an album for MCA Records called Ultimate High in 2001. The album featured production by Danielle Brisebois and Greg Alexander of The New Radicals, and Steve Dorff with original songs written by Sheryl Crow. In 2003 Carly won the Meteor Award for Best Female Vocal in the Irish Meteor Music awards, the same year Carly also won best Vocal performance in the Buzz music awards. 

American Idol

Before performing during the sold out American Idol Live! Tour in 2008, Smithson auditioned for the seventh season of American Idol making it to Hollywood. She advanced with a unanimous vote after singing "I'm Every Woman". Smithson is the only foreign contestants to make the show's Top 6 placement. Smithson was eliminated on 23 April 2008. Her final song performance was "Superstar" from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar. The performance was considered by the judges to be the best of the night. 

We are the Fallen & Cirque du Soleil 

After Smithson completed the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2008, which ran for 58 cities, She announced on June 18, 2009 that she was joining rock band, We Are The Fallen, with Evanescence co-founder Ben Moody. The band went on to create the iTunes top 6 record, Tear The World Down. It’s hit single, Bury me alive, was also featured in multiple tv shows including Vampire Diaries. In December 2011, Smithson began singing with Cirque du Soleil in Viva Elvis. She performed in the Las Vegas production for almost two years at the Aria Theatre.