Fiona Maude McDonald (born 1965) is a
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
pop singer and television personality.
Singer
McDonald's first involvement with music came through singing jingles for Auckland student radio station
bFM. From that work she was asked to join Auckland band Diatribe which also included musician
Greg Johnson. In the early '90s she teamed up with former bFM producers Mark Tierney and Paul Casserly who were looking for a singer for their new studio-only group,
Strawpeople.
McDonald also briefly sang live with NRA, and provided guest vocals on the
Headless Chickens
The Headless Chickens was a New Zealand band. Going against the grain of the Dunedin sound that dominated the Flying Nun Records roster at the time, the Headless Chickens made extensive use of electronic instruments in their music.
History
...
on "
Cruise Control
Cruise control (also known as speed control, cruise command, autocruise, or tempomat) is a system that automatically controls the speed of a motor vehicle. The system is a servomechanism that takes over the throttle of the car to maintain a ste ...
". Reaching #6 in the charts, "Cruise Control" proved to be so popular that she was asked to join the band full-time. Three successful years of recording and touring followed, including number one single "George", but McDonald eventually left the band in 1995.
In the mid-'90s, McDonald continued to work with the Strawpeople and at the same time worked on songs for her solo album. ''A Different Hunger'' was released in 1999 with the first single "Sin Again" making it to #7 in the New Zealand charts.
Television
McDonald's first television work was in 1997 presenting @Xtra, a
TV2 series about the internet. In 2005 McDonald was also one of the three judges in the first series of
NZ Idol
''New Zealand Idol'', also known as ''NZ Idol'', was the New Zealand version of the Idol series originated as the hit British TV series ''Pop Idol''. New Zealand first saw the ''Idol'' format when TV2 aired '' American Idol 2'', which garnered i ...
and presented the New Zealand version of
10 Years Younger. She also presented the second series of arts show The Big Art Trip. In October 2012, she began work as a presenter on the new
Shopping Channel
Shopping channels (also known in British English as teleshopping) are a type of television program or specialty channel devoted to home shopping. Their formats typically feature live presentations and demonstrations of products, hosted by on-air pr ...
.
Discography
Strawpeople
* ''Hemisphere'' (1991) Pagan Records
* ''Worldservice'' (1992) Pagan Records
* ''Broadcast'' (1994) Epic Records
*
''Vicarious'' (1996) Columbia Records
Headless Chickens
*''
Body Blow
''Body Blow'' is the second studio album by New Zealand rock band the Headless Chickens. It was originally released in 1991, then rereleased for Australia in 1993 with a substantially reworked track list, losing "Crash Hot" and "Road Train" but ga ...
'' (1991) Flying Nun Records
* ''
Greedy'' (1997) Flying Nun Records
Album
* ''
A Different Hunger
''A Different Hunger'' is the only studio album by New Zealand singer-songwriter Fiona McDonald, released on 30 September 1999 by Flying Nun Records and Mushroom Records.
Background and development
Despite having interest in creating a solo alb ...
'' (1999)
Singles
References
External links
Biography at Flying NunBiography from her agent
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Fiona
1965 births
Living people
New Zealand Idol
20th-century New Zealand women singers
New Zealand television personalities
Flying Nun Records artists
People from Huntly, New Zealand
People educated at Carmel College, Auckland