Hazel Kaneswaran (born 1977) is an Irish recording artist, singer-songwriter and television personality who has been involved in the Irish music industry since 1996."Hazel Kaneswaran Biography"
hazelkaneswaran.ie. Retrieved 4 February 2014. Among her siblings are model Gail and singers Siva of the group

The Wanted The Wanted are a British-Irish boy band consisting of group members Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness and Nathan Sykes and, until his death in 2022, Tom Parker (singer), Tom Parker. The group was formed in 2009 and signed a worldw ...

"Our Siva Is Most Wanted..."
showbiz.ie. Retrieved 4 February 2014. and David of the band

Zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes. The term ''zoological g ...

Early life

Kaneswaran was born and raised in

Blanchardstown Blanchardstown () is a large outer suburb of Dublin in the modern Counties of Ireland, county of Fingal, Ireland. Located northwest of Dublin city centre, it has developed since the 1960s from a small village to a point where Greater Blanchards ...

, Dublin by her Singaporean father of Sri Lankan Tamil descent and Irish mother. Her father worked as a local window cleaner. It was through him that she acquired her love of soul music. When her father died suddenly, aged 44, responsibility fell to Hazel, helping her mother to raise her six younger brothers as well as supporting the family financially through her job as an assembly line worker at a

Thermo King Thermo King is an American manufacturer of transport temperature control systems for refrigerator trucks and trailers, refrigerated containers and refrigerated railway cars along with heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems for bus and ...

refrigerator factory.

Dove

Hearing about Kaneswaran through her sister, Gail, rapper and choreographer Graham Cruz contacted Hazel to collaborate. Along with Donald Ade-Onojobi, they formed the soul-pop act called ''Dubh'' which is the

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

word for "black". After finding that people found this name difficult to pronounce, they soon changed it to the similar-sounding "Dove"."The Dove Interview"
tripod.com. Retrieved 3 February 2014. Dove's most successful record, "Don't Dream", a cover of

Crowded House Crowded House are a rock band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in 1985. Its founding members were New Zealander Neil Finn (vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter) and Australians Paul Hester (drums) and Nick Seymour (bass). Later ban ...

's 1986 hit "

Don't Dream It's Over "Don't Dream It's Over" is a song by rock band Crowded House, recorded for their 1986 self-titled debut studio album. The song was composed and written by New Zealand frontman Neil Finn, and released in October 1986 as the fourth single from t ...

" was released on 16 August 1999 by

ZTT Records ZTT Records is a British record label founded in 1983 by record producer Trevor Horn, Horn's wife and businesswoman Jill Sinclair, and ''New Musical Express'' (NME) journalist Paul Morley. The label's name was also stylised as ZANG TUMB TUUM and ...

."Dove – Don't Dream (ZTT135)"
YouTube. Retrieved 3 February 2014. "Don't Dream" reached number 6 in the Irish charts while Dove were nominated for three awards at the 1999 Hot Press Awards for Best Single, Best Pop Act and Best New Act
tripod.com. Retrieved 3 February 2014. While successful in Ireland, "Don't Dream" failed to replicate this success in the UK and was the last release by Dove under ZTT Records.

Popstars: The Rivals

In 2002, Kaneswaran, who was pregnant at the time, travelled to

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

to audition for

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...

's televised musical talent show " Popstars: The Rivals". After impressing judges

Louis Walsh Michael Louis Vincent Walsh (born 5 August 1952) is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s and 2000s. He later bec ...

and

Geri Halliwell Geraldine Estelle Horner (née Halliwell; born 6 August 1972) is an English singer, songwriter, author, and actress. She rose to prominence in the 1990s as Ginger Spice, a member of the girl group the Spice Girls. With over 100 million records ...

with her version of

Joan Armatrading Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, (, born 9 December 1950) is a Kittitian-English singer-songwriter and guitarist. A three-time Grammy Award nominee, Armatrading has also been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist. She received ...

's " Love And Affection", Kaneswaran initially qualified for the final round of competition. However, when it transpired that she was ten days older than the maximum age limit for the auditions, she was disqualified from competing. Soon afterwards, she gave birth to her baby boy in October 2002."Popstars contestant has baby"
BBC. Retrieved 3 February 2014. The eventual winners of ''Popstars: The Rivals'' went on to form the girl band

Girls Aloud Girls Aloud were an pop girl group that was created through the ITV talent show '' Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The group comprised singers Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. The group achieved a str ...

, with

Kimberley Walsh Kimberley Jane Scott (née Walsh; born 20 November 1981) is an English singer, fashion designer, model, variety performer, television presenter, actress and dancer. She rose to fame in late 2002 when she auditioned for the reality series '' Po ...

taking Kaneswaran's place. She remained on good terms with Louis Walsh, with the producer asking her to write songs for

Jedward John and Edward Grimes (born 16 October 1991), collectively known as Jedward (a portmanteau of their first names), are an Irish singing and television presenting duo. They are identical twins who first appeared as John & Edward in the sixth s ...

Television personality

Kaneswaran made the transition from singer to judge on the third season of television station

Raidió Teilifís Éireann Raidi (; ; also written Ragdi; born August, 1938) is a Tibetan politician of the People's Republic of China. He served as a vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 2003 to 2008, and the highest ranking Tibeta ...

's You're A Star in 2004."Hazel Kaneswaran"
Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 4 February 2014. She was also one of the presenters at the 2005 Meteor Ireland Music Awards."The 2nd Meteor Ireland Music Awards Full Cast & Crew
Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 4 February 2014. Other notable television appearances include Off The Rails,

Harry Hill Matthew Keith Hall (born 1 October 1964), known professionally as Harry Hill, is an English comedian, presenter and writer. He pursued a career in stand-up following years working as a medical doctor, developing an off-beat, energetic performan ...

TV Burp ''Harry Hill's TV Burp'' (also known as just ''TV Burp'') is a British television comedy programme broadcast between 2001 and 2012 on ITV. The show was produced by Avalon Television and was written and hosted by comedian Harry Hill. Each ep ...

and The Panel.

Eurosong and Eurovision 2014

In November 2013, it was announced that Kaneswaran would mentor an act for the Eurosong 2014, Ireland's national final for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2014 The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "Only Teardrops" by Emmelie de Forest. Organised by the European ...

."Meet Ireland's Eurovision Mentors for 2014"
krank.ie. Retrieved 3 February 2014. On 5 February 2014, it was announced that she had chosen an Irish singer

Can-linn Can-linn is an Irish music group that represented their country at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = ...

featuring the vocals of singer Kasey Smith (from the band Wonderland) as her entry."Meet the 2014 Eurovision Hopefuls"
krank.ie. Retrieved 6 February 2014. Can-linn's first single, " Heartbeat", was released on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

on 21 February 2014 by HK Records."Heartbeat (feat. Kasey Smith) – Single Can-Linn"
iTunes Store. Retrieved 21 February 2014. The song went on to win the national final and represented

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in the

in Copenhagen.

Charity work

She raised money with other "Dove" members in May 2000 for the People in Need Trust by exchanging kisses for donations on

Grafton Street Grafton Street () is one of the two principal shopping streets in Dublin city centre (the other being Henry Street). It runs from St Stephen's Green in the south (at the highest point of the street) to College Green in the north (the lowest p ...

in Dublin, as well as taking part in that year's telethon."KISS OF LIFE FOR PEOPLE IN NEED; Charities set to land pounds 5m"
thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 4 February 2014. In September 2010, she joined former

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss Int ...

Rosanna Davison Rosanna Diane Davison (born 17 April 1984) is an Irish actress, singer, writer, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss World 2003. She is the daughter of musician Chris de Burgh, and the song "For Rosanna" was written by her father for his ...

, TV3 television presenter Sinead Desmond, and "

Fair City ''Fair City'' is an Irish television soap opera which has been broadcast on RTÉ One since 1989. Produced by the public service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), it first aired on Monday, 18 September 1989. It has won several award ...

" actor

Martina Stanley Martina Stanley is an Irish actress known primarily for her acting work in soap opera ''Fair City ''Fair City'' is an Irish television soap opera which has been broadcast on RTÉ One since 1989. Produced by the public service broadcaster ...

, to take part in the Irish Heart Foundation's "Go Red For Women" campaign which sought to raise awareness of cardiovascular disease in women."IHF launches RED ALERT for Women"
. irishheart.ie. Retrieved 4 February 2014. In 2010, she took part in a campaign encouraging Irish businesses to donate a portion of their sales profits to the GI Unit at

Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin Children's Health Ireland at Crumlin (CHI at Crumlin; ga, Sláinte Leanaí Éireann ag Cromghlinn) in Drimnagh, Dublin is Ireland's largest paediatric hospital. CHI at Crumlin is so called because it is located ''at'' Crumlin. However it is ...

."DeWAR Gas Service Donates €3,000.00 To the G.I Unit at Our Lady’s Hospital Crumlin for Sick Children"
. dewar.ie. Retrieved 4 February 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaneswaran, Hazel Living people 20th-century Irish women singers Musicians from Dublin (city) People from Fingal Irish people of Sri Lankan descent Irish people of Singaporean descent Irish women singer-songwriters Irish television personalities Irish pop singers Feminist musicians Irish feminists 21st-century Irish women singers 1977 births