The Conway Sisters were a semi-professional

singing Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

group from

County Sligo County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in the county. Sligo County Council is the local ...

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 ...

, 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 ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' in 2005. The group were nominated in the "best Irish pop act" category at the

2006 Meteor Awards The 2006 Meteor Music Awards took place in the Point Theatre, Dublin on 2 February 2006. It was the sixth edition of Ireland's national music awards. The event was later aired on RTÉ Two on at 21:00 on Sunday 5 February. The awards show was hosted ...

Formation

Four sisters, Laura, Marie, Sharon and Sinead Conway, were born and raised in

, Ireland. They formed a group, The Conway Sisters, in 2002. Throughout 2002 they wrote, produced, and recorded music, and performed locally. In 2003, they released their first single, "What Do You Do?", which debuted in the Top 20 in Ireland. A second single, "Now That It's Over", followed in 2004, and their third single, "Miss You", entered the Top 20 in the

Irish charts The Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) is a non-profit association set up in 1999 to promote certain interests of the music industry in Ireland. It is particularly active in addressing copyright issues, and it compiles the official music ...

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 ''

'', and made it through to the final live stages of the competition. In week 5 of ''The X Factor'' knockout stages, The Conways found themselves in the final showdown alongside

Maria Lawson Maria Lawson (born 24 May 1979) is an English singer. She recorded several singles with Ti.Pi.Cal. Lawson finished in eighth place in the second UK series of television talent show ''The X Factor'' in 2005. She released her debut self-titled ...

. Lawson was voted off on the casting vote of

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 ...

, prompting booing from the studio audience and fellow judge

Sharon Osbourne Sharon Rachel Osbourne (née Levy, later Arden; born 9 October 1952) is a British-American television personality, music manager and author. She is married to heavy metal singer-songwriter Ozzy Osbourne and came to prominence while appearing ...

to state that he had "voted with his passport", referring to the fact that Walsh was also Irish. The decision provoked some controversy in the UK media, and it was reportedly revealed that Walsh had known the Conways prior to the competition. Following their nomination for expulsion and the generally negative comments of their mentor,

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...

, the Conways worked for the next episode of the show without his guidance. 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. 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 ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

show ''The X Factor – One Year On'', Laura Conway announced that the Conways had split up for good. A message on their official website 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!" Following the split, Laura Conway reportedly moved to the US, Sinead Conway was performing with a wedding band, and (as of 2011) Sharon Conway was also "fronting her own band".

References

External links

Snapshot of the former Conway Sisters website
(Archived July 2006) {{DEFAULTSORT:Conway Sisters, The 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