Mini Viva were an English pop duo formed in 2008 by British songwriting and production team

Xenomania Xenomania is an English songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins and based in Kent, England. Formed by Higgins with his Creative Director Miranda Cooper and Business Director Sarah Stennett of First Access Entertainment, Xenoman ...

. They were managed by

19 Entertainment 19 Entertainment is a producer of entertainment properties for television with a focus on music. Founded by Simon Fuller in London in 1985, the company co-produced ''Pop Idol'' in the United Kingdom with Thames Television in 2001. The ''Idol serie ...

and signed to Geffen and

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

. Consisting of

Frankee Connolly Francesca Rose Connolly (born 23 November 1989) is a singer from Helmshore, England. She was a member of the groups Mini Viva, who had a No. 7 hit with " Left My Heart in Tokyo", and M.O, with whom she had a No. 18 hit with " Who Do You Think O ...

and Britt Love, the duo were due to release their debut album in 2010. Despite a successful first single and positive reviews, the group failed to gain further traction and confirmed their split in late 2010. They released three singles and toured in support of acts including

The Saturdays The Saturdays were a British-Irish girl group based in London, England. The group formed during the summer of 2007 and have been on hiatus since 2014. The lineup consists of Frankie Bridge, Una Healy, Rochelle Humes, Mollie King, and Vanessa ...

and

Diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...

History

Frankee Connolly at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards 2015

Mini Viva were formed by

in 2008, when Frankee Connolly and Britt Love attended an audition held by a label called Select Music UK. Xenomania took the duo to their headquarters in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, and they spent a year working with the production team before their launch. They were signed to

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

in May 2009, after performing "Left My Heart in Tokyo" in the office of Universal chairman and CEO

Lucian Grainge Sir Lucian Charles Grainge (born 29 February 1960) is the chairman and chief executive officer of Universal Music Group. Grainge has worked in the music business for his entire career. ''Billboard'' magazine named Grainge as the most powerful ...

. Mini Viva supported

on their The Work Tour in 2009. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' featured the duo as the "New Band of the Day" on 17 July 2009. They released their debut single, " Left My Heart in Tokyo", in September 2009. Produced by

, the song was named "the catchiest single of 2009" by ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' magazine. It reached number seven on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, becoming the highest-charting single of the duo's career. They have stated that they are inspired by Rihanna and

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

. The duo's second single, " I Wish", was released in December 2009 and peaked at number seventy-three on the UK Singles Chart, spending one week on the chart. In March 2010, Mini Viva debuted their interactive webcast reality show titled ''Viva Mini Viva''. In one episode, they said that their debut album was to be released in late 2010 and confirmed the album was not titled '' Colloquial Obsession'', as was rumoured at the time. The third single " One Touch", released in May 2010, only managed to chart as high as number 124. During this period, they supported dance troupe

on their UK tour. It was reported in July 2010 that although the duo's future was unclear, they were still signed to

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

. However, in November 2010, Mini Viva confirmed speculation that they were splitting up, explaining that "sometimes things just don't work out the way you would like them to". As of February 2012, Love and Connolly were both working on their own solo careers. Love was featured on "You Don't Want to Dance with Me" by English electronic duo

Monarchy A monarchy is a government#Forms, form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The legitimacy (political)#monarchy, political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restric ...

and auditioned for the ninth series of ''

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 2012 and was successful in getting to bootcamp, but failed to make it to judges' houses. Frankee later became a part of the all-female trio

M.O M.O are an English girl group consisting of members Annie Ashcroft and Chanal Benjilali, and previously Frankee Connolly until her departure in June 2017 and Nadine Samuels until her departure in 2020. The group was formed in 2012 by the membe ...

, whose single " Who Do You Think Of?" reached number eighteen on the UK chart in August 2016. She left the group in June 2017, and was replaced by Chanal Benjilali.

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

Tours

As supporting act * 2009:

–

The Work Tour The Work Tour was the debut headlining theatre tour by English-Irish girl group The Saturdays. The tour became the group's first headlining tour, but second time touring (after touring with Girls Aloud in 2008 as a support act for their Tangled ...

* 2009:

Cascada Cascada (, Spanish for "Waterfall", stylized as CASCADA, CASC''A''DA and cascada) is a German dance music act founded in 2004 by singer Natalie Horler and DJs/producers DJ Manian and DJ Yanou. They are best known for their hit singles " Every ...

– Clubland Live Tour #3 * 2010:

– UK tour

Filmography

References

{{Authority control English dance girl groups English pop music duos English pop girl groups Musical groups disestablished in 2010 Musical groups established in 2008 Musical groups from London Female musical duos