Early life

Michelle McManus was born in 1980 in Queen Mother's Maternity Hospital, Glasgow, Scotland to John McManus and Helen McManus, and is the oldest of five sisters. Before auditioning for Pop Idol, McManus lived in the Glasgow district of Baillieston, to the east of city with her mother and sisters.

Career

2003: Pop Idol

Main article: Pop Idol (series 2)

In early 2003, McManus auditioned for the second season of Pop Idol, along with thousands of other aspiring singers from around the UK. Of the four judges, Pete Waterman in particular was critical as to whether she could make a career in the music industry, mainly due to her size. However, she was the favourite of Simon Cowell, and after being put through to the semi-final stages, the public voted McManus into the top twelve, though she entered the finals as the bookmaker's rank-outsider. Throughout the finals, McManus was in the bottom 3 only once, and on 20 December 2003, she was declared the winner of Pop Idol.

Performances on Pop Idol

Week	Theme	Song	Original artist	Result
Top 12	Your pop idol	"All by Myself"	Eric Carmen	Safe
Top 10	Birthyear songs	"On the Radio"	Donna Summer	Safe
Top 8	Elton John songs	"Your Song"	Elton John	Bottom 3
Top 7	Disco	"If I Can't Have You"	Yvonne Elliman	Safe
Top 6	The Beatles	"Hey Jude"	The Beatles	Safe
Top 5	Big band	"Feeling Good"	Nina Simone	Safe
Top 4	Christmas songs	"Merry Christmas Everyone"	Shakin' Stevens	Safe
		"Oh Holy Night"	N/A
Top 3	Judges' choice	"I Say a Little Prayer"	Aretha Franklin	Safe
		"Without You"	Harry Nilsson
Final	Contestant's choice	"On the Radio"	Donna Summer	Winner
	B-side	"The Meaning of Love"	N/A
	Winner's single	"All This Time"	Michelle McManus

2003-05: The Meaning of Love

Main article: The Meaning of Love (album)

Following her win on the second season of Pop Idol, McManus was immediately signed to the Sony BMG record label, and going under the single name Michelle, her debut single "All This Time" was released between late 2003 and early 2004. The song went straight to number one on the UK Singles Chart, and stayed there for three weeks. In Ireland, the song debuted at Number 5 before rising to 2. Her debut album, The Meaning of Love was released on 16 February 2004 and peaked at number three on the UK Album Charts and Number 64 on the Irish Album Charts. The title track of the album was released as the second single, however it stalled at number sixteen in the UK charts and Number 29 in Ireland. On 22 June 2005, McManus appeared on a 60-minute television special of You Are What You Eat with the author and TV personality Gillian McKeith in a bid to lose weight. A follow-up was broadcast on 13 December 2005, which profiled McManus and her weight loss since the last programme. McManus released a book in December 2005 entitled You Are What You Eat: Michelle's Diary. The book documented her journey from winning Pop Idol to appearing on You Are What You Eat, with particular reference to her weight issues and subsequent slimming. Further to this, in December 2006 McManus released a DVD called The Life Plan, a guide to healthy living, exercise and eating.

In September 2005, McManus appeared in an episode of the BBC One holiday magazine programme Departure Lounge. The episode showed McManus travelling to and around Memphis, Tennessee in the United States, with a budget of £500. As part of the trip, McManus visited Graceland, home to her idol Elvis Presley. In July 2005 it was announced that McManus had parted company with her management company 19 Entertainment, 19 months after winning Pop Idol. She then went on to sign with Sanctuary Entertainment. During a 2007 appearance on ITV's Loose Women, McManus stated that she believed that she was dropped due to her weight, as her record company could not build any merchandise around her image. In 2006, McManus began guest-presenting on the Scottish radio station Clyde 1, and then gained her own regular Saturday show on the station. McManus then hosted two series of the BBC Radio Scotland show titled Let's Do The Show Right Here. On television, McManus announced the Scottish votes during the Making Your Mind Up 2006 programme in March 2006, and in November 2006 she was a reporter on Children in Need live from Scotland. In June 2006, McManus performed in the theatre production, The Vagina Monologues, a role which she has subsequently repeated for various tours.

2007-09: McMannii Records and Different Beat

In 2007, after taking time away from the music industry, McManus decided to set up her own record label to release new material, named McManii Records. She made two appearances on the television show Loose Women. On the first she stated that she was taking her time with her second album as she wanted to make it something to be proud of, and on her second appearance she talked of her departure from Sony BMG, stating that it was a mutual agreement. In November 2007 a single, "Just for You", was released. It was intended to be on her second album, Dancing to a Different Beat, which remains unreleased.

In June 2007, McManus guest-starred as herself in an episode of the BBC sitcom Still Game. In December 2007, McManus was seen in a run of the musical Discotivity at the Arts Theatre in London's West End. In January 2008 she toured Asia in a theatre production of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice. In November 2008, McManus switched on the Christmas Lights in Kilmarnock, Scotland.

2009-present: The Hour and presenting

McManus appeared regularly as a guest co-host of the weekday Scottish lifestyle TV programme The Hour during the summer of 2009. In October 2009, McManus became a permanent main presenter alongside Stephen Jardine. The programme was relaunched in September 2011 as a weekly peak-time programme, with McManus co-hosting with new presenter Tam Cowan, but was axed after four weeks due to low viewing figures.

In addition to The Hour, McManus has also presented Hogmanay programming for STV including the 2009 documentary special Scotland's Always Had Talent and a year later, Midnight, a pre-recorded special edition of The Hour.

In September 2010, McManus performed two songs for Pope Benedict XVI at a ticketed Mass of the Feast of Saint Ninian in Bellahouston Park, as part of the Pope's state visit to the United Kingdom.

McManus is currently a columnist for the Glasgow Evening Times, and was a judge for the papers Glasgow's Star Turn talent contest in 2012.

In September 2012, McManus with Mànran released "Take You There" as the official single of the 2012 STV Children's Appeal. McManus performed the single with the band on The STV Appeal 2012: Live Show.

Discography

Michelle McManus discography
Studio albums	1
Music videos	3
Singles	4

Studio albums

Year	Album details	SCO	UK	IRE	Certifications	Sales
2004	The Meaning of Love Released: 16 February 2004 Label: Sony BMG Formats: CD, digital download	1	3	64	UK: Gold	UK: 250,000+

Singles

Year	Song				Certifications	Album
2003	"All This Time"	1	1	2	UK: Silver	The Meaning of Love
2004	"The Meaning of Love"	7	16	29
2007	"Just for You"	-	-	-		Dancing To a Different Beat
2012	"Take You There"	70	-	-		Charity-single

TV appearances and filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
2005	You Are What You Eat	Herself	After her time on the show, McManus releasead a diary Michelle's Diary in 2005.
2007	Still Game	Herself	McManus appears in the 2007 episode "Second's Out" as herself
2009-2011	The Hour	Co-host	Initially appearing as a guest-host, McManus was made permanent co-host in September 2009.
2009	Scotland's Always Had Talent	Host	McManus hosts STV's main Hogmanay programme, leading into the New Year.
2010	The Midnight Hour	Co-host	McManus once again hosts STV's main Hogmanay programme, alongside Stephen Jardine.
2011-present	STV Children's Appeal	Co-host	McManus appears on "The Big Live" as a presenter and reporter, usually in amongst the studio audience.
2013	Swing into 2014	Host	McManus once again hosts STV's main Hogmanay programme, from The Tron Theatre in Glasgow.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]