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Carley Hennessy or Carly Smithson American Idol Pro

What’s in a name? We have reported earlier about the San Diego Audition Irish Girl with Tattoos Carly Smithson is in reality Carly Hennessy MCA records label performer. Her Album Utlimate High hit a new low. You can even see a Video from here Album, I’m gonna blow your mind

MCA records still has her bio and page on their site. Her is what her bio says:

Dublin native Carly Hennessy grew up near the banks of the River Liffey, but considering her remarkably soulful voice, it might as well have been the Mississippi. Displaying a musical maturity beyond her seventeen years, Carly’s singing effortlessly evokes the spirit of history’s greatest soul singers. Having already earned widespread success back home in Ireland, Carly has now set her sights on America, and is nearing completion of her self-titled MCA Records debut.

It all begins with the brash premiere single “I’m Gonna Blow Your Mind.” Though Carly has been recording her debut album all over the world (London, New York, and Los Angeles), she remains focused. “My self-discipline comes naturally, she says. “I get bored easily, so I have to keep going.”

In addition to her vocals, Carly co-wrote a number of songs on the new album. The album reflects the breadth of Carly’s musical taste and talents, from the edgy pop of “Young Love” and the unabashed inner-city funk of “Surface Wound” to the shattering emotional power of the ballad “Rip In Heaven.” Says Carly, “I like songs with distinct, interesting lyrics, songs with a deeper musical quality. I want to say things I shouldn’t say at my age!”

She’s always been both precociously talented and outspoken. Carly’s mother was a top Irish fashion model, and before Carly could even walk, her mom had her posing for commercial print ads. The family moved to South Africa for a time, but later returned to Dublin where Carly’s music gifts quickly became apparent. “I always wanted to be a singer,” she says. “I listened to Chrissie Hynde, Diana Ross, Madonna, Whitney Houston, everyone. I never took voice lessons. It was something that just came naturally.”

At age nine, she beat out 2000 other hopefuls for the role of Little Cosette in the international production of the musical “Les Miserables,” and by age ten she’d recorded her debut album, a collection of holiday favorites distributed across Ireland and the U.K. titled Carly’s Christmas Album. She also co-starred with Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in the film Fools of Fortune. At age 12, Carly became one of the most recognized faces in Ireland when she became the model for a massive national print ad campaign for Denny Sausage. “My face,” says Carly with a laugh, “was on trucks, billboards, bus stops, Denny packaging, everywhere! It still is.”

While some might have envied Carly’s successful modeling career, it wasn’t what she wanted most. So, at age 15, she and her father/manager Luke Hennessy took a daring gamble: they came to Los Angeles with no contacts and only a demo in hand, hoping to spark label interest. Talk about the luck of the Irish! MCA Records President Jay Boberg heard her sing in his office and signed her on the spot, and the recording of the album got underway.

“I’ve had so much fun making this album,” says Carly. At first, given Carly’s enormous vocal presence, it was thought she might try tackling big Whitney-esque ballads, but Carly had something else in mind. “I wanted to be edgier, with more of a rock image,” she says. “Jay (Boberg) has put me together with a great team of producers and songwriters to make this happen.”
Having spent so much time in the U.S., Carly feels somewhat Americanized, but she remains proudly Irish. “I love everything Irish,” she claims. “I go to Irish bars, Irish restaurants. There are big differences between L.A. and Dublin. In Ireland, when I go out for an evening, I don’t get home until 6:00 A.M. Here, all the teenagers have big cars, drink loads of coffee and because of curfew, they’re home by 11. I’d never heard of a curfew in my life - it’s just like on TV!”

In the months ahead, Carly’s sure to be staying out late more often than not. She’s currently forming a band and planning a string of showcase gigs. A video for “I’m Gonna Blow Your Mind” is near the top of her “to do” list. But most importantly, Carly has made it her missssion to make music her way. “FFFFFor me,” she says, “music has to have character. I want to bring back real music and get away from all this synth stuff. The world has gotten too technical; it needs to slow down.”

She may get her wish, but only after the world speeds up dramatically for her. Carly Hennessy’s enormous talent won’t have it any other way.

So are we routing for Carly? Should she remain in the American Idol Contest? Does she deserve a second, actually Third Chance via American Idol? Or should American Idol leave the dance with the people they brought, and stick to their original concept of unsigned, unknown new talent?

Here is an outtake of a Wall Street Journal Article about Carly Smithson - Carly Hennessy by By JENNIFER ORDOÑEZ Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

MCA decided to rerecord Ms. Hennessy’s album from scratch. In early 2000, the company retained London-based producer Gregg Alexander, who had produced hits in Europe for former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell and others, to produce four songs. For the rest of the album, MCA turned to Los Angeles songwriter Danielle Brisebois, who had been helping Mr. Alexander on Ms. Hennessy’s album.

Ms. Brisebois had never produced an album before, but that didn’t bother Ms. Hennessy, who says her producer became “like a sister.” Both had been child actresses — Ms. Brisebois, 32, had played Archie Bunker’s niece Stephanie on “All In the Family” — and both had appeared in productions of “Annie.” The women experimented in the studio in search of Ms. Hennessy’s sound and creative direction. They found that the teenager sang with more emotion when the lights were turned off. She also seemed to sing better when she wore high heels — the angle helped her pitch. They taped some vocals at 2 a.m. so Ms. Hennessy’s voice would be more raspy.

In April 2001, with the album still unfinished, MCA decided to try to get Ms. Hennessy some notice by releasing her first single, a bouncy tune called “I’m Gonna Blow Your Mind.” Its opening lines:

“I really really, I really really, I really really, I really really, I really really want to kiss you/ But much more than that/ Boy, I’m gonna blow your mind.”

It was a risky choice. MCA realized the song’s subject matter — oral sex — made it unlikely to get much exposure on youth-oriented outlets deemed important in launching young artists, like the Radio Disney network of stations. But executives felt it was Ms. Hennessy’s catchiest song. MCA spent $250,000 on a video that showed Ms. Hennessy dancing in a disco and jumping around with pals in their sleepwear. On a call-in show, Nickelodeon asked viewers to rate 30 seconds of the video, but the audience was unresponsive. The video was quickly shelved.

The label also earmarked about $200,000 to hire independent promoters — middlemen who use their influence with radio program directors to secure airplay. In addition, MCA spent about $100,000 on “imaging” for Ms. Hennessy, including photos, clothes and makeup artists. It sent Ms. Hennessy on a $150,000, four-week promotional tour, where she sang at malls over recorded tapes, backed by two dancers, and at station-sponsored concerts. She bantered with DJs and participated in promotions. In Little Rock, Ark., a male listener won a dinner date with Ms. Hennessy. She recalls him as “the most annoying boy I have ever known in my life.”

But the single wasn’t catching on. In markets across the country, program directors who met with Ms. Hennessy professed to like the song, but then didn’t play it much. “She was very nice,” says Jon Zellner, a programmer for KMXV, a top-40 station in Kansas City, Mo., who met with Ms. Hennessy and her handlers for lunch when they visited the area last summer. “But Carly Hennessy simply didn’t have that sound that seemed like it would kick in at that time.” He never played the song.

Greg Marella, vice president of pop promotion at MCA, says the “I’m Gonna Blow Your Mind” single was in an awkward position: The music was a little too mature for regular top-40 radio and a little too pop-sounding for adult top-40 radio.

With the meter running and the album still unfinished, MCA and Mr. Hennessy last spring decided to bring in additional management. Miles Copeland, a close ally of Mr. Boberg’s who had made a name managing the Police and Sting, signed on as co-manager. Mr. Copeland felt the recording process was “out of hand,” and says he exerted pressure to wrap up the album as soon as possible. Ms. Brisebois says nobody asked her to work faster.

By the time the album was done, MCA had spent about $640,000 rerecording it, including Ms. Hennessy’s living expenses. That brought the total cost of making the album to about $1 million — high for a first album. But at least this time, Mr. Boberg says, “Everybody thought this was going to be a hit.”

Called “Ultimate High,” it included a few songs from a disc Ms. Brisebois had made years before but had never released. The music had a pop sound, with slightly heavier guitars. The lyrics, mostly written by Ms. Brisebois and Mr. Alexander, dealt with unrequited young love and sexual themes.

The failure of the first single meant MCA was already behind schedule as the album’s Nov. 13 release date approached. While albums in some genres, like rock, can build slowly in the marketplace, pop releases generally have to hit big fast. To try to build momentum somewhere, the label scored a Canadian modeling contract for Ms. Hennessy and sent her on a press tour there. MCA also prepared to release a second single, a feel-good tune called “Beautiful You,” and spent another $500,000 for independent promoters and promotional appearances by Ms. Hennessy — bringing its total investment to nearly $2.2 million.

But “Beautiful You” got even less airplay than the first single. With no radio play, MCA and Mr. Copeland decided against a concert tour. Retailers, meanwhile, were leery of investing much in an album by an artist who seemed to be going nowhere. Music stores had stocked 50,000 copies of Ms. Hennessy’s first two singles, and sold about 17,000, according to SoundScan. So when it came time to order the “Ultimate High” album, retailers bought just 10,000 copies, MCA says. With virtually no radio play or press, there was little hope for the album as it hit stores. “It was not rejected by the public,” Mr. Boberg says. “We just never made it to the public.”

In a last-ditch effort to salvage its investment, MCA decided to release “Ultimate High” in Europe later this year. In January, the label instructed Ms. Hennessy to pack up her apartment and turn in her car, and moved her back to Ireland. MCA’s European division plans to reshoot the album’s cover and launch the single, “I’m Gonna Blow Your Mind,” in Europe in March. If the album, due to be released in April, doesn’t take off, MCA will re-evaluate. “If we can’t find any market in the world that validates our view that she is a talent, then we have to question whether or not we move forward,” Mr. Boberg says.

Again Humm, do we give Carly Hennessy Smithson another shot on OUR American IDOL?

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