Hollie Steel
Encyclopedia
Hollie Steel is a singer and performer from Huncoat
, Lancashire
, England
. At the age of ten she was one of ten finalists on the third series
of the ITV
reality show Britain's Got Talent
.
Her first audition drew mostly positive comments from all of the show's judges. In her second appearance during the semi-finals Steel forgot the words of her song, broke down in tears and could not finish the song, but one of the programme's judges intervened and she was allowed to perform a second time. Steel advanced to the finals and finished in sixth place. She then toured the United Kingdom, making live performances with the series' other finalists in the summer of 2009.
In September 2009, Steel signed with a record label and began recording her debut album, which was released in May 2010.
with him. Prior to Britain's Got Talent she performed in productions of Annie
and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
.
Steel's parents, Nina and Jason, who work as National Health Service
audiologists, said that she was entered in Britain's Got Talent so she would not feel left out as they felt her older brother, Joshua, was more likely to progress.
Steel had serious pneumonia
when she was four years old; fluid filled one of her lungs and surgeons considered removing the lung. She was instead hospitalised for three months at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital
and underwent several operations to drain her lungs.
" from the musical My Fair Lady
, then, as judge Simon Cowell
started to reach for the red rejection buzzer, she began singing the song with an unexpectedly powerful voice. She received a standing ovation
from the audience and the approval of all four judges. Piers Morgan
told Steel, "We have seen a lot of children on our show over the past three series and I have never heard any of them sing as well as you do". Kelly Brook
was in tears and called her performance, "beautiful and lovely". Media reports at the time claimed that Steel had referred to Cowell as a bully for critical comments he made after her first appearance on the show; however, a blog at a Lancashire newspaper's web site that was attributed to Steel and her mother denied that she had ever made such a comment. Commentators and mainstream media outlets speculated that she might defeat Susan Boyle
, who had made an impression worldwide in the first show of the series. Over thirteen million viewers watched Steel's performance and, within one day of a video of her performance being posted on YouTube, over a million viewers had seen her worldwide. She was interviewed on U.S. television via satellite link during NBC
's Today show.
During her semi-final of Britain's Got Talent in May, Steel forgot her words and broke down mid-performance. After tearfully appealing for a second chance but being denied by the producers, Simon Cowell intervened saying, "I don't care how we do it but we will find the time somewhere to let you audition again", and she was allowed to perform a second time. Her second attempt at "Edelweiss
" went well and she was praised by the judges for being accomplished and brave in the trying circumstances. Piers Morgan described it as "one of the gutsiest things I've ever seen in my life", and Steel was chosen by all three judges to progress to the final in preference to Greg Pritchard. The incident caused numerous commentators to debate whether children of this age should be allowed to compete in a TV show in which contestants are under such high pressure.
In the final, she performed the song Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again from Phantom of the Opera. Her performance was trouble-free and well-received, and the viewer voting resulted in her finishing in sixth place, receiving 3.9% of the reported 4 million votes, calculating to 156,000 votes.
During June and July 2009, Steel appeared in Britain's Got Talent – The Live Tour 2009 with most of the other finalists from the third series. She was home tutored between rehearsals and the start of the tour. The rehearsals were held at the Apollo Theatre
in Hammersmith
. The tour opened at Birmingham
, England on 12 June 2009, and finished on 5 July 2009 at Bournemouth
. During the live stage shows, Steel performed solo and also in combination with other artists such as 2 Grand, with whom she performed "Edelweiss" in Newcastle
.
wished to record a song with Steel that he composed. However, the project with Harris fell through and so Steel took on her own Christmas project.
In September 2009, Steel signed with record label VVR2, owned by Dave D'Mello
with whom she began recording her debut single "Where Are You, Christmas?
" from the American film How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The single was released on 14 December 2009. The single, however, did not not make it into the top 40 in the UK Singles Chart
due to having very little air time.
Steel's debut album, Hollie, was released on 24 May 2010. The album was released on Steel's own label, BB5 Records Limited, named after the Accrington postcode, and includes the Pendle’s Arden Youth Choir on some of the classical pieces. It is being distributed into shops and download stores by Universal
. Steel's second single was Edelweiss
from The Sound of Music
, and was released on 29 March 2010. Steel's third single was I Could Have Danced All Night
from My Fair Lady
and O Mio Babbino Caro
, and was released on 10 May 2010. Steel recorded at the sound studio in the ACE Centre in Nelson
, Lancashire. Steel’s newest single consisting of two tracks slightly over 4 minutes each was released 22 November 2010. The first song of the single is a cover of When Christmas Comes to Town from the 2004 animated/live action movie The Polar Express
; the second song is O Holy Night
. A four minute YouTube music video has been posted to publicise the release. Steel also released a limited-edition Christmas album consisting of six tracks alongside the commercially available single.
On 4 December 2010, Steel gave performances of O Mio Babbino Caro and O Holy Night at Carnegie Hall
in New York.
Hollie appeared at the Leatherhead Theatre in Surrey
on 29 January 2011, singing songs from Cats
, The Phantom of the Opera
, Oliver!
, Fame, and My Fair Lady
.
Hollie was featured on the CD Classical Crossover Compilation 2011, singing Pokarekare Ana
. She later released the song as a charity single to help those suffering from an earthquake in Christchurch
, New Zealand.
In April 2011, Hollie accepted the role of Louisa von Trapp in Andrew Lloyd Webber
's tour of The Sound of Music. Her first appearance was on 27 May 2011 in Glasgow; her final performance was on 15 October 2011 in Wimbledon.
Huncoat
Huncoat is a small village in Lancashire, England; situated in the North West. It is located to the east of Accrington.Huncoat railway station is on the East Lancashire Line.-Origins:...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. At the age of ten she was one of ten finalists on the third series
Britain's Got Talent (series 3)
The 2009 series of Britain's Got Talent was the third series of the programme. It began airing on ITV on 11 April. The 2009 panel of judges consisted of Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan...
of the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
reality show Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent is a British television talent show competition which started in June 2007 and originated from the Got Talent series. The show is produced by FremantleMedia's TalkbackThames and Simon Cowell's production company SYCOtv. The show is broadcast on ITV in Britain and TV3 in Ireland...
.
Her first audition drew mostly positive comments from all of the show's judges. In her second appearance during the semi-finals Steel forgot the words of her song, broke down in tears and could not finish the song, but one of the programme's judges intervened and she was allowed to perform a second time. Steel advanced to the finals and finished in sixth place. She then toured the United Kingdom, making live performances with the series' other finalists in the summer of 2009.
In September 2009, Steel signed with a record label and began recording her debut album, which was released in May 2010.
Early life
Steel has been singing since the age of six when she showed interest in her brother Joshua's performances. She also attends the KLF Dance Academy in BurnleyBurnley
Burnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....
with him. Prior to Britain's Got Talent she performed in productions of Annie
Annie (musical)
Annie is a Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years with a blonde Annie as the poster...
and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story is based on the "coat of many colors" story of Joseph from the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical to be performed publicly...
.
Steel's parents, Nina and Jason, who work as National Health Service
National Health Service (England)
The National Health Service or NHS is the publicly funded healthcare system in England. It is both the largest and oldest single-payer healthcare system in the world. It is able to function in the way that it does because it is primarily funded through the general taxation system, similar to how...
audiologists, said that she was entered in Britain's Got Talent so she would not feel left out as they felt her older brother, Joshua, was more likely to progress.
Steel had serious pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
when she was four years old; fluid filled one of her lungs and surgeons considered removing the lung. She was instead hospitalised for three months at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital
Royal Manchester Children's Hospital
The Royal Manchester Children's Hospital is a children's hospital based in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, England. It is part of the Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust...
and underwent several operations to drain her lungs.
Britain's Got Talent
Steel first auditioned for Britain's Got Talent in April 2009. In her first televised appearance, she began her number ballet dancing to "I Could Have Danced All NightI Could Have Danced All Night
"I Could Have Danced All Night" is a song from the musical My Fair Lady, with music written by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, published in 1956...
" from the musical My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
, then, as judge Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...
started to reach for the red rejection buzzer, she began singing the song with an unexpectedly powerful voice. She received a standing ovation
Standing ovation
A standing ovation is a form of applause where members of a seated audience stand up while applauding after extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim...
from the audience and the approval of all four judges. Piers Morgan
Piers Morgan
Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan , known professionally as Piers Morgan, is a British journalist and television presenter. He is editorial director of First News, a national newspaper for children....
told Steel, "We have seen a lot of children on our show over the past three series and I have never heard any of them sing as well as you do". Kelly Brook
Kelly Brook
Kelly Brook is an English model, actress, entrepreneur, television presenter and Playboy model.-Early life:...
was in tears and called her performance, "beautiful and lovely". Media reports at the time claimed that Steel had referred to Cowell as a bully for critical comments he made after her first appearance on the show; however, a blog at a Lancashire newspaper's web site that was attributed to Steel and her mother denied that she had ever made such a comment. Commentators and mainstream media outlets speculated that she might defeat Susan Boyle
Susan Boyle
Susan Magdalane Boyle is a Scottish singer who came to international public attention when she appeared as a contestant on the TV programme Britain's Got Talent on 11 April 2009, singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from ...
, who had made an impression worldwide in the first show of the series. Over thirteen million viewers watched Steel's performance and, within one day of a video of her performance being posted on YouTube, over a million viewers had seen her worldwide. She was interviewed on U.S. television via satellite link during NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Today show.
During her semi-final of Britain's Got Talent in May, Steel forgot her words and broke down mid-performance. After tearfully appealing for a second chance but being denied by the producers, Simon Cowell intervened saying, "I don't care how we do it but we will find the time somewhere to let you audition again", and she was allowed to perform a second time. Her second attempt at "Edelweiss
Edelweiss (song)
"Edelweiss" is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. It is named after the edelweiss, a white flower found high in the Alps...
" went well and she was praised by the judges for being accomplished and brave in the trying circumstances. Piers Morgan described it as "one of the gutsiest things I've ever seen in my life", and Steel was chosen by all three judges to progress to the final in preference to Greg Pritchard. The incident caused numerous commentators to debate whether children of this age should be allowed to compete in a TV show in which contestants are under such high pressure.
In the final, she performed the song Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again from Phantom of the Opera. Her performance was trouble-free and well-received, and the viewer voting resulted in her finishing in sixth place, receiving 3.9% of the reported 4 million votes, calculating to 156,000 votes.
During June and July 2009, Steel appeared in Britain's Got Talent – The Live Tour 2009 with most of the other finalists from the third series. She was home tutored between rehearsals and the start of the tour. The rehearsals were held at the Apollo Theatre
Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...
in Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
. The tour opened at Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England on 12 June 2009, and finished on 5 July 2009 at Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
. During the live stage shows, Steel performed solo and also in combination with other artists such as 2 Grand, with whom she performed "Edelweiss" in Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
.
Singing career
The Daily Mirror on 28 July 2009 reported that veteran performer and singer Rolf HarrisRolf Harris
Rolf Harris, CBE, AM is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.Born in Perth, Western Australia, Harris was a champion swimmer before studying art. He moved to England in 1952, where he started to appear on television programmes on which he drew the...
wished to record a song with Steel that he composed. However, the project with Harris fell through and so Steel took on her own Christmas project.
In September 2009, Steel signed with record label VVR2, owned by Dave D'Mello
Dave DMello
Dave D'Mello is a British dance music DJ and record producer from Maidstone, United Kingdom whom started life as a professional / semi professional footballer and was infamously banned for life...
with whom she began recording her debut single "Where Are You, Christmas?
Where Are You, Christmas?
"Christmas, Why Can't I Find You?" is a song co-written by James Horner and Will Jennings for the movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas in the year 2000. In the movie, it is first sung by Taylor Momsen, who played Cindy Lou Who....
" from the American film How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The single was released on 14 December 2009. The single, however, did not not make it into the top 40 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
due to having very little air time.
Steel's debut album, Hollie, was released on 24 May 2010. The album was released on Steel's own label, BB5 Records Limited, named after the Accrington postcode, and includes the Pendle’s Arden Youth Choir on some of the classical pieces. It is being distributed into shops and download stores by Universal
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
. Steel's second single was Edelweiss
Edelweiss (song)
"Edelweiss" is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. It is named after the edelweiss, a white flower found high in the Alps...
from The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
, and was released on 29 March 2010. Steel's third single was I Could Have Danced All Night
I Could Have Danced All Night
"I Could Have Danced All Night" is a song from the musical My Fair Lady, with music written by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, published in 1956...
from My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
and O Mio Babbino Caro
O mio babbino caro
"O mio babbino caro" is a soprano aria from the opera Gianni Schicchi , by Giacomo Puccini, to a libretto by Giovacchino Forzano. It is sung by Lauretta after tensions between her father Schicchi and the family of Rinuccio, the boy she loves, have reached a breaking point that threatens to...
, and was released on 10 May 2010. Steel recorded at the sound studio in the ACE Centre in Nelson
Nelson, Lancashire
Nelson is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England, with a population of 28,998 in 2001. It lies 4 miles north of Burnley on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal....
, Lancashire. Steel’s newest single consisting of two tracks slightly over 4 minutes each was released 22 November 2010. The first song of the single is a cover of When Christmas Comes to Town from the 2004 animated/live action movie The Polar Express
The Polar Express (film)
The Polar Express is a 2004 motion capture computer-animated film based on the children's book of the same title by Chris Van Allsburg. Written, produced, and directed by Robert Zemeckis, the human characters in the film were animated using live action performance capture technique, with the...
; the second song is O Holy Night
O Holy Night
"O Holy Night" is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem "Minuit, chrétiens" by Placide Cappeau , a wine merchant and poet, who had been asked by a parish priest to write a Christmas poem...
. A four minute YouTube music video has been posted to publicise the release. Steel also released a limited-edition Christmas album consisting of six tracks alongside the commercially available single.
On 4 December 2010, Steel gave performances of O Mio Babbino Caro and O Holy Night at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in New York.
Hollie appeared at the Leatherhead Theatre in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
on 29 January 2011, singing songs from Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
, The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator,...
, Oliver!
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
, Fame, and My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
.
Hollie was featured on the CD Classical Crossover Compilation 2011, singing Pokarekare Ana
Pokarekare Ana
Pokarekare Ana is a traditional New Zealand love song, probably communally composed about the time World War I began in 1914.-Authorship disputes:...
. She later released the song as a charity single to help those suffering from an earthquake in Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
, New Zealand.
In April 2011, Hollie accepted the role of Louisa von Trapp in Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
's tour of The Sound of Music. Her first appearance was on 27 May 2011 in Glasgow; her final performance was on 15 October 2011 in Wimbledon.
Singles
| Year | Title / Additional track if any | |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | "Where Are You, Christmas? Where Are You, Christmas? "Christmas, Why Can't I Find You?" is a song co-written by James Horner and Will Jennings for the movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas in the year 2000. In the movie, it is first sung by Taylor Momsen, who played Cindy Lou Who.... " |
|
| 2010 | "Edelweiss Edelweiss (song) "Edelweiss" is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. It is named after the edelweiss, a white flower found high in the Alps... " |
|
| 2010 | "I Could Have Danced All Night I Could Have Danced All Night "I Could Have Danced All Night" is a song from the musical My Fair Lady, with music written by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, published in 1956... " / "O Mio Babbino Caro O mio babbino caro "O mio babbino caro" is a soprano aria from the opera Gianni Schicchi , by Giacomo Puccini, to a libretto by Giovacchino Forzano. It is sung by Lauretta after tensions between her father Schicchi and the family of Rinuccio, the boy she loves, have reached a breaking point that threatens to... " |
|
| 2010 | "When Christmas Comes To Town" / "O Holy Night O Holy Night "O Holy Night" is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem "Minuit, chrétiens" by Placide Cappeau , a wine merchant and poet, who had been asked by a parish priest to write a Christmas poem... " |
|
| 2011 | "Pokarekare Ana Pokarekare Ana Pokarekare Ana is a traditional New Zealand love song, probably communally composed about the time World War I began in 1914.-Authorship disputes:... " |
External links
- Hollie Steel Official Site
- Britain's Got Talent official site
- Facebook fan page http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Official-Hollie-Steel/210965685861
- YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/holliebsteelofficial