Eoghan Quigg

Quigg auditioned for the talent show The X Factor in front of judges Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue, Louis Walsh and Cheryl Cole in 2008. Quigg got past the "judges' houses" stage of the competition, and made it to the live shows in Cowell's 14–24 boys group, along with Scott Bruton and Austin Drage, both of whom were eliminated early in the live shows. On the first live show, Quigg sang "Imagine" and was highly praised by the judges. On the second live show (Michael Jackson week) he sang "Ben" which was also praised. On Big Band week Quigg sang "L-O-V-E" and received a standing ovation from the judges and the crowd. He made it to the semi-finals and after performances of "Year 3000" and "Does Your Mother Know" was voted through to the final.

Quigg eventually finished third, with Alexandra Burke the winner, and JLS runners-up.

Quigg appeared at the Cheerios Childline Concert at the Dublin O₂ in Dublin on 16 December 2008, among acts including Enrique Iglesias, Anastasia and Irish boyband Boyzone. In December he also appeared on The Late Late Show where it was announced that Boyzone had invited him on their UK and Ireland Better Tour.[5] On 15 January 2009 it was announced that Quigg had landed a record deal with Syco's parent company Sony BMG.[6] Quigg later signed to RCA Records.

Quigg released his only album, titled Eoghan Quigg, on 6 April 2009.[7] "28,000 Friends", the sole single from Quigg, peaked at no. 96 in the UK Singles Chart.[8] The album charted at number 14 and spent 3 weeks in the top 100.[9] It debuted at Number 1 on the Irish Albums Chart, and left the charts eight weeks later.[9] The album met with what Matthew McCreary in The Independent described as a critical "savaging".[1] Many reviewers,[10] including Peter Robinson of The Guardian,[11] called it the worst record ever made. Criticism was directed at its lack of original material, low production values and poor singing performance from Quigg.[12][13] Following disappointing album sales, Quigg was dropped by RCA Records.[14]

In February 2014, Quigg was announced by RTÉ as one of the five acts that would compete to represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, with the song "The Movie Song". He finished second in the contest.[15]