Maria Lawson

In 1997, Lawson, known as Kimara Lawson in Italy, achieved chart success with several singles in collaboration with Italian dance group Ti.Pi.Cal. (Daniele Tignino, Riccardo Piparo and Vincenzo Callea). With Ti.Pi.Cal, Lawson recorded "Hidden Passion" (1997), "Live For Today (1997), "Follow Your Heart" (1998), "Music Is My Life" (1999) and What I Like (2006), and two singles as Kimara Lawson - Stand up (2000) & Heaven (2000).[1][2]

Lawson auditioned for the first series of The X Factor in 2004, but she was rejected by judge Simon Cowell after reaching the "bootcamp" rounds. In 2005 she auditioned for the second series of the show.

According to Lawson's 2008 autobiography Life Starts Now, in her audition for the second series, Cowell immediately remembered her from the previous year and told her he had "made a mistake" in not putting her through to the live shows. Her rendition of "Stop" by Sam Brown stormed Lawson through to bootcamp with Sharon Osbourne emerging as her new mentor. After successful performances at bootcamp and at the Osbourne household in Los Angeles, Lawson was given a chance to sing in the live stages of the show as part of Osbourne's final four.

In the early stages of the live shows, Lawson was hotly tipped with performances of "Piece of My Heart" and "You're Beautiful" Her vocals, image and earthy charisma made her one of the favourites alongside eventual winner Shayne Ward. Lawson was many bookmakers' favourites to win prior to the week she was eliminated from the show. In Lawson's 2008 autobiography, she mentions she received the highest number of public votes on week four when she covered the James Blunt hit "You're Beautiful".

In the fifth round of the live shows, Lawson performed "Brown Sugar", a song that was widely regarded as unsuitable for her. After the public vote, Lawson found herself in the bottom two for the first time with Irish girl group The Conway Sisters. According to voting figures published in the Sunday Mirror, Lawson turned out to have received twice as many public votes as the Conway Sisters, but was nevertheless eliminated by the judges after a sing-off in the final showdown.[3] Her mentor, Sharon Osbourne, said that she was a victim of the "Irish Mafia", referring to Irish judge Louis Walsh's decision to vote in favour of the Irish act at Lawson's expense. This caused a media uproar and Walsh threatened to quit the show after days of negative press.

Lawson's elimination was also a shock for bookmakers who had her as a 66–1 outsider to leave the programme.[4]

After Lawson was eliminated from the show, she was approached by at least three major record labels. On 6 March 2006 Lawson announced that she had signed to the Phonogenic branch of the Sony BMG record label. Her debut single, "Sleepwalking", was released on 14 August. BBC Radio 2 "A-listed" the track (putting it on heavy rotation), and it achieved a position of number 20 in the UK Singles Chart. It was later revealed had the UK singles charts recent inclusion of 'downloads' been deducted, based on physical first week sales, "Sleepwalking" would have charted inside the UK top ten. As of 2010, the track has sold over 50,000 copies in the UK alone.

Her self-titled debut album was recorded in Los Angeles where she worked with multi-Grammy winning songwriter Diane Warren, Steve Kipner, Lester Mendez and the Heavy Weights. The album was released on 28 August 2006 and charted at number 41 on the UK Albums Chart. As of 2010, the album has sold over 20,000 copies in the UK. Lawson also went on to sign a lingerie deal with Bravissimo to become the new face and body for the lingerie and clothing line.[5]

On 3 July 2007, Lawson announced in her latest diary entry that she would not be releasing her exclusive second single "Lover's Kiss" (a song not included on her debut album), but would instead be working on her second album. In Lawson's 2008 autobiography, Life Starts Now, she revealed that her then record company, Sony BMG, decided (after much delay) to part ways and not continue with the release of the single.

On 27 June 2008, Lawson stated in a MySpace blog that her forthcoming album would be entitled Emotional Rollercoaster and confirmed "Breaking Me Down" as the first single to be released from the album. An interview with Lawson appeared in the June issue of Pride Magazine and a clip of the official video for "Breaking Me Down" was made available on her website.[6] Her website also announced a radio and TV tour across the UK from 18 to 29 August 2008. Lawson performed "Breaking Me Down", along with a rendition of Janis Joplin's classic hit "Piece of My Heart" (a song which she had performed during her run on The X Factor), at Party in the Park, Temple Newsham, Leeds on Sunday 27 July. She performed the single again at the Freedom Festival on 30 August 2008. The single was released on 8 September 2008.

Lawson was interviewed on GMTV on Friday 24 October 2008, promoting "Breaking Me Down" and her new book Life Starts Now.[7]

Lawson's self-help/autobiography entitled Life Starts Now was released to stores on 28 November 2008. It follows Lawson's journey from hopeful unknown, through the audition process and beyond to her appearance on a major national television show.[8]

On 11 April 2009, it was announced on Lawson's Myspace page that she would be performing the female lead role in the West End production of Thriller – Live at The Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London.[9] The show features the hit songs of Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5. Lawson's run lasted through from 14 April 2009 to March 2010.[10]

In October 2010, Lawson signed a lingerie deal with Brastop to be the face and body of the brand for 2011.[11]

Lawson began her attempt to represent Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in September 2011, by submitting the song "Champion". However, the song failed to reach the final.[12]

Lawson's second studio album, Emotional Rollercoaster, was produced by Brian Rawling. In a Myspace blog in 2011, Lawson revealed she had returned to the recording studio to re-record and remix some of the tracks. Emotional Rollercoaster is due out some time in 2014 through Right Track Music/Universal Music Operations.

Lawson has been signed to Wilhelmina in the US, one of the most prominent model and celebrity agencies in the fashion industry with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Miami.