Artist of the week: Hollie Steel

Hollie Steel (born on 1 July 1998) is a schoolgirl and performer from Accrington, England. In 2009 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. She received a second chance, completing the song without a problem. 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 and family started a record label, 'BB5 Records' and she began recording her debut album, Hollie, which was released in May 2010. The album was distributed in Hong Kong and UK.

Steel released a second album in late 2011, and in early 2012 a third album. She released her sixth single on 3 December 2012, Fly, which was recorded in Italy with Romina Arena.

Steel has been singing since the age of four when she showed interest in her brother Joshua's performances. She also attended the KLF Dance Academy in Burnley 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 brother, Joshua, five years older, was more likely to progress. The judges preferred Hollie's audition and Joshua dropped out.

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.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollie_Steel

Artist of the week: Billy Gilman

William Wendell "Billy" Gilman III (born May 24, 1988) is an American country music artist. In 2000, at the age of 11, he debuted with the single "One Voice," a Top 20 hit on the Billboard country music charts and became the youngest singer to a Top 40 hit on the country music charts. An album of the same name was released later that year on Epic Records, and was certified Double Platinum in the United States. Following it was a Christmas album Classic Christmas and Dare to Dream, both of which were certified gold. He exited Epic's roster and signed to Image Entertainment in 2005 releasing Everything and More. In 2006, he released the self-titled Billy Gilman.

Gilman was born on May 24, 1988, in Westerly, Rhode Island, he was raised in the village of Hope Valley, Rhode Island, in the town of Hopkinton. Gilman began singing before he was in school, and gave his first public performance at age 7. At the age of 9, Gilman was discovered by Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel, who helped him record demos. Gilman was then signed to Epic Records Nashville in 2000.

http://billygilman.com

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Gilman