Andy Abraham

Andy Abraham
Abraham signing autographs at "The X Factor"
Background information
Born	17 July 1964 (1964-07-17) (age 45) North London, England
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Years active	2005–Present
Labels	Sony BMG (2006–2007)
Website	Official website

Andrew Abraham(born 16 July 1964 in North London, England) is an English singer and binman. He was the runner-up in the second UK series of TV talent show The X Factor in 2005 to Shayne Ward, and also represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.

Before applying for The X Factor, Abraham was a refuse collector. Prior to this he worked as a bus driver for Arriva London North based at Palmers Green bus garage. Abraham has two children by his wife Denise, a daughter called Tara and a son called Jacob. He is of Grenadian descent.

Abraham was beaten to the top spot on The X Factor by Shayne Ward by 1.2% of the national public vote. Abraham was mentored throughout the competition by Sharon Osbourne although fellow judges Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh also praised the singer throughout the competition. Other performers who came to prominence in the same series of The X Factor were finalists Journey South and quarter-finalist Chico Slimani.

After The X Factor

On 26 March 2006, Abraham's debut album entered the UK album chart at number two, selling 176,000 copies in its first week and being beaten to the top spot by Journey South.

In 2006, Abraham's debut album was the twelfth highest selling album of the year with total sales of around 300,000.^{[dated info]}

Abraham's second album, Soul Man, was not as popular yet it still managed to make the Top 20 in the UK Charts. The album included the Christmas song "December Brings Me Back To You", a duet with television presenter Michael Underwood.

A Very Best Of album was released in May 2008.

His third studio album, Even If, was released in June 2008 to positive reviews, and its title track reached number 67 in the UK Charts. Album sales were not helped by its distribution company Pinnacle Entertainment (UK) going into administration due to the downturn in the economy. The album was released digitally on iTunes in March 2009.

On 3 August 2008, it was reported in The Daily Star Sunday newspaper that Abraham had told friends that he would not release any further material, and instead he would concentrate on becoming a property developer. However on 6 August 2008, Abraham announced on his website that this was not true and said he is very much staying in the music industry.

Eurovision 2008

Abraham performing at Eurovision 2008.

On 1 March 2008, Abraham won Eurovision – Your Decision 2008, the UK selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, held on 24 May 2008, with his song "Even If". He was selected as a wild card in Eurovision – Your Decision by Terry Wogan and won the contest in a sing-off with favourite Michelle Gayle through a public vote.

In the final, Abraham finished last of the 25 entries, sharing 14 points (obtained from San Marino and Ireland) alongside Germany and Poland. Under EBU rules introduced in 2003, there are no shared placings in Eurovision and the placing of countries with shared scores is determined by which got the higher mark. Andy Abraham's highest mark was 8, whereas Poland scored a 10, placing them 24th and Germany scored a 12, placing them 23rd.^[1] In addition to becoming only the second UK act ever to come last in Eurovision, Abraham also became the first since 1989 not to hit the top 40 singles chart, peaking at number 67. Of all the UK entries that have made the singles chart (only three did not), it is the second least successful ever.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Andy Abraham

• Official website
• Video interview on ITV Local Yorkshire