Carly Smithson - American Idol contestant Carly Smithson, aka Carly Hennessy, had an album released by MCA records in 2001 - Watch her music video of “I’m Gonna Blow Your Mind” and check out her backstory here.
Carly Smithson is an Irish citizen and after making the Hollywood round on American Idol back in 2005, the work visa she needed didn’t come through in time and Carly couldn’t compete.
Carly later found love with a San Diego tattoo artist, got married and became Carly Smithson, while also acquiring a spectacular arm tattoo that may turn off a lot of younger voters on the American Idol show, which is basically a popularity contest.
Carly Smithson - American Idol Audition
Back in 2001 at age 17, Carly Smithson - then known as Carly Hennessy - put out an album, Ultimate High, through MCA Records, which ultimately spent over $2 million dollars promoting Carly’s career before cutting her from the label back in 2003 due to abysmal record sales.
Basically, MCA went about it all wrong. Instead of putting a band together and letting Carly develop as an artist by performing live, MCA immediately set to work recording Hennessy and releasing a single from the unfinished album with no tour to support it.
Carly’s single “I’m Gonna Blow Your Mind” didn’t get much airplay becaue MCA was aiming her at the young teen audience, but the song’s theme (oral sex)Â was too mature for pop radio and the music too pop for the adult market.
Carly Hennessy - I’m Gonna Blow Your Mind Video
The tune is quite catchy and if Carly had been promoted correctly by giving her some live performing experience before being rushed into the studio, Carly might have blossomed into a successful recording artist.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Carly Smithson Hennessy has spent the interim years perfecting her chops because she’s now twenty pounds overweight and sporting an awfully distracting tattoo. It’s too bad because she can really sing and could have had a great recording career.
And that’s the latest news on American Idol contestant Carly Smithson.
Tags: american idol, carly hennessey, carly hennessy smithson, carly smithson
March 6th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Carly Smithson has the American Idol judges solidly behind her. Not sure if the voting public really responds that well to her though…
March 6th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
What a voice!!! Maybe I’m biased as my parents are Irish born, but nonetheless, she has a voice that has come out of nowhere and I very much look forward to her cd once this competition is over; hopefully, one full of ballads to showcase that incredible Irish voice. It really doesn’t matter where she is from as long as she continues to sing. It’s just a double treat that she is from Dublin - where my father was born. She is a beautifu girl as well, but her tattoo diminishes her beauty and credibility to me. I wonder what she will see on her arm when she is over 60?
March 18th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Nice voice and nice personality, but the tattoo makes me want to turn the channel, it is very very distracting and shows a lack of respect for her body. Furthermore, when the camera on tonight’s (3/18) show flashed to her husband, as pictured above, that was enough of a turn-off to make me vote for anyone but. I thought CTV was replaying the old Glen-Warren Production, “Circus”.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:38 am
You go Carly! She is truly amazing and is my favorite pick this year. Shame on anyone who would not vote for her based on her or her husband’s tattoo!! Are you kidding me?? It is a SINGING COMPETITION. And there are many of us who appreciate the tattoos. I think her’s is great..and her husband is a tattoo artist and like many others they have tattoos on their faces. Who cares as long as they like it. It is SOOOO not offensive to me. I actually think it’s pretty cool! You people have to open your minds and stop being so judgemental!!!
March 20th, 2008 at 9:07 am
The tattoo issue is one thing, (and that alone should be enough of a turn off)… but the fact that she is not an American citizen is the most bothersome….the name of the show needs to be changed if you are not required to be from the United States of America!
I have a strong feeling that she is not who she appears to be….rough around the edges if you ask me…not American Idol material based upon our former “idols”.
March 30th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
This is in response to Mary Lee………..i am sorry but what sort of racist vibe are you on!!! Carly has moved to the US, married an American and taken will eventually officially become an American citizen!! How dare you make reference to the fact that she is not American!!!
So i take it that you don’t like Michael Johns either!!!!
Not that i want to start a war here (oh and there are so many places i could go with that!!) but just cause she has tattoos does not make her rough around the edges!! I have a degree and a masters……………..and i have quite a few!! If you were not so ignorant you would realise that many people have tats…….from politicians to high profile lawyers to successful business people!!
Open your eyes woman………your the kind of US citizen that has all my friends wondering why the hell i would move to such a narrow minded country!!!
April 7th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
To Wayne Dayton who said tattoos show lack of respect for the body, it is quite the opposite. I will admit that some people will walk into a shop, pick something off the wall and have it slapped on as a tramp stamp, and to me, that can be perceived as trashy. But tattooing is an art form and people that do tattoing are artists. If tattoos appeal to someone, they should have every right to have a liscenced professional put art onto their body. Tattoos are not “trashy” or “dirty” looking. Millions of respected people choose to have art on their bodies. In a few years, I will have my Masters Degree in Library Science and right now I’m working on a sleeve tattoo. Does that make me a “rough around the edges” librarian? Would you be uncomfortable having me check out your books? If you have your ears pierced or wear makeup, it’s the exact same thing, tattoos just happen to be permanant. And to all those of you who say Carly will regret the tattoos later, or that they will look bad when she’s 60, you don’t know how Carly feels about that. Maybe she doesn’t care, maybe she’ll think they’re beautiful anyway. Maybe when she’s 60, she won’t be walking around with sleeveless shirts on. If it’s going to hurt your eyes, then don’t look. And to Mary Lee, you must think that all idols need to come out of some kind of perfect mold. So what if Carly is “rough around the edges”? American Idol needs a change from the pretty and polished Carrie Underwood type mold that has been there since the first season. Also, Carly is married to AN AMERICAN MAN. That entitles her to live and to work in the US. I don’t hear anyone complaining about the Austrailian on the show! But even so, he has every right to be here, just as Carly does. Carly Smithson is a hardworking young lady who is married to a man who loves her very much. I think you all need to show a little more respect for someone who chooses to express herself in a different way than most.
April 9th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Woooow…. she is not twenty pounds overweight. Why do people have to look like sticks to be considered “the norm”? Speaking as a very thin woman, due to genetics, I would much rather have her body type then look like Kristy Lee Cook and have no shape. If that is her body’s comfort level, why fight it? She’s HEALTHY.
April 13th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Carly honestly has more vocal abilities than any other contestant. Too bad that American Idol will always be a popularity contest. People will always focus on everything else except her singing, like her few extra pounds, or her tattoos. She is still thin I have no clue why people even made an issue on her weight. Her tattoos are a form of expression, it does not reflect who the person is on the inside. But Carly, by far, is the best female singer there and if people give her a chance and really listen to her voice, they will fall in love. She could have a really good shot at making it to the finals!!! Carly’s the best!
April 15th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
shes hot, and you all no it. so fuck off
April 17th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Carly is NOT 20 pounds overweight…What is wrong with society? I hate the warped minds that people have now…Just because she’s not a size 2 doesn’t mean she’s overweight! Ugh. And her tattoo? It’s a form of expression, she’s an artist, a lot of singers have tattoos, she doesn’t have to look like a little blonde “pop” star to get my attention. Rock on Carly! (Although I don’t really like the video “I’m Gonna Blow Your Mind” doesn’t sound like the voice I’ve heard on t.v. at all…and way too poppy for my taste. But she’s still awesome!)
April 19th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Now I see why the real talent gets voted off the show. The Lemmings in this blog, who are all TV influenced-Mindless cliches, embibe pop culture and think they are open-minded. Stop letting others influence you!!
If any of you are Christian it is expressly stated in The Bible that marking your body (that means tatoos) or inflicting self-pain (doesn’t a tatto hurt??) is expressly prohibited, and obscene to our Lord. It is truly in there, but I doubt yuo lemmings ever read the book becasue it has too many pages, and doesn’t have pictures like People Magazine (ugh!!!) Tatoos are another mindless fad that the 20 sand 30 omethings think give them an open mind. Remember the “flower children” of the 60’s. These are the same sell-outs who are running the greatness of this country into the ground (think Dennis Hopper selling Ameprise Financial). Think for yourself a bit. There are a lot of educated derelicts out there like our librarian friend. Who checks out books at the library anymore? People go there to surf the Net, and look at porn (another cool thing for our mindless generation and there self expression!!).
Obviously Carly found herself the first freak who would have her so she could avoid the debacle of Season 5. At least she’s not an illegal and collecting my social security benefits.
Tattoing your face is going too far. Can’t wait till they have grandkids!!
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Sorry to see you go on American idol tonight–but follow your dreams and SING!!
NEVER GIVE UP!——-always hugs to u!!
April 24th, 2008 at 11:42 am
For Joe….thank you for continuing the ignorant, bigoted stereotype that true Christians must endure.
If YOU weren’t so lazy you might have read the ONLY verse in the Bible that mentions tattooing and the verses around it. Too many pages for you?
Let me summarize.”Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.” That’s the verse right ahead of the “tattoo” verse. You don’t partake in the “mindless fad that the 20 sand 30 omethings” do, do you? You don’t actually cut the hair on the side of your head do you?
It goes on to say, “Observe my Sabbaths”, and
“Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly”. Do you “observe” the Sabbath as fully instructed? Do you stand in the presence of the elderly? Nine verses ahead it says, “Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.” You don’t do that do you? It is “expressly prohibited, and obscene to our Lord.”
The point is, you are just picking and choosing the items of the Old Testament Law that suit your opinions and preferences. Not acceptable!
Gal 3:10-11 “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’ Clearly no one is justified before God by the law. because, ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” NIV
So Joe, actually read it all if you are going to accuse and mock others of somehow being “less than you” for not having read the Bible. Shame on you.
Additionally, this site actually has a spell check feature. Your post included the words “embibe”, “yuo”, “becasue”, “tatoos”, “Tattoing”, “omethings”, “Ameprise”, all of which show up as having been spelled wrong but you didn’t fix them. You didn’t even have to “think for yourself a bit”, as you put it, and you still couldn’t get it right. Not to mention the myriad grammatical errors such as “there” when it should have been “their”. Do you realize just how ignorant this makes you look? Probably not.
Why don’t you stop watching American Idol for a while? Go to a quiet place and actually read and study the Bible that you claim to follow and know.
Finally, please stop posting comments that will inherently disparage the name of Christ in an already hostile world. You do yourself, and more importantly God, a disservice.
ps. I and my family check out books at the library every week.
pss. and we read them.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
What a shame that Carly got voted off. She had the purest voice of all of the American Idols. I hope she makes a record in the U.S. I would certainly buy it. At first I was taken back by the tatoos (especially since I am from the older generation), but that does not take away from her talent and her determination. I respect her right to get the tatoos, however, I am sure when she looks back at her life in later years, she will probably regret them. I am sure her husbands influence had much to do with them. Still, I love her singing and her determination (with or without the tatoos). She deserves a shot at the big time. I absolutely love her singing and stage presence.
June 18th, 2008 at 10:07 am
You people who sit here and write mean things about her and her husband should be ashamed. You may say you don’t like her but you sure as hell googled her, right?! I was fortunate to run into her husband and let me just say he’s a TRULY nice person…tattoos and all! He loves his wife and that clear! So, all you haters keep hating but she will make it to the top!