Molly Smitten-Downes
Molly Smitten-Downes | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Molly Alice Smitten-Downes[1] |
| Born | 2 April 1987 Leicestershire, England, UK[2] |
| Genres | Pop[3] |
| Occupations |
|
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | www |
Molly Alice Smitten-Downes (born 2 April 1987) known by her mononym Molly, is a British singer-songwriter. She was selected by the BBC to represent the United Kingdom at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark.[4][5]
Early life
Molly attended Our Lady's Convent School in Loughborough, began starring in stage productions from the age of eight. She studied music at Leicester College and at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, Surrey,[6] and is an accomplished pianist.
Career
2005–10: Stunt
Molly was a member of the British dance music project, Stunt who achieved chart success in 2008 with their collaboration mashup track "Raindrops (Encore une fois)" with Sash!, combining songs "Raindrops" (2006) and "Encore une fois" (2007). In 2009, Smitten-Downes teamed with Swedish producer and singer/songwriter Basshunter, for the collaboration "I Will Learn To Love Again", which is featured on his second UK album Bass Generation.
2011–13: Career beginnings
An acoustic EP Fly Away with Me was released on 18 December 2011.[7] EP track "Shadows" was sampled by grime artist Marger and has been released on iTunes through 360 Records (21 August 2011).[8] "Beneath The Lights", her collaboration with Swedish producer Anders Hansson, was released in April 2013 with Anders' project Dream Beats.[9][10] "Never Forget", her collaboration with hardcore producer Darren Styles, was written and recorded in 2012.[11]
2014–present: Eurovision Song Contest
On 3 March 2014, the BBC announced that Molly would be representing the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the song "Children of the Universe".[12][13][14] Molly wrote "Children of the Universe" herself and has described her ambition to write music that "breaks down political barriers".[15] Prior to the contest, Molly signed a record deal with Warner Music UK on 1 April 2014.[16] On 4 April, Molly announced that she would release her song "Children of the Universe" on 28 April 2014.[17] It was made available for digital download on iTunes from 15 April. The official video for the entry was released on YouTube on 23 April 2014.[18]
Honors and awards
Molly was awarded in 2012 the Best Urban/Pop Act at Live and Unsigned and in 2013 won Best Song at the Best of British Unsigned Music Awards.[19]
Discography
Extended plays
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Fly Away with Me |
|
Singles
As lead artist
| Year | Title | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | "Beneath the Lights" (with. Dream Beats) |
Non-album single |
| 2014 | "Children of the Universe" | TBA |
As featured artist
| Year | Title | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | "Shadows" (Marger featuring Molly) |
Non-album singles |
| 2013 | "Never Forget You" (Darren Styles featuring Molly) |
References
- ^ "Molly Smitten-Downes Discography at Discogs". Discogs.com.
- ^ "Eurovision 2014: Molly Smitten-Downes, from Leicestershire, to represent UK in song contest". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
- ^ "Molly Smitten-Downes: Eurovision will be a challenge". BBC News. 4 March 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest: Little-known artist set to be UK's hopeful". BBC.
- ^ "United Kingdom: 'BBC selects Molly Smitten-Downes'".
- ^ "Former ACM student to represent UK in Eurovision Song Contest". GetSurrey.co.uk. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
- ^ "iTunes - Music - Fly Away With Me - EP by Molly". Itunes.apple.com. 2011-12-18. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
- ^ MTV UK. "Fresh: Marger Feat. Molly - 'Shadows' | Mtv Uk". Mtv.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-03-03.
- ^ "iTunes - Music - Beneath the Lights - Single by Molly & Dream Beats". Retrieved 2014-03-02.
- ^ Joseph 'JP' Patterson. "Introducing blog: JP's Underground Tracks of The Month". BBC. Retrieved 2014-03-03.
- ^ "Free Music Videos, Video Interviews, Music Video News, Live Sessions and Clips". Nme.Com. Retrieved 2014-03-03.
- ^ "United Kingdom in the Eurovision 2014: It's Molly Smitten-Downes to Copenhagen".
- ^ "Molly's song for the Eurovision 2014, presentation 3 March 2014".
- ^ "Molly Smitten-Downes to represent the UK". eurovision.tv. 3 March 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
- ^ "Molly Smitten-Downes: Eurovision will be a challenge". bbc.co.uk. 4 March 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
- ^ "UK: Molly's album deal with Warner Music UK". esctoday.com. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
- ^ "Molly's Eurovision Song 'Children of the Universe' gets studio version". Digital Spy. 4 April 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
- ^ "United Kingdom: Children of the universe clip released". esctoday.com. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
- ^ "BBC - Eurovision 2014 - Media centre". BBC. Retrieved 24 April 2014.