Shane's No1

Number 1 for Voice Finalist Shane McLaughlin

Shane McLaughlin’s debut single “All that I Want” has reached No1 in the singer/songwriter chart on iTunes since it's release on the 26th January, overtaking Passenger’s “Let Her Go”  along the way.

Shane's Manager, Matthew Lucania of LPR said "I'm a delighted for him, all the hard work and belief is paying off now. Coming out of the Voice was not easy for the lad and some music circles had written him off but I always knew what a talent he was and how successful he could be in Ireland given the right guidance. It's still a long way off our target but nonetheless we are both thrilled".

Shane is best known for having competed in the Voice Of Ireland competition on RTE last year. With his performance of “Fake” by the frames he was chosen by Kian Egan and then progressed through the battle stages and the live shows right up to the final where he finished 3^rd overall and got to perform live with Steve Wall of ‘The Stunning’. The exposure helped Shane gain some interesting fans too and even received tweets of respect from celebrities such as Frankie Boyle, MC Hammer and Andrew Stockdale of Wolfe Mother on his own original songs.

“All That I Want” (the first release from an upcoming 4 track EP due out in March) is a modern day, heart felt Irish ballad that encompasses routes of Irish, Celtic and Rock. The track is simply about love won and lost and ‘not realizing what you have until its gone’. Written in his hometown of Downings, Shane had his band recorded in Blast Furnace, Derry, before vocal recording and mixing duties were taken on by friend and producer Wez Devine (who wrote and produced Irelands last Eurovision song entry “Only Love Survives”) and mastered by Fergal Davis (Muse,etc.).

Apart from gigging country wide, since Shane’s success on the voice, he has used the exposure to inspire youths by running creative kids camps and giving motivational talks at secondary schools and also taking part in movember to raise funds for the local oncology unit. Shane (who grew up emulating his idols Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson in front of a mirror with the old hairbrush mic) has been in numerous bands on his journey - his previous band “Red Light Inferno” received impressive airplay and rave reviews with emotion filled rock ballads like “Envy, Glorious Envy” and “Why So Slow”.

Download the new single now at: https://itunes.apple.com/ie/album/all-that-i-want/id805799372?i=805799385 … 

Voice of Ireland Finalist to release 1st Single

Shane McLaughlin is from Donegal and has been on the verge of success on many occasions in his musical career but really came to light after appearing on RTE's The Voice of Ireland competition where he made it through to the final. Shane recorded his track "FAKE" with Universal which is available for download on iTunes and is currently working on his EP launch tour and was invited as special guest to switch on the Christmas lights in both Donegal and Letterkenny over the festive season. Shane is set to release his first single “All that I want” in January 2014 ahead of the EP release in February/March 2014.

here are a few links to video's of recent performances and also in the final of the voice of Ireland last year.

Fake: Voice of Ireland http://youtu.be/B5OwohXNTYI
EP launch night in Letterkenny, Counting Stars; http://youtu.be/D1RycXOg2iE
Letterkenny Christmas lights special guest: http://youtu.be/ZJTD9JbHm2s

Song from EP, So Cold: http://youtu.be/SsiqpSFv3Q4

LUCCI IS A TRUE TALLAFORNIA BABE

LUCCI IS A TRUE TALLAFORNIA BABE

Tallaght born urban rap singer Lucci Minx has set her sights on becoming a steamy new house-mate on the proposed next season of Tallafornia. With previous house-mate Natalie Geraghty moving to London and Kelly Donegan seemingly not interested, it has opened the door for another female to make her mark on the show and give the new season a much needed facelift.   It’s rumoured that production bosses are looking to shake up stale reality stars and hold open auditions for a new cast but no audition dates for the new series have been confirmed by TV3.  Phil Penny who is currently waiting to hear if he is part of talla’s new plans said that the singer would be a great addition to the show if given the go ahead.

Lucci who has a mass worldwide following of her music has worked with the likes of Snoop-Dogg, Jodeci and was part of a girl group called D-Vine that supported Westlife, Girls Aloud & Lemar on tour. Lucci’s current single (Love/Hate You) has had well over  170,000 views on YouTube and is set to launch her new single (When it rains) on iTunes this month along with the video release.

Lucci Minx has been compared to a modern day version of  90’s rapper Betty Boo. But as Lucci always says “never judge a book by its cover” She is one super hot talented Missy that is breaking boundaries in music, radio, television both at home in Ireland and the United States.

Voice of Ireland Finalist Shane won’t disappoint eager fans

Voice of Ireland finalist Shane McLaughlin kicks off his eagerly awaited EP launch with a tour of Donegal starting on Friday 29^th November at Gallagher’s Hotel Letterkenny and then on the 7^th December at Downings Bay Hotel in his home town. The popular contestant who was mentored on the show by jungle bound Westlife star Kian Egan has been working hard over the last 6 months writing and perfecting his music and is determined not to leave fans disappointed with the new sound. 

Shane with Voice of Ireland mentor Kian Egan

Shane said on his facebook page “Absolutely delighted to announce that I will be kicking of the tour for my Brand New EP in Gallaghers hotel in Letterkenny on The 29th of THIS MONTH. Time has truly flown in since The Voice and this will be the official unveiling of my new music and New Band along with some local bands and special guests on the night. I hope you can come check out the show and thanks for all the amazing support so far”

Tickets are available now from Gallaghers Hotel, Letterkenny, €10.  Doors open 7:30pm

Downings Bay Hotel tickets will go on sale next week €5 children /€10 adults, available from the Hotel & local Downings stores.

Published: Goldenplec.com 

Irish author writing her own success story

Sophie with reality star Jo Jordan

Irish Author Sophie Rose Williamson has just released her second book “GYPSY” which topped US charts practically overnight in recent weeks but now the Kildare based writer is already making plans to pen her third instalment which promises to be a page turner. Titled “WISHLIST”. It will be a deep and dark story about Battling cancer, a bone marrow transplant patient, that covers depression in men, suicide and intervention by social services. Whether or not Sophie chooses to write this under her alias Valerie O’Brien remains to be seen but the book would be more suited to Valerie’s style after writing “In The Shadow of Men” which told her in-depth and no holds barred story of military life as one of the first female combat soldiers in Ireland. 

Irish rap star’s close encounter with a suicide attempt

 Irish rap star’s close encounter with a suicide attempt 

Lucci Minx is one of Ireland's up and coming rap artists and singer song writer, in July this year while out scouting for a location for her new video in Tallaght, Lucci came across a young man sitting on top of the main Tallaght bridge that spans over the duel carriage and the Dodder River, it looked quite obvious the young man was about to jump off and although other people could see this, they just walked by. Lucci  a young woman of 27yrs herself and although frightened by the sight, decided to stop and at least try to talk this young man also in his 20s,her first though on seeing the young man was "oh lord what have I walked into here “but in her heart she felt that there was a reason God had her there that day, a conversion began between the two young strangers.

Lucci's first question to Tom(we will call him here)was, “are you ok", he replied, “no misses, I am sick of life, all my friends are dead, my family hate me and I have had enough". Lucci spoke for a time with Tom, asking him his name and where he was from, he told her he was from Tallaght and that his parents had split up, Lucci then preceded to ask him did he do drugs and drink, he told her he’s had been off Heroine for months but did take a drink on occasions. Lucci took the brave step of telling him how much his drug addiction must have hurt his family and to try understand how hard it must have been for them.

Lucci asked Tom where was he living now, he replied, nowhere, he sleeps in the fields and or anywhere he can find like that, she suggested he try the hostels in the city but he told her they were too dangerous for him and he would find himself back on Heroine very quickly as its rampant in these places plus there are always fights there, he was frightened and the temptation of drugs would be too strong for him. Tom also told Lucci how one time he had a bad turn on the drugs and died but was brought to life, he was not afraid to die.

As Lucci continued chatting to the stranger, he seemed to relax a little and although shaking herself, Lucci could not bear to witness anyone killing themselves in such a horrible manner, jumping off a very high bridge, much to Lucci's relief, Tom preceded to climb down from the bridge, she gave him 10euros, to buy some food, he thanked her and as she watched him walk away she felt a huge sigh of relief come over her, I asked her would she do it again, she said, defiantly, "believe God puts us in places for a reason and if we can help somebody and save them from doing something bad, then we must take the courage to do so. Lucci was also inspired by her own experience of being attacked by a couple outside a club she was working for in town a few years previous, people walked by and did nothing to help her, it left her feeling very shocked as she was an innocent victim in this case.

Lucci is currently working with four other female Irish Rap artists and is currently releasing a solo song called “Love Hate You”, which releases on iTunes September 23^rd, her video won an award for best Video by an independent music fest in Cork, the song can be viewed on YouTube.

Photos: Una Williams Photography

Robyn’s Life Party a great show of support

Alli MacDonnell, Robbie Kane, Jo Jordan

Robyn’s Life Party a great show of support

It’s been 7 weeks in the making but the Robyn’s Life Party is finally upon us, fronted by reality television favourite Jo Jordan to raise awareness and funds for the Robyn’s Life Trust. The event has attracted a significant number of famous faces who have offered their time to help out and includes a Celebrity fashion show, an auction for pop icon Rihanna’s guitar, Live entertainment, Live DJ’s and a VIP meet & greet with UK celebs. If you love fashion, a gig goer, or a die-hard clubber, This party is open for everyone to enjoy.

Robyn Smyth is 9 yrs old.  At the age of 3 Robyn was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma.  A tumour was found in her chest and head and tests showed that the cancer had already spread to many parts of Robyn's body.  This meant Robyn's cancer was stage 4, this put her survival rate at 20%-30%. Robyn has since endured Chemotherapy, Surgery, Stem cell transplant, Radiotherapy and 6 months on tablets to try to kill any remaining cancer cells. Robyn stayed in remission for 4 and a half years but on the 9th of July 2013 we got the devastating news that Robyn has relapsed. The treatment available in Ireland for children that relapse is very limited but there are cutting edge trial treatments available in hospitals in America and Europe. We are desperately trying to raise funds for these treatments – the treatments there start at €350000 and can end up costing double this or more.

Jo said “it feels like we have been promoting the event for a long time now and can’t wait to open the doors on the night, everyone involved has been so supportive and I cannot thank them enough for everything they have done. We still have a long way to go over the coming week to promote the event and sell more tickets, we can promise anyone who buys a ticket will have the best night of their life and help us towards saving a life. Robyn needs all the help this country can give her and I’m proud to raise awareness for such a great cause.”

Representative of the Robyn’s Life Trust Cathy Dornan who is also Robyn’s auntie said

“I am really thankful to Jo and her team for raising so much awareness for the trust and bringing much needed exposure at a crucial time for Robyn, I think the Life Party is a great idea and was very happy that she wanted to do this for us. Marie Burrows who is also relative and founder of the trust said

“We were very touched that someone like Jo Jordan who is well known in the media was willing to give up her time, unfortunately there has not been many people of Jo’s status that’s been available to help us, we are very pleased and thankful to Jo and her team for everything they are doing for the trust. We hope Jo continues to support us in the future.

The party will be held at Vanilla Nightclub on Morehampton Rd, Donnybrook Dublin on Saturday 21^st September, Doors open at 7pm with a champagne reception & show starts at 8pm. Ticket information is on the website www.robynslifeparty.com as well as the facebook page (Robyn's Life Party).

Published: RSVP Magazine 20.09.2013
Photos: Una Williams