| Marcus Collins | |
|---|---|
| |
| Contestant Profile | |
| Birth Date | 15 May 1988 |
| Age | 37 |
| Hometown | Liverpool, Merseyside, England |
| Occupation | Singer Theater actor |
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| |
| Category | Boys |
| Mentor | Gary Barlow |
| Placement | Runner-up (2/16) |
| Gallery | |
Marcus Collins (born 15 May 1988) is an English singer. He auditioned for Series 8 of The X Factor UK and made it all the way to the final as part of the Boys category mentored by Gary Barlow.
Due to the eliminations of James Michael and Craig Colton and the disqualification of Frankie Cocozza, Collins was the only act left in his category. He finished as runner-up to Little Mix from the Groups category mentored by Tulisa Contostavlos.
The X Factor[]
Eton Road[]
Prior to his solo audition in 2011, Collins was a member of four piece boyband Eton Road, who rose to fame on the third series of The X Factor. Collins did not appear on The X Factor that year, but joined the band after original member Anthony Hannah left the band due to exhaustion. Anthony performed over 150 gigs with the band.
The X Factor (2011)[]
In 2011, Collins chose to audition as a solo artist for the eighth series of The X Factor in front of judges Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow, Kelly Rowland and Tulisa. His audition was successful as all four judges put him through to bootcamp. He then progressed through to judges' houses where he was put through to the live shows by Barlow in his Boys category (solo males aged 16–24) alongside Craig Colton, Frankie Cocozza and James Michael. He beat over 200,000 other contestants to earn his place in the grand final at Wembley Arena. Collins performed the following songs on The X Factor:
Performances[]
| Episode | Theme | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audition | Free choice | "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" | Advanced |
| Bootcamp 1 | Group performance | Advanced | |
| Bootcamp 2 | Solo performance | "Kiss from a Rose" | Advanced |
| Judges' houses | Free choice | "One Big Family" | Advanced |
| Week 1 | Britain vs. America | "Moves like Jagger" | Saved |
| Week 2 | Love and heartbreak | "Russian Roulette" | Safe (7th) |
| Week 3 | Rock | "Are You Gonna Go My Way" | Safe (4th) |
| Week 4 | Halloween | "Superstition" / "Need You Tonight" | Safe (6th) |
| Week 5 | Club classics | "Reet Petite" | Safe (2nd) |
| Week 6 | Lady Gaga vs. Queen | "Another One Bites the Dust" | Safe (4th) |
| Week 7 | Movie week | "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" | Safe (4th) |
| Quarter-Final | Guilty pleasures | "I'm Your Man" | Safe (3rd) |
| Musical heroes | "Lately" | ||
| Semi-Final | Motown | "My Girl" | Safe (2nd) |
| Songs to get you to the final | "Can You Feel It" | ||
| Saturday Final | Free choice | "Hey Ya" | Safe (2nd) |
| Mentor duets | "She's Always a Woman" (with Gary Barlow) | ||
| Sunday Final | Song of the series | "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" | Runner-Up |
| Christmas songs | "Last Christmas" | ||
| Winner's single | "Cannonball" |
Post The X Factor[]
2012: Debut album and Hairspray[]
In January 2012, Collins signed a record deal with RCA Records and announced that was set to release his debut studio album in March. On 21 January, it was announced that his debut single would be a cover of The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army". The single was released on 4 March. It was an exact copy of an arrangement of the song previously recorded by French artist Ben l'Oncle Soul that had been a hit in Europe.[citation needed] The song received a mixed reception, with fans of The White Stripes comparing the song in unfavourable light to the original. The song charted at number nine on the UK Singles Chart and spent three weeks on the chart. Collins then released his self-titled debut album on 12 March 2012 and debuted and peaked at number seven on the UK Albums Chart. "Mercy" was released as the second single from the album, making it Collins' first self penned single. The music video for "Mercy" was released on 24 April 2012, with the single released on 3 June 2012. It was relatively unsuccessful, reaching only 194 on the UK Singles Chart, due to lack of proper promotion.
On 16 October 2012, it was announced that Collins would star as Seaweed Stubbs in the 2013 UK Tour of Hairspray, from February–September 2013. After completing the tour, Collins, Beth Tweddle and others took part in a world record-breaking charity skydive.
2013–present[]
He has appeared in Kinky Boots the musical at The Adelphi Theatre in London's West End which stars Matt Henry and Killian Donnelly. On 27 September 2013, after finishing with Hairspray, Collins revealed that he had left RCA and signed with a new record company: "It was all mutually agreed. To be honest, it just didn't feel like we were going in the same direction. I loved working with them, but it just got to a point where we both could go either way." Regarding his new album, He announced that he would be back in the recording studio "for the majority of October". Regarding his new album, Collins explained: "We've got about seven or eight songs that we're going to put down. We've got some new tracks and we've got some acoustic ones that are a little bit different. [Acoustic songs are] something that I've done before, but the record label I was with previously had different ideas and that's kind of why we separated." As of 2023, neither a new recording contract or album have been confirmed nor released.
He latterly was on tour playing Hud in the stage show Hair.
As of 2023, he is currently playing Andre in Mrs Doubtfire at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London West End
Discography[]
Albums[]
| Album | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | IRE | SCO | ||
| Marcus Collins |
|
7 | 24 | 8 |
Singles[]
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | HUN | IRE | SCO | |||
| 2012 | "Seven Nation Army" | 9 | 13 | 49 | 9 | Marcus Collins |
| "Mercy"[1] | 194 | — | — | — | ||
As featured artist[]
| Year | Singles | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | IRL | SCO | ||
| 2011 | "Wishing on a Star" (as part of The X Factor finalists 2011 featuring JLS and One Direction) |
1 | 1 | 1 |
2023 The Choir of Man Christmas Album singing This Christmas
Trivia[]
- Prior to auditioning for the show, he was a member of five-piece boyband Eton Road who finished in 5th place in Series 3 of The X Factor. He joined the band after original member Anthony Hannah left following their elimination.
| UK Series 8 Finalists | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Amelia Lily • Craig Colton • Frankie Cocozza • James Michael • Janet Devlin • Johnny Robinson • Jonjo Kerr • Kitty Brucknell • Little Mix • Marcus Collins • Misha B • Nu Vibe • Sami Brookes • Sophie Habibis • The Risk • 2 Shoes | |||
- ↑ X Factor's Marcus Collins Bites back At Cher Lloyd and reveals that 'Mercy, Mercy' will be his second single! Template:Webarchive. Unreality TV (15 February 2012). Retrieved on 2012-05-14.