Olly Murs

Olly Murs
Contestant Profile
Birth Date	14 May 1984
Age	41
Hometown	Witham, Essex, England
Occupation	Singer, television personality
6
Category	Over 25s
Mentor	Simon Cowell
Placement	Runner-up (2/12)
Gallery

Oliver Stanley Murs (born 14 May 1984) is an English singer. He auditioned for Series 6 of The X Factor UK and made it all the way to the final as part of the Over 25s category mentored by Simon Cowell.

After to the eliminations of Jamie Archer and Danyl Johnson, Murs was the only act left in his category. He finished as runner-up to Joe McElderry from the Boys category mentored by Cheryl Cole.

The X Factor

In 2009, Murs auditioned for the sixth series of The X Factor, performing Stevie Wonder's "Superstition". Judge Simon Cowell said it was "the easiest yes I've ever given". At bootcamp Murs sang Elton John's song "Your Song". On the first live show, he sang "She's the One" and on the second, "A Fool in Love", a performance which Cowell described as being "in a different league." For week three he took on "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered". Louis Walsh commented that he was the "dark horse of the competition," and Cowell said he was "coming into his own each week." He frequently employed dance moves in his performance including his trademark "Olly wiggle." In week 4 he sang "Come Together" and again received positive comments, with Walsh predicting, "I think you're in the final three," and Cowell saying he was "progressing better than just about everybody." In week 5 he performed "Twist and Shout" and in week 6 "Don't Stop Me Now", after which he was labelled by Minogue as, "absolutely the best performer we have on the show by far."

In week 7, after a performance of "Fastlove", he was in the bottom two with John & Edward. Cowell and Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue voted to send Murs through to the quarter-final while Walsh voted to send John & Edward through to the quarter-final. Voting statistics revealed that John & Edward received more votes than Murs, meaning that if Minogue (who had the casting vote) sent the result to deadlock, John & Edward would have advanced to the quarter-final. To participate in the semi-finals, Murs had to miss his brother's wedding. The ceremony took place just 16 miles (26 km) from the show's studio, but Cowell was against allowing him off for a few hours on the day of the semi-final. He sang "Can You Feel It" and "We Can Work It Out" in the semi-final and ended up as one of the three finalists, breaking down on hearing the result.

In the final on 12 December, he repeated his audition song, "Superstition", following which Cowell said putting him in the final 12 was "the best risk I have ever taken in my life". Murs then sang with Robbie Williams on a duet of "Angels", in which Williams fluffed his lines as he walked on stage to join Murs and came in at the wrong time, singing the second line of the song, but was helped by Murs to find the right spot. There was then a repeat performance of his week 2 song "Fool in Love". Murs qualified for the final two and first sang a repeat performance of "Twist and Shout", following which Walsh commented, "You're a born, born showman and no matter what happens tonight you're going to have a great career in music."

In his final performance on the show he performed the winner's song, "The Climb". He was told by Cole, "You absolutely tore it from your soul. I've never heard you sing like that. I thought it was a beautiful version of the song." He lost the final to Joe McElderry the next day and finished as the runner-up.

Performances

Episode	Theme	Song	Result
Audition	Free choice	"Superstition"	Advanced
Bootcamp 1	Group performance	"One"	Advanced
Bootcamp 2	Solo performance	"Your Song"	Advanced
Judges' houses	Free choice	"A Song for You"	Advanced
Week 1	Musical heroes	"She's the One"	Safe (7th)
Week 2	Divas	"A Fool in Love"	Safe (5th)
Week 3	Big band	"Bewitched"	Safe (7th)
Week 4	Rock	"Come Together"	Safe (2nd)
Week 5	Songs from films	"Twist and Shout"	Safe (3rd)
Week 6	Songs by Queen	"Don't Stop Me Now"	Safe (5th)
Week 7	Songs by Wham! or George Michael	"Fastlove"	Bottom Two (6th)
	Save Me songs	"Wonderful Tonight"	Saved
Quarter-Final	Songs by Take That	"Love Ain't Here Anymore"	Safe (3rd)
	Songs by Elton John	"Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"
Semi-Final	Songs by Michael Jackson	"Can You Feel It"	Safe (2nd)
	Mentor's choice	"We Can Work It Out"
Saturday Final	Audition songs	"Superstition"	Safe (2nd)
	Celebrity duets	"Angels" (with Robbie Williams)
	Song of the series (chosen by mentor)	"A Fool in Love"
Sunday Final	Song of the series (chosen by contestant)	"Twist and Shout"	Runner-up
	Winner's single	"The Climb"

Post-The X Factor

In spite of not winning the show, Murs was signed to RCA Records and released his debut single "Please Don't Let Me Go", which entered the UK Charts at #1. To date, he has had six UK #1 singles (four as a soloist and two as part of a collective) and released five studio albums, four of which have reached #1. He is the most successful act not to win the show.

Aside from singing, he has done presenting work, having joined Caroline Flack as co-presenter of The Xtra Factor UK for the 2012 series. He stepped down the following year in 2013 to focus on his music career and was replaced by Matt Richardson but following Dermot O'Leary's departure as presenter of the main show, for Series 12 they served as presenters. However, their presenting attracted much criticism from the British public, which led to O'Leary returning as presenter for the follow-up series.

From 2018 - 2023, Murs served as a coach on six series of “The Voice UK” from Series 7 to Series 12. In both Series 8 and Series 9 his team amassed two wins with Molly Hocking winning Series 8 & Blessing Chitapa winning Series 9.

As of 2022, Murs has hosted ITV’s “Stars In Their Eyes” successor “Starstruck”.

Discography

•     Olly Murs (2010)
•     In Case You Didn't Know (2011)
•     Right Place Right Time (2012)
•     Never Been Better (2014)
•     24 Hrs (2016)
•     You Know I Know (2018)
•     Marry Me (2022)

Trivia

• In Week 7 John & Edward received more public votes than Murs. This meant if the result went to deadlock, John & Edward would have been advanced to the quarter-final and Murs would have been eliminated.