Louis Walsh
/Louis Walsh is the undisputed king of the Irish pop scene.
He is the man behind some of the most successful bands in pop history, masterminding the careers of Boyzone, Westlife, Samantha Mumba, Girls Aloud, Shayne Ward, Wonderland, Jedward, Shane Filan and his latest band Hometown. The fact that he has achieved over a staggering 28 No.1 hits is a testament to his success and is one of the reasons why Louis Walsh is one of the most respected names in the music industry today.
In 2001, Louis made his first foray into television on the Irish version of Popstars. The show made Louis a household name in both Ireland and the UK. The following year, Louis appeared as a judge on Popstars: The Rivals, along with Pete Waterman and Geri Halliwell. Louis went head to head with Pete Waterman on the show, with his all girl band Girls Aloud battling it out with Pete’s boy band, One True Voice. Girls Aloud won hands down and their debut single achieved the coveted UK Christmas No. 1. Louis went on to manage the girls till they parted company in 2005.
In 2004 Louis first appeared as a judge on The X Factor and remained on the panel for 11 years seeing success with series 1 runner’s up G4, 2005 winner Shayne Ward, 2008 runner’s up JLS. In 2009 he signed controversial act of that year Jedward, who despite finishing 6th in the competition went on to become one of the most successful acts to appear on the hit ITV show, releasing 2 albums, performing for Barack Obama and going on to represent Ireland twice at Eurovision.