Kym Marsh

Kimberley Gail "Kym" Lomas (née  Marsh; formerly  Ryder,  born 13 June 1976)  is an  English  actress and former  singer. She currently stars as  Michelle Connor in  Coronation Street, and enjoyed chart success as both a member of  Hear'Say and a solo artist.

Early life
Marsh was born in  Whiston,  Merseyside   and raised in  Garswood, in the  Metropolitan Borough of St Helens,  Merseyside<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">. She first came into the public eye in 2001 after appearing as a contestant on  ITV<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">'s talent show  Popstars<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;"> where she made the final line-up for the band  Hear'Say<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;"> along with four others. Marsh left the group in 2002 and had a brief but successful solo career. She now plays  Michelle Connor<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;"> in the long-running  soap opera<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  Coronation Street<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">.

[edit] Solo singing career
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">Prior to her time in Hearsay, Kym had provided session vocals for a number of artists including Matt Darey DJ having recorded several songs, Hemstock & Jennings. She sang in Norwegian for their track 'Arctic' which caught the attention of Paul van Dyk and was remixed and re-recorded with additional vocals from Jan Johnston. The track was released in the UK via Positiva and reached #14 in the UK charts Kym and Jan were only credited to the track on the inner sleeve notes.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">After a while out of the spotlight, Marsh emerged again, signing a solo record deal with Island Records. Her first single, "Cry", went to number two in the UK Singles Chart, whilst her second single "Come on Over" made number 10.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">In July 2003, Marsh released her debut solo album, Standing Tall, which contained three solo singles and twelve other tracks. Marsh's make-or-break third single, "Sentimental", stalled at number 35 resulting in her being dropped by herrecord label.

[edit] Eurovision
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">In a surprise move in early 2006, she entered Making Your Mind Up, the UK show to pick a singer and song for the Eurovision Song Contest with a song called "Whisper to Me". Marsh came fourth in the contest, losing out to winner Daz Sampson.