Quinn did not enter the Fame Academy in the same way as the other contestants. The first eleven contestants were picked by the show's judges, but the final contestant was picked through a public vote in the first programme of the series. Quinn, David Sneddon and Paul MacDonald sang in this vote but Quinn won the public's support. She gained 51% of the votes and won her place in the Fame Academy. The fan base Quinn built up in the first programme stayed with her during the whole series, and allowed her to reach the final. During this time she sang a range of songs from Macy Gray's "I Try" and Garth Brook's "If Tomorrow Never Comes" to " Satisfaction" and No Doubt's "Don't Speak". In the final, she was up against David Sneddon and Lemar Obika. She finished second with 2.5 million of the 6.5 million votes cast.
Solo career
Within a week of leaving the Fame Academy, Quinn signed a £1 million, five-album record deal with Mercury Records. Her debut single, "I Can’t Break Down", was released 10 February 2003. It reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart, being beaten to the top spot by t.A.T.u.. The single sold around 70,000 copies, finishing in 65th place for the top selling UK singles of 2003. The video was directed by Dani Jacobs and filmed in the empty Fame Academy house. Her follow-up single "What You Need Is" reached number 19 in the same chart, and her self-written album, Ready to Run, peaked at number 48 in the UK Albums Chart. Quinn's only other releases to date were on the Fame Academy Album, alongside all the other Fame Academy contestants, and guest vocals on fellow contestant Malachi Cush's debut album.
Both before and after Fame Academy, Quinn was a keen songwriter and performer. The show allowed her to develop her song writing talents and provided her with her first ever singing lessons. The Fame Academy Tour, which followed the series, gave Quinn her first major public performances outside a TV studio. In the years since leaving Fame Academy, she has had a regular list of public performances. With the backing of a guitar based group she went on a University tour in 2003. She has played to a full-house at Music Live 2003 at the National Exhibition Centre and, in 2005, she supported Children in Need with a performance and sang at the switch-on of Christmas lights in Coventry. She took part in RTÉ's TV showThe Lyrics Board, and on New Year's Eve 2005 performed on RTÉ's Everyone's a Winner, singing Sheryl Crow's "Everyday Is a Winding Road". Late in 2005 Quinn was invited by the Irish President Mary McAleese "to a reception to celebrate contribution to the entertainment industry in Ireland" at the President's official residence, Áras an Uachtaráin. Quinn played the role of Beth in the 2007 live tour of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds. The same year she performed at and judged the regional finals for Girl Guiding UK's talent competitionGuiding Star. and also appeared at the Grand Final in Sheffield on 30 June 2007 as a performer and a judge. Whilst she concentrated on smaller concerts in 2008, mainly in locations in London, Quinn was also the support act for Lulu at the Chichester Festivities in July 2008. Since May 2009 Quinn has been performing as part of Sinéad and The Dawnbreakers. The band have been playing all over the country at various venues and festivals. They played at the Little World Festival in Meribel, France both years it has been running. Her husband Paul Stewart is the drummer for the band.
