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Iain James Farquharson (born 20 February 1980), more commonly known asIain James orSparx, is a British singer, songwriter and vocal producer fromBristol, but based inLondon. He started as part of the BritishboybandTriple 8 in 2003 as their lead singer and known as Sparx. He left after the group had two Top 10 hits and was replaced by Stewart Macintosh in 2005.

He has written a number of songs recorded by a great number of singing artists, plus writing many songs for reality television contestants from UK, Europe and Asia, and on three occasions forEurovision Song Contest songs, including co-writing the winning song for Azerbaijan "Running Scared" byEll & Nikki in 2011.

James was the lead singer of UK boy bandTriple 8 (888), who were originally signed to Polydor Records.^[1] He was known by his nickname, "Sparx". The group had two successful singles, "Knockout" and "Give Me A Reason", which charted at numbers 8 and 9, respectively, in the UK Singles Chart. The group parted company with their record label in 2004, leaving their album,Heavy W8, unreleased. James left in 2004, to be replaced as lead singer in 2005 by a new member, Stewart Macintosh, before the group broke up by the end of 2005.

After Triple 8, James concentrated on music writing and production. He has written for artists as diverse asWestlife,Professor Green,^[1]Emeli Sandé,Craig David,^[1]Taio Cruz,The Vamps,Anne-Marie, and Korean boybandTVXQ (aka Tohoshinki). He has also written for successful acts from reality television competitions, includingLittle Mix,^[2]One Direction,^[1]Olly Murs andLeona Lewis.

He co-wrote British number one "Read All About It" by Professor Green featuringEmeli Sandé, as well as Sandé's own version of the song which appears on her two million selling albumOur Version of Events, which broke a record set by the Beatles for longest unimpeded spell in the UK top 10.

James wrote several songs on the album ofLittle Mix, the first ever British girlgroup whose album went straight into the top 5 in the US, including the UK Number 1 "Wings" and the critically lauded third place song "DNA".He wrote songs on their second albumSalute, which did not match DNA commercially, but was a critical success, and followed its predecessor in charting in the UK top 5 and US top 10 (it would have repeated DNA's fourth placing if compilations were not included in the US albums chart). He wrote the album's songLittle Me with Little Mix andTMS. For the group's third albumGet Weird; Iain co-wrote the singles "Love Me Like You" and"Hair" feat.Sean Paul. The group's most successful albumGlory Days features the single "Shout Out To My Ex", also co-written by James.

He is also a vocal producer and has recorded many artists includingLittle Mix,Ella Henderson,One Direction andPixie Lott.

James co-wrote theEurovision Song Contest 2011 winning song "Running Scared" byEll & Nikki,^[1][3] who were the first male-female duo to win the song contest since 1963. They were also the first Azeris to win the contest, winning inDüsseldorf in May 2011.

James also co-wrote theBelgian entry at theEurovision Song Contest 2013, "Love Kills" byRoberto Bellarosa, which placed 12th, and theBritish entry at theEurovision Song Contest 2020, "My Last Breath" byJames Newman.

• Discogs.com Iain James Farquharson page

• English pop singers
• Living people
• English male songwriters
• Eurovision Song Contest winners
• Singers from London
• Singers from Bristol
• English people of Scottish descent
• 1980 births

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