Hart, an Essex girl, moved to London to work in a club where the waitresses sing the odd number after the punters have finished their creme brulee. On the strength of this she was 'recommended' to the organisers of a party George Clooney was hosting for the cast of Oceans 13 on his yacht in Cannes. Tickets for the party were priced at �100,000 to raise money for the crisis in Sudan. Brad and Angelina were there, apparently.

Now if there are two words in the music industry that are a synonym for unremitting hype they are 'bidding' and 'war'. So, em, there was a bidding war for Hart's signature and now she is ready to release her album, which, you would never guess, she already has completed and ready for release. This is record company gravy. With music already made all they need to do is market it and get it played. Hart describes herself as "female Frank Sinatra" so that shouldn't prove too difficult.

All that was needed was the hook. The headline figure of �1.5m and the Clooney yacht, along with the Human League headline were the perfect catalysts.

However, it is worth remembering that such figures are largely meaningless and are almost always predicated on forecast sales and other contractual clauses that may never be met. What it does is provide a context for the 'she is so good that we are willing to give her �1.5m'.

But many of these 'plucked-from-obscurity, fromrags-to-riches stories' have ugly endings. How many artists aren't plucked from obscurity? Snow Patrol, maybe. Corinne Bailey Rae, Amy Winehouse, Avril Lavigne. They were all obscure until they became famous.

Maybe Hart should consider how it can all go wrong. Only a year ago a largely unheard of Dublin band named Humanzi were splashed across newspapers after landing a 1m record deal.

Unfortunately for them they not only didn't go on to sell large quantities of their debut album but they became victims of the hype surrounding the deal.

Their credibility was unfairly called into question.

Perhaps she would be better focusing on the more edifying story of Edith Piaf, who was, yes, plucked from obscurity by a Paris nightclub owner when she was 21 years old and persuaded to sing. The rest is history.

Overnight success comes in many forms. Last week's Arts Lives programme on RTE featured Dundalk agit-rapper Jinx Lennon and his rather shy girlfriend Paula Flynn. Flynn met Jinx when he was performing in the local radio station and now is better known to most people through her version of David Bowie's 'Let's Dance' on an TV advert for a well-known brand of bottled water. She could well, and probably will, go on to sell more records than Jinx himself.

Then you have Lisa Hannigan who spent years as Damien Rice's backing singer avoiding the spotlight but stealing his thunder until the pair announced recently that they are going their separate ways.

Now here is where Phil Oakley may have been prophetic. The song 'Don't You Want Me' was inspired by the 1976 movieA Star Is Born which featured Barbra 'don't mention the ticket prices' Streisand falling in love with Kris Kristofferson, then an established star, only to become more famous than him. Maybe Hart should get herself a celebrity boyfriend just to cover all the bases.