J.L.S Biography
Summary
"JLS" (an abbreviation of "Jack the Lad Street") is a British boy band. They were runners-up in the fifth series of ITV reality talent show, "The X Factor", in 2008, coming second to Alexandra Burke. The group consists of Aston Merrygold, Marvin Humes, Jonathan 'JB' Gill, and Oritsé Williams.
Following their near-success on "The X Factor", JLS signed to Epic Records, and were given a support slot on Lemar's 2009 Spring tour. Ne-Yo's management also reportedly expressed interest in support from the band for his 2009 UK Summer tour. JLS' debut single 'Beat Again' was released in the UK on 13 July 2009 and went to number one in the singles chart on 19 July 2009, selling over 100,000 copies in its first week of release. They are the second non-winners of The X Factor have a single debut at number one, behind Chico.
Background
JLS consists of founding member Oritsé Williams (pronounced O-ree-shay), Aston Merrygold, Jonathan 'JB' Gill and Marvin Humes.
Before entering "The X Factor" in 2008, JLS performed at the Showcase:LIVE in October 2007 and June 2008 under the name of UFO (Unique Famous Outrageous).
Humes was formerly in R&B group VS set up by Simon Webbe in 2004. After the group were dropped he moved on to property sales before he was asked by Williams to join JLS.
On 20 January 2009 it was announced that JLS had signed a record contract with Epic. Their first single 'Beat Again' went straight to number one on 19th July 2009 and remained number one the following week.
"The X Factor" (2008)
JLS auditioned for the fifth series of "The X Factor" in 2008. Following the elimination of vocal groups Bad Lashes and Girlband in weeks one and two respectively, JLS were Louis Walsh's last remaining act in the competition. In week seven JLS were in the bottom two along with Rachel Hylton. However, they survived thanks to votes from Louis Walsh, Cheryl Cole and Simon Cowell. Cowell stated when casting his deciding vote that JLS did not deserve to be in the bottom two. In week eight JLS performed 'Baby One More Time' by Britney Spears. They received negative comments from the two of the four judges, with Simon Cowell saying 'at the moment you're out'. After their second performance, however, Cowell commented that they were 'back in the race' and that they could 'have a hit record' with that performance.
In week nine, JLS performed the second Rihanna song of the evening 'Umbrella' (the first being Alexandra Burke's performance of 'Don't Stop the Music'). Their second song was 'I'm Already There' by Lonestar. When it was Cowell's turn to give his comments he said 'I'm gonna make a prediction, you could actually win this competition'. JLS gained the most votes in the semi-finals.
JLS made it to the final, after surviving the first public vote of the night in which Eoghan Quigg was voted off. They performed their own version of the winner's song, 'Hallelujah', which the other finalist Alexandra Burke also performed. The public voted for the second time that night and Burke won the competition, JLS coming second. They were the fourth band to make the final (the others being G4, who came second in the first series, Journey South who came third in the second series and Same Difference who came third in the fourth series).
Performances on "The X Factor"
JLS performed through all ten weeks of "The X Factor" live finals; below is a list of their performances.
Post "X Factor"
Following JLS's success on the "The X Factor", Simon Cowell's record company, Syco, announced that they were to sign JLS with an advance payment of £75,000. "The Sun" later reported that Cowell had revoked this offer and JLS were to be signed to Epic Records.
The band sang at the Cheerio's Childline Concert at the opening night of Dublin's 02. They sang among big stars like Enrique Iglesias, Anastasia, Boyzone and many more.
JLS completed the "The X Factor Live Tour", alongside fellow "X Factor" finalists Alexandra Burke, Eoghan Quigg, Diana Vickers, Ruth Lorenzo, Rachel Hylton, Daniel Evans and Laura White.
The band were special guests at The Summer Island Festival at Quex Park on 25 July 2009, along with N Dubz and Pussycat Dolls, and on most of Lemar's 2009 spring tour. Lemar said, 'I was really impressed with JLS's performances on The X Factor, and I'm thrilled that they've agreed to join me on my tour'. And also Ne-yo has offered support to the band on their debut album. They are also a confirmed act at Capital's summer-time ball. They have also appeared on many radio shows as well as working with MTV on the MTV music channel where they did a 'Holiday Takeover' at half-term where they picked what videos viewers got to watch. They were part of Chelsea football club's charity football match (called Soccer Six) where they played many games in their JLS team with Jeff Brazier, the host for the X-Factor tour. This took place on 24 May 2009.
On 19 July 2009 they sang at T4 on the Beach in front of 49,000 people. Other performers included Alesha Dixon, Dizzee Rascal, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Calvin Harris, The Saturdays. JLS's first single 'Beat Again' debuted at number one on 19 July 2009.
On 26 July 2009 they performed at Party in the Park (Leeds) in front of 70,000 people, alongside others including Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Dizzee Rascal, Calvin Harris, N Dubz, Tinchy Stryder, Alesha Dixon, Pixie Lott, Booty Luv. JLS will perform on a 15-date tour in 2010.
Play.com have recently confirmed that the album is scheduled for release on 9 November 2009. It has also been confirmed that their second single, entitled 'Everybody in Love' will be released as well on 19 October 2009.
External links
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about J.L.S.
