JLS
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JLS (an initialism of Jack the Lad Swing) are a British boyband, who 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 appearances on The X Factor, JLS signed to Epic Records and enjoyed continued chart success throughout 2009. Their debut single "Beat Again" went to number-one in the UK Singles Chart on 19 July 2009,while their second single "Everybody in Love", which was released on 2nd November 2009, topped the UK Singles Chart too. The band's eponymous debut album was released on 9 November 2009, and has since gone triple Platinum, with sales of over one million copies in the UK alone. JLS won the awards for British Breakthrough and British Single ("Beat Again") at the 2010 BRIT Awards.
Background
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 rap 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 Records. Their first single "Beat Again" charted at number one on the UK Singles Chart on 19 July 2009 making them only the second non-winner of the X Factor to have a number one single, and remained number one the following week before being knocked off by the Black Eyed Peas. The band's second single "Everybody in Love" also charted at number one on the UK Singles Chart on 8 November 2009.
2008: The X Factor
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 7 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 8 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).
2009-present: After The 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.. In 2009, they released their debut, self-titled album, JLS and their debut single, Beat Again, both of which made it to number one on the UK Singles Chart. This was followed by their second number one song, Everybody In Love. Their third single One Shot, peaked at number six despite a physical release. However, when the song did come out on a physical release, it did not rise in the chart, but they did stay in the charts for a number of weeks despite dropping.
In 2010, JLS became the first X Factor contestants to win a Brit Award. Jo Whiley has claimed that JLS have profited from the demise of Chris Brown after revelations that he battered his ex-girlfriend Rihanna, with rapper Jay-Z stating that they will become as big as N*SYNC.
In an interview with HitQuarters published in April and recorded in March, the producer-songwriter Steve Mac said that he was currently at work writing for the second JLS album.
JLS Official Website
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