John and Edward Grimes, identical twin brothers known collectively and professionally as Jedward, are Irish singers and TV presenters. They are well known to audiences in the United Kingdom for their appearance in the sixth series of The X-Factor in 2009 where they finished in sixth place and remain the fifth most financially successful alumni of the series.
They are also the first Irish artists to represent their country at Eurovision two years in a row. Their first appearance was at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Düsseldorf with the song Lipstick. They advanced from the second semi-final and finished in 8th place in the grand final with 119 points, earning top marks from Sweden, Denmark, and the United Kingdom. They also won the Marcel Besançon Artistic Award, which was voted on by the commentators.
They made a return trip at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku with the song Waterline. Allocated to the first semi-final, they were called last out of the ten qualifiers, advancing them to the grand final. However, unlike their previous effort, they finished 19th overall, but they finished 10th in the final televote.
Jedward also made an appearance at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 first semi-final in Copenhagen, where during the Eurovision Book of Records segments they were given the awards for Biggest Shoulder Pads and Highest Hair.
Trivia[]
- They share their birthday with fellow 2011 competitor Aurela Gaçe, who is 17 years older, and fellow 2012 competitor and winner Loreen, who is 8 years older.
- During their X Factor season, they beat Lucie Jones in a deadlock vote. Lucie would go on to represent the United Kingdom at the 2017 contest in Kiev.
- Shortly after competing in 2011, they competed in the 8th season of the UK edition of Celebrity Big Brother. They made it to the finals and placed 3rd. They would later return in 2017 for the 19th season and placed 2nd.