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Jack the Lad Swing, more commonly known as JLS, are a British boyband. They were runners up during the fifth series of The X Factor, coming second to Alexandra Burke.

The group's lineup consists of Aston Merrygold, Marvin Humes, Jonathan "JB" Gill and Oritse Williams.

Before entering The X Factor in 2008, JLS (under the name of U.F.O at the time) performed at the Showcase:LIVE in both October 2007 and June 2008.

Following vocal groups, Bad Lashes and Girlband's elimination in week 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 the votes from Louis Walsh, Cheryl Cole and Simon Cowell. Cowell stated in 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 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".

In Week 9, 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.

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 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 first 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 fouth series.

JLS performed on all 10 weeks of The X Factor; below is a list of their performances.

Following JLS's success on the X Factor, Simon Cowell's record company, Syco, announced that they were to sign JLS with an advanced payment of 75,000. The Sun later reported that Cowell had revoked this offer and JLS were to be signed to Epic Records.

In December 2008, it was reported that pop icon Michael Jackson wanted JLS to support him on the UK dates of his next world tour.

On December 16th, JLS performed at the ChildLine Concert in the O2 Dublin.

JLS are due to perform at Bachwood Hall, St Albans on Valentines Day for two shows. An under-15 (5pm-9pm), and an over-15 (after 10.30).

JLS are due to go on the X Factor Tour in February 2009, alongside fellow X Factor finalists Alexandra Burke, Eoghan Quigg, Diana Vickers, Ruth Lorenzo, Daniel Evans, Laura White and Rachel Hylton.