Joe and Jake
Joe and Jake are a brand new musical duo whose debut track, You’re Not Alone, an anthemic pop song with a universal message, won the BBC national final, Eurovision: You Decide and will represent the United Kingdom at the 61st Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm.Joe Woolford, 21 from Ruthin in Wales and Jake Shakeshaft, 20 from Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire first met as fellow competitors on The Voice UK, where they quickly bonded over their love of music, followed by a shared love of peri-peri chicken and football.
Joe and Jake have been passionate about music since an early age. Joe has experimented with various sounds over the years, including rap whilst Jake has always wanted to follow his dream of performing on stage, even teaching himself guitar at the age of 14.
Both Joe and Jake have an eclectic musical taste, citing Bob Marley, Måns Zelmerlöw and Rudimental as their musical influences.
Joe and Jake are a fun loving duo with a natural rapport and a firm friendship. They are extremely proud and excited to be representing the United Kingdom in Stockholm this year.
Things you should know about Joe and Jake
What are the three most interesting aspects of your entry?
- Graham Norton our UK Eurovision commentator told us he thought You’re Not Alone was a "really catchy pop song” which is high praise indeed!
- We're the first UK entry in six years to have been selected by the UK public in a National Final.
- We love that our song has an anthemic quality to it.
What are the most impressive facts about Joe and Jake?
- Robbie Williams is a fan of our music! He tweeted that he was proud of us after the the public voted for us to represent the UK.
- We are also both used to singing competitively as we met as contestants in the UK version of The Voice. Joe was part of Rita Ora’s team while Jake’s coach was will.i.am.
- Joe’s first language is Welsh and he started signing in a Welsh voice choir.
- Jake played his very first gig after only six months of learning to play the guitar.
Do you have a (lucky) routine before going on stage?
Pacing the floor really helps with nerves before we go onstage. It’s worked for us up to now, so we guess you could call that lucky. We’ll be wearing out the carpet backstage before performing in Stockholm in May.
Why is the Eurovision Song Contest important to you?
We can’t overestimate what an honour it is to be representing the UK in the biggest musical contest ever. It’s like a dream come true. The impact of Eurovision is huge, far ranging and it touches so many fans around the world – to perform on that stage is the highlight of our career. It blows our minds to know that millions of people will be tuning in. We can’t wait to get to Stockholm and experience the atmosphere for ourselves.
