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Top moments of 2011: Jedward's European breakthrough

27 December 2011 at 13:54 CET

Jedward came to fame in 2009 when they took part in the UK X Factor TV show. And even though they did not win it, they became a phenomenon afterwards in the UK and Ireland.

Following their success on the show, Jedward collaborated with 1990s hip-hop star Vanilla Ice on their debut single Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby). It was a number 1 hit in the Irish singles charts and number 2 hit in the UK singles charts on downloads alone.

 By the way, do you know that they are not the same age? It's true - John is ten minutes older than Edward!
 

The twins then went on to release their debut album Planet Jedward which became the fastest selling record in Ireland in 2010. They have also had their own reality show OMG Jedward for Irish television which proved to be a huge hit with viewers.

Two to rule them all?

This year, Ireland, the most successful country in winning the Eurovision Song Contest, decided to recruit five music professionals with a proven experience in the industry, in their national selection.

They had the opportunity and task to pick the artists and the songs they would believe could be potential Eurovision Song Contest winners. And one of them was Jedward!

The twin brothers who are recognised by their specific hairstyle, were dubbed immediately as the main favourites to win as soon as they announced taking part in the Irish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011. And that, as we can say now, was true indeed.

Their song Lipstick proved to be an immediate success in Düsseldorf among the media and fans, making them one of the main favourites to win Europe's favourite TV show.

This was not to be, though, and they finished 8th instead. However, this still filled one of their goals - beating Blue who represented the United Kingdom and finished 11th.

After Düsseldorf

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The months after Düsseldorf, the duo did not stop (who thought they would?) and shot to European fame with a new album, a tour and new videos.

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It became something they call 'Jedmania' and that has been rocking the pop music market of Europe ever since!

They also entered the UK Celebrity Big Brother in the summer and had a chance to perform for the US president. What a summer!

But if that's not enough, the twins have also announced they will try to represent Ireland again at the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku. If they can achieve that, it'd mean they would join the list of artists who have represented Ireland twice at the contest.

And there are not many of them, just some that you might have heard of: Johnny Logan, Linda Martin and Niamh Kavanagh, who have all won the contest at least once.