Four boys in matching polo shirts stand nervously together in front of the X Factor judges thinking this is their final chance at fame, this is where their dreams could end. Four years on and the same boys once again take to the X Factor stage, but this time singing their latest Top 10 single, ‘Take A Chance On Me’, to the deafening screams of hysterical girls. JLS are the ultimate X Factor success story.

Sat in the lavish surroundings of their label’s offices in West London JLS are still riding high from their triumphant return to the X Factor stage the night before. It’s  always really good to go back there – so many emotions in that studio” Marvin who trended on Twitter the night before as #MarvinisGod, tells us. “When you get to that studio you get that good feeling; our lives changed because of that studio so it’ll always be a great place for us”. Despite looking weary from last night’s performance and endless promo, the boys are instantly likeable: Aston curls up on the corner of the sofa letting Marvin and JB be the spokesmen for the band while Oritse, in a playful mood, is devilishly charming and even throws us a cheeky wink. As we chat about their X Factor performance, it’s clear that despite selling over 5,000,000 records in the past three years that X Factor audition, still never far from their minds. “It’s weird. I remember when we walked into that audition room we were so nervous and obviously for us it was like: ‘Wow, this could be the beginning of something” Oritse recollects, “it was almost like our last opportunity, our last shot’. And, for us we were like whatever happens we cannot go onto national television and be told ‘no’.”

The story of JLS started way before Jack the Lad Swing stood on that famous X. Starting out as UFO (Unique Famous Outrageous), Oritse, Marvin, Aston and JB set their sights high from the start, writing a list of over 300 things that they wanted to achieve as a band. The boys then independently released tracks and went on to win the best unsigned act at the first Urban Music Awards all before entering X Factor. Their time as UFO would prove to be the ultimate boot camp for the competition.  “When you’re in that show you’re thrown scenarios and situations that if you’re in a band you need to be extremely strong together to deal with it. There’s four heads in this band, it’s not just one person, so there’s all different thoughts going on” Marvin explains, “We’ve got a great unity between us that is obviously a big reason why we’re here today and we built that the year before we went into the X Factor”.

Loosing out to Alexandra Burke in the X Factor final the band could have easily ended up like past failed acts from the show in the reality star skip of daytime TV, panto, or even worse, Big Brother. So, what made them different?  Oritse suddenly moves closer and becomes, for the first time, today quite serious: “When we came out of the show the first thing we said was: ‘work us as hard as possible, we want to be doing at least three shows a night and have a show in the morning if we can, we’ll work on Christmas day, we’ll work on our birthdays’” he says “At the end of the day no matter how hard you work – and of course it’s tough – but it’s a difference of going to work and performing and getting groomed, styled, make-up, hair done and then performing onstage compared to going to a job that you don’t like and spending eight hours of the day there”. It’s this slavish work ethic (talking to the boys today they’ve got interviews lined up until 9.30 tonight) that earned the boys five number one singles, two Brit awards and stage time with The Jacksons at the Michael Jackson Memorial Concert. “It was a privilege and an honour just to get onstage with them,” Oriste tell us about performing with the Jacksons with JB adding: “we’d all relive it in a heartbeat.”

Jukebox, the boy’s third album, sees them once again taking it to another level and defining the boyband sound for 2012.  “It’s what it says, a jukebox” Marvin tells us of the twelve eclectic tracks that bounces from the high-energy singles of ‘She Makes Me Wanna’ to the sultry ballad ‘Take A Chance On Me’ . Always involved in the creative process, the boys penned over 100 tracks for the record something that the band believe is key to their success, as JB explains: “We’ve always stressed writing I think it’s very important. It’s important to us not least because as an artist your creativity is the one thing that defines you, that makes us different from Lady GaGa or Lady GaGa different to Beyonce or Beyonce different from Justice Timberlake… the songs are what break the artists when you’re first coming out and what lives on after they pass, god forbid.” The guys look to their own lives to write the album: “Two of us are in a relationship, two of us are single” Marvin reveals “a song called ‘So Many Girls’, which is pretty self-explanatory, a song called ‘Take You Down’ which is y’know…”The boys all laugh and then there’s that wink.  The guys have also switched it up a gear with the track ‘Do You Feel What I Feel’, which takes its cue from Bing Crosby’s ‘Do You Hear What I Hear’. “It was the sentiment of the melody and then completely changed up to make a club track,” Oritse explains. “It will give you that thing of ‘oh, where’s that from?’ but you won’t think about it too deeply because it just sounds like a JLS track.” The band also went back to their roots including the first song they ever wrote together, the tender piano ballad, ‘Shy Of Cool’.

The boys are set to hit the road again this February with a brand new arena tour: The Fourth Dimension. According to the guys it’s going to slam-dunk their Outta This World Tour and Oritse can barely contain his excitement: “It’s going to be like the Matrix meets superheroes meets David Blaine magic. It’s going to be thrilling, exciting, fun, breathtaking – you’ve got to be there to feel the experience,” he says. “People are going to walk out of that show saying: ‘my goodness, what just happened to me!’”

With Westlife out of the picture, Gary Barlow keeping Simon Cowells’ seat warm and The Risk out of X Factor, are the boys officially taking crown as the UK’s biggest boyband? “There’s no crown” Marvin’s quick to say, “I think that us, The Wanted, One Direction – we’re all in different lanes, I don’t think we’re treading on each other’s fan bases or treading on each other’s sound…all we worry about is our goals and what we want to achieve and we’d love to emulate the careers of Take That and Westlife and have many albums and many tours and have a fantastic back catalogue of great songs”.

With over 5,000,000 records, five number one singles, two Brit awards, a film and two arena tours, what’s next for JLS? Oritse has the final word: “The journey still continues and that’s the most important thing, we’re still on a journey. The fans have been with us since day one of that journey and the fan base has just grown and grown and hopefully we’re going to have a lot more years to keep going. The journey never stops for JLS.”

WIN! We’ve got two tickets to see JLS on the 27^th March 2012 at Nottingham’s Capital FM Arena as well as some signed goodies to give away. To be in with a chance, simply fill in the form below! GOOD LUCK!

Competition ends MARCH 19th!

You’ve had a wide and varied career; comedian, presenter, writer producer and biomedical scientist. Hospitals are notoriously gloomy places, do you think this is where your sense of humour developed or have you always been interested in comedy?

 I’ve always been interested in comedy, although the hospital’s certainly where I first realised. I grew up in a really odd situation in Bolton, going home at night, listening to classical music with my dad and conducting with my mums knitting needles. We didn’t have a television in the house until I was about 12, so we were always encouraged to read and write. My dad was a massive comedy fan and he loved his radio comedy so we used to sit and listen, often laughing so much we couldn’t breathe. I think it just insinuates itself into your brain and becomes part of you as you grow up. At school I was quite studious and quiet, doing my A Levels and studying to be a doctor, which led to me working in a hospital from a young age. I loved being in the background and always enjoyed the dark humour of hospitals, with the staffs  ‘laugh or you’ll cry’ mentality. It was often so dark and depressing, back when doctor/patient relationships were so close, that we always needed somebody to break the tension with a quip or joke. I just happened to be that guy.

 Even after winning the North West comedian of the Year supporting Eddie Izzard and Jack Dee and presenting chain letters, you continued your work in the hospital. How did you cope with the contrast and did it help to keep you grounded as your celebrity profile increased?

 Oh absolutely, I think it’s essential. I also think coming into comedy at such a late stage, you’re a bit more sensible, and a bit more careful and guarded about gambling everything on comedy.  I’ve lived in my village for 25 years, so all my mates are from my pre comedy days and we all sit around the pub chatting which always keeps me grounded. It’s a funny world this show business malarkey. I’ve seen people change, people say: “move down to London, you’re missing opportunities” and they become different people. The main thing keeping me grounded early on was being at home, working at the hospital and being with my family.

You shared enormous success with Peter Kay in Phoenix Nights. When you were co-writing the show did you ever expect it to become such a huge success? How does it feel looking back on it?

It was definitely a surprise, but all you can do is your best. You always think you’ve created something really funny, and with 3 of us on the writing team we all had to agree before we moved on to the next scene. I think when we finished we all thought it was pretty good, but there were a lot of factors that led to it’s success. Channel 4 put it on quite late to start off, but by the repeats we had a bit of a cult following and people were talking about it. By the time the second series aired there was a lot of hype and it just took off from there.

In 2002, Phoenix Nights and the Office battled it out at the British Comedy awards. The Office has now seen huge success in the US. Do you think a show like Phoenix Nights would translate well in an American format and was it something you ever considered?

I think it could have done, I’m of the opinion that if you create the right characters, no matter where they are or what they’re doing, if they interact well and have a chemistry it will work. I think from the surface you’d say no, never, it’s a northern working class thing, but at the end of the day it was about the comedy between the characters.

You’re an active supporter of a number of charities and it’s obviously something that’s close to your heart. How important do you think it is for high profile celebrities such as yourself to show your support?

If it’s something that you care about then certainly, public support’s important. I must admit I get three or four requests a day, all very worthy causes, so it’s about which causes touch you more. Having worked at a hospital I can really see the importance of a public figure going out of their way to highlight the needs of an organization. I tend to do a show at the beginning of all my tours where 100% of the money taken goes to a select few charities and by doing that, you’re raising their profile, which in many cases is just as important.

So how does it feel to be back on the road and touring after working on studio shows like 8 Out Of 10 Cats?

I love it, it’s a new show and I think it’s what I’m best at (although I’m sure people would disagree). I love spontaneity and the fact that I can be on my way to a gig, think of something in the car and try it out. Whereas if you’re writing for or starring in TV you record it and about 6 months later, somebody in Barnsley laughs. I hate the competitiveness of those panel shoes, they make great comedy shows but they’re quite stressful, so after my fourth season I was ready to move on. I’m a storyteller and a conversation comedian, so that kind of fast paced competitive comedy wasn’t right for me.

Your tour spans the length of the country, do you have to approach live shows differently in different areas/ do you notice a difference in the way the audiences react?

On the whole I get the same sort of demographic at each show. I get the students come in, the old boys, the wives; it’s like a home game every time I perform. I’ve been working so hard on my show that I can confidently go on stage and perform, knowing that there will be a positive response.

You famously deconstruct song lyrics in your live shows. Has this changed the way you listen to music? When you listen to a new song is it the first thing you look out for?

That’s what started the tour really. I absolutely love my music, and have it on all the time.  I was listening to my party shuffle (I’m a modern man), and a Vanessa William song came on. She sings about unrequited love and sings the lyrics, in the middle of an almost perfect ballad; “Sometimes the snow comes down in June, sometimes the sun goes round the moon” and I thought; hang on a minute! It kind of grew from there and I’ve become almost obsessive with listening to the lyrics. This progressed naturally into deconstructing newspaper headlines, so I always take on stage the local newspaper. In fact, Leicester was one of the early gigs that prompted it, so now if it’s local and it’s funny, it’s a fantastic ice breaker. I love the language used in newspapers, it’s so full of ambiguity and anomalies. I’m fascinated with how one word can make all the difference.

We’re giving away THREE pairs of tickets to the Dave Spikey “Words Don’t Come Easy” show at De Montfort Hall on February 16th, simply fill in your details below to be in with a chance.

Competition ends Feb 10th. 

The bad news is that tickets to the bands upcoming UK tour have sold out. The good news is we’ve got a spare pair of tickets, and we’re giving them to YOU.

Win a pair of tickets to see Florence and the Machine at the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham on Tuesday 6^th of March 2012. Simply fill in your details below to be in with a chance.

Competition closes February 6^th 2012.

Remember this?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBA2NFgw2ko

We’re giving you lucky readers the chance to win a pair of tickets to see The Saturdays at the LG Arena on Thursday the 8th of December. Simply head to our Facebook Fan Site and ‘share’ The Saturdays’ competition picture on your wall to be in with a chance of winning. We’ll pick a winner on Friday!

Birmingham Wine School offers a range of wine tasting experiences, from a two-hour evening tasting to a full eight-week course. No previous wine tasting experience is required.

The winner will receive a voucher for a £79 Saturday introductory session which includes a delicious two course lunch, Champagne, and tasting 12 wines from around the world. The winner will discover how to best describe different wines and recognise elements such as acidity or oak.

The voucher allows the winner the flexibility to choose a convenient Saturday to redeem their prize.

All courses and tasting sessions at the Birmingham Wine School are available to buy as gift vouchers, making them an ideal purchase this Christmas. The vouchers are posted out free of charge in an attractive presentation wallet and left blank for the addition of a personalised message.

For more information about Birmingham Wine School and to order a gift voucher online, visit www.birminghamwineschool.com or call 0121 270 7359.

Simply fill in your details to be in with a chance of winning.

Competition closes Feb 1st.

This November, A Suit That Fits have teamed up with Movember to introduce a jacket tailored from an exclusive, limited edition Robert Noble tweed – expertly woven in their Scottish Mill.

Each jacket has a pocket especially designed to fit your mo comb (created by Kent; official brush makers to the royal family) and an embroidered ‘m’ on the last cuff buttonhole. For every jacket sold, £25 will be donated to Movember. Featuring an embroided mini-mo as a label and inspired by Movember’s campaign colours, the tweed jacket is perfect for Autumn.

Can’t get enough of the Movember jacket? Try the dogtooth Movember tie! 69 have teamed up with A Suit That Fits to give you the chance to win the Limited Edition Robert Noble dogtooth Tie, pictured below. Simply fill in your details below to be in with a chance of winning. Competition closes on the 1st of December.

We’ve scoured the internet for our favourite celebrity mo’s. Peep the gallery below.

Simply fill in the form below to be in with a chance of winning. Good luck!

COMPETITION CLOSED.

Our competition to win a PAIR of tickets to see Britney in Birmingham on the 30^th of October is still open. Fill in the form after the jump to be in with a chance of winning.

http://69-degrees.com/2011/10/win-britney-spears-tickets/

COMPETITION CLOSED

We’ve teamed up with Vidal Sassoon to give away a set of 4 mens grooming products from the new Titan range, including the Men’s Hair Clipper T1000, Rechargeable Clipper T2000, Rechargeable Beard Trimmer T4000 and Hygiene Trimmer T3000, so you can keep yourself looking neat and tidy with minimal effort.

Simply fill in your details below for a chance to win the full set.

COMPETITION CLOSED