DANIEL EVANS

AGE: 38
LOCATION: WALTHAMSTOW/ SPAIN
JOB: POOL CLEANER IN SPAIN
MENTORED BY: DANNII MINOGUE

Daniel Evans, 38 years old from Walthamstow, has almost applied to be on The X Factor every year since it’s been on TV - but he's never actually gone through with it.  This year he decided to take the plunge because he now believes life is too short not to reach for your goals. This hit home after the tragic death of his wife last year following complications during the birth of their baby girl, Ana Maria. 

Daniel, who has two older brothers, is currently a pool cleaner living in Spain but does whatever he can to make money for his little girl and himself.

He’s had a love of music from an early age and in his early teens experimented with a variety of different musical instruments until he settled on the organ (he never thought it was cool, though!)

Daniel played the organ in his dad’s band (they played 60’s and 70’s music across the country in working men’s clubs) until, in his late teens, he decided he’d like his weekends back to spend more time with his friends and his girlfriend at the time.

He didn’t realise he could sing until after his dad’s death when he sang in karaoke bars, where people commented that he had inherited his dad’s voice and should try singing. 

He came to the audition with his mum who fully supports him; she would love him to win as it would give him a great direction in life, especially after the sad loss of his wife who so dearly wanted to see him perform on The X Factor.

RACHEL HYLTON

AGE: 26
LOCATION: LONDON
JOB: MOTHER
MENTORED BY: DANNII MINOGUE

Rachel is the oldest of three children and, since the age of five years old, has always had the dream to be a singer.  Her parents split up when she was just nine and after that she lost control and direction.  At the age of 13 she had the first of five children and life spiralled out of control; problems with drugs led to a spell in prison and eventually three of her children were taken into care.  After the birth of her fourth child she was determined to change her life for the better and now looks after her youngest two children.

Music has always been important to Rachel and from an early age she sang in her school choir or at Sunday school.  At the age of 13 she won a ghetto blaster for coming first in a singing competition performing Whitney Houston’s Greatest Love Of All.

She grew up listening to reggae music (inspired by her Jamaican parents) and tries hard to sing every day. She’s only ever had one music lesson in her life and everything else is self-taught.

Rachel currently lives in London with her two youngest children and rates music as the saving grace during the hard times in her life.
 
Rachel’s family have been so supportive of her, people she hasn’t seen in ages are getting back in touch and she’s recognised in the street.  Her kids are really excited and proud of her too -this means the world to Rachel.

 

 

RUTH LORENZO

AGE: 25
LOCATION: SURREY - ASHSTEAD
JOB:  PR CONSULTANT
MENTORED BY: DANNII MINOGUE

Ruth was born in the South East of Spain and when she screamed loudly during the birth, the doctors said she would be a singer.

Even at the age of one, Ruth loved the film Annie and would sing along in English - although she had no idea what the words meant. Her mother nurtured Ruth’s love of music by playing music and dancing with her. Ruth was six when she first heard Montserrat Caballé, an opera singer in Spain and she started to sing opera when her mother bought her Montserrat’s album. Ruth imitated her vocals until she was pitch perfect to the iconic Spanish opera singer.

At twelve years old, Ruth moved to America with her family and this was the first time she had the opportunity to get involved with music at school. She took every music, theatre, dance and choir lesson going and all of her teachers encouraged her. She was put into competitions and played lead roles in My Fair Lady and Phantom of the Opera. The family moved back to Spain when Ruth was 16 and although Ruth had taken some singing lessons by this point, she had to give them up due to the financial difficulties her family were having. Ruth gave up on her dream as it was becoming clear that it would never be something that would pay the bills.

Ruth joined a rock band when she was 19; This was a new challenge because she had only ever sung classical music. Ruth made the decision that she would give up her job at the family business and follow her dream once again. The band became very close as the toured Spain and Ruth stayed with them for 3 years. After playing countless hotels and bars the group decided to split up.

Ruth now dates the guitarist, Juanma and the duo landed a permanent contract for Polaris World where as well as performing, Ruth works as a PR consultant and Juanma is the Director of Entertainment.

JLS

MENTORED BY: LOUIS WALSH

comprising band members:

NAME: MARVIN HUMES, 23
OCCUPATION: PROPERTY SALES
LOCATION: SOUTH-EAST LONDON

Marvin was born in South-East London and started singing at the age of five. He attended a professional performance school 3 times a week as well as attending a regular school for his education.

After finishing school, a chance meeting with Simon Webbe gave Marvin the opportunity to hand over one of his demo tapes. Weeks later Marvin auditioned for Simon and was asked if he wanted to join VS (a group Simon Webbe was putting together).

After six months of rehearsing and recording, VS were signed to Innocent Records and they went on to support Blue on two national tours. Their first release went to number 7, the second went to number 11 and their third release went to 23.

Unfortunately VS lost their deal and Marvin contemplated leaving the music industry and started selling property and land abroad. Marvin looks back on this time as a massive reality check and something that has made him stronger. He’s always looking to move forward and was ecstatic to receive a call from Oritsé inviting him to become involved with JLS.

NAME: JONATHAN GILL (JB), 21
OCCUPATION: STUDENT
LOCATION: CROYDEN

JB grew up in Croydon and fell in love with music at the age of seven when he played the recorder, piano, flute and guitar.

At the age of nine, he joined the choir and went onto perform at the local church. JB concentrated on his music and began studying at The Centre for Young Musicians (CYM).

After leaving the CYM, JB stayed involved with the school music scene. He played Mercado in the play Mercado and was involved with the choir at school. He continued this until he was 15 but had to give it up due to the pressures from the school to concentrate on his promising Rugby career.

JB eventually decided that he wanted to sing more and took up vocal coaching during a year out before attending university. During this period, JB was contacted by Oritsé to try out for the band.

NAME: ORTISE WILLIAMS, 21
OCCUPATION: WORKS WITH DISABLED CHILDREN
LOCATION: FULHAM

Oritsé has been singing since he was at school and at 15 yrs old, he would even perform on his school bus!

Oritsé studied for his A�?Levels in Nigeria and would also spend time teaching the children in the villages to sing. It was here that Oritsé first sang in a recording studio when he was asked to lay some vocals down for a track he had written called Soul Woman.

However, due to competition from another male solo artist, Oritsé’s track was pulled from the station's playlist and his dream came to a standstill. Oritsé was the school’s head-boy and was also involved in local charity group, Motherless Baby Home.

Oritsé loved being involved with his community and most of all singing with the villagers. After two years he moved back to the UK to live back with his mother in London. Oritsé worked at a record company for free in order to gain music industry experience. He was introduced to a variety of different mentors when he joined a vocal academy whilst he was studying at university, and Malcolm Connell trained him vocally and was the person who encouraged him to form JLS.

He managed to blag his way onto MTV Base and got a feature on Trevor Nelson, The Lick show. Trevor said that Oritsé was just what the UK needed.

NAME: ASTON MERRYGOLD, 20
OCCUPATION: SINGER
LOCATION: PETERBOROUGH

Aston grew up in Peterborough dreamed of being a footballer. At secondary school, he represented England for the European Youth Games in 2004 but soon after discovered he had a nerve disorder in his left foot and had to give up sport.

When Aston was 14, his mother applied for him enter Kids Stars in their Eyes and appeared as Michael Jackson in 2002 singing Rockin�?Robin. Aston performed in all of his school productions and after finishing school in 2004, he was cast in a new TV show called Fun Song Factory.

Aston met Marvin whilst auditioning for a TV advert. Since joining the band, Aston moved to London to make rehearsing easier.