While Ireland has won Eurovision seven times, more than any other country, they have not won since 1996 and this year they are actually re-enteringJedward, their same act from last year who placed 8th. Jedward consists of Irish twin brothers, Edward and John Grimes who came to fame in 2009 when they took part in the UK X Factor TV show. Although they didn’t win they have since experienced huge success across UK and Ireland after a collaboration with 90’s 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. The twins went on to release their debut album Planet Jedward which became the fastest selling record in 2010.
We were approached to produce customised baseball jackets for the duo to wear in the lead up to Eurovision. With their signature electrocuted style afros and quirky matching outfits our team knew it would be a fun project to get involved with.
To be honest we hadn’t heard of Jedward before but we jumped on YouTube and fell in love with their quirky style and catchy songs straight away and decided to give them the jackets for their Eurovision campaign. We have supplied jackets for Australian artists including Stan Walker, The Justice Crew & Barry Southgate but haven’t been approached by artists overseas before.
The Irish people hope Jedward will break the losing streak Ireland has been experiencing since 1996 and we think their jackets might help too. Australia gets called ‘the lucky country’ so maybe these jackets can be Jedward’s lucky charm and break the curse of the ‘luck of the Irish’”. Who knows ‘Jedmania’ may even reach our shores since the popularity of boy bands like 1Direction has been phenomenal. One thing for sure is that our team will be cheering Jedward on when they compete in the Eurovision Semi-Final on Tuesday the 22nd of May. It may just turn out to be a ‘Jepic’ night! Here is a first look at Jedward wearing our jackets wearing our jackets while rehearsing for a video clip for their new single ‘Put your Green Cape On’ which is an unofficial Eurovision anthem written by Colm Hayes, a radio presenter from Rte 2fm in Ireland.
