Review of Jedward at The Olympia Theatre on April 24th

Review by Deirdre Harrison

As I waited outside the Olympia on Easter Sunday surrounded by loud and hyper Jedward fans I wondered what I had let myself in for. I’m not exactly a fan of Jedward. Having never been a fan of X Factor type shows, the first time I actually watched was the year Jedward appeared. If I’m honest it was only to laugh at them; yet there was something strangely enjoyable about the twins.

During the first act, ManneQuin, I really felt like I did not belong and should make my way quickly towards the exit. The duo’s music was similar in style to Jedward’s, inoffensive pop, but there was just something incredibly bland about it. The singer was a shade of orange that Dale Winton would consider a step too far and just seemed a bit too old to be singing such bad songs to a room full of mainly children and young teens. To be fair, the duo probably are not much older than Jedward but they desperately lack their youthful energy so it just came across as a bit creepy.  As the rest of the crowd seemed to enjoy ManneQuin I feared the whole of the night would be a similar form of torture for me.

In a matter of minutes a video featuring John and Edward welcomed the crowd; what was said in this video or the many more featured during costume changes I’m not too sure, it was hard to hear above the screams. Silhouettes of the twins and their quiffs appeared either side of the stage to even more screams before they ran on stage, or in John’s case wheeled on.  The fact that these shows went ahead gives you some respect for Jedward; a few days previous John badly sprained his ankle on stage and was now confined to a wheelchair. Many other artists who would be considered more ‘professional’ would have just pulled the dates or postponed, but not Jedward.

Opening with new song “Bad Behaviour” the crowd went wild while Edward cartwheeled around the stage and John somehow managed to be energetic while pushing himself around the stage. Following on with “Born This Way” and “In Too Deep”, the Jedward performing was very different to the Jedward we saw and laughed at on X Factor, their dance moves were sharp, their performance was, dare I say it? Polished. They had the audience in the palm of their hand and made sure to constantly interact with the crowd between songs.

During the Backstreet Boy’s “I Want It That Way”, it became clear, Jedward were singing live. And…it wasn’t terrible! Surely they would be the first to admit they’re not the world’s best singers but to give them credit, their vocals really were not bad at all. There are far worse singers out there. Whether or not the whole show was live is debatable but there were definitely live portions.

During a Jackson 5 Melody there was a rather surreal moment when a video projection of Michael singing “I’ll Be There” became a duet with Jedward. The energy of the crowd and Jedward never waned, it was impossible not to enjoy the show; in particular their Eurovision entry, “Lipstick”, which is a fantastic pop song. Throughout the whole show it was impossible not to find yourself singing along form time to time.

As I said at the start I am not a Jedward fan but I never understood the hostility so many people have towards them. No they are not the most talented musicians in the world, but it’s not fair to compare them to most musicians and bands, they are first and foremost entertainers. The songs they perform are in general great songs, and they don’t change that. Blink 182 fans were horrified and claimed Jedward ‘murdered’ “All The Small Things”, but if you listen it is basically the same song apart from the vocals. If Blink 182 fans feel so strongly about it I suggest they themselves never perform the song in karaoke because they are committing the same murder.  Jedward introduce young people to good songs and bands it is possible they would have never heard of, can this really be a bad thing?

Setlist
Bad Behaviour
Born This Way
In Too Deep
All the Small Things
I Want It That Way
Jackson 5 Melody (I Want You Back, ABC, I’ll Be There, I Want You Back)
Burnin Up
Distortion
Ghostbusters
Lipstick
*Interval*
Britney Melody (Baby One More Time, Hold It Against Me)
Firework
Bad
Rock DJ
We R Who We R
Dirty Little Secret
They Don’t Care About Us
Year 3000

****
Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)
Lipstick