Louisa Johnson, Jedward and 5 After Midnight to play South Shields

A trio of X Factor stars will headline the third in this year's South Tyneside Festival Summer Concerts series.
Louisa JohnsonLouisa Johnson
Louisa Johnson

It’s been announced today that Louisa Johnson, Jedward and 5 After Midnight will play at Bents Park, South Shields on Sunday July, 23.

The X Factor favourites will be joined by local act South Tyneside Samba Drum Club as they take to the stage for the open air concert this summer.

5 after Midnight5 after Midnight
5 after Midnight
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For the first time this year the council has introduced a Priority Access Ticket scheme in which 5,000 tickets for each concert can be bought in advance to ensure access on the day.

The remaining 19,000 places for each concert, which will also feature performances from KT Tunstall and Busted over the course of four weekends, will remain free.

Headlining on July 23 will be 2015 winner Louisa Johnson. The singer became the youngest ever winner of the show when she was just 17 and her debut single, a cover of Bob Dylan’s Forever Young entered the chart at number nine.

Louisa enjoyed her first big hit last year when she appeared on Clean Bandit’s track Tears.

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5 after Midnight
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She released her first solo track, So Good, last October and her debut album is due out this summer. The singer says she is looking forward to appearing at Bents Park.

“I’m very excited to be playing at South Tyneside Festival this July,” she said.

“This will be my first visit to South Shields and I’ve heard great things about the North East audiences, so here’s to giving them a day to remember. See you soon South Shields!”

Joining her on the day will be Jedward – aka John and Edward Grimes – who shot to fame in the show back in 2009, finishing sixth before going on to become household names.

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The identical twin brothers reached number two in the UK Singles chart with their debut release Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby) and can boast three number one singles and three number one albums in their native Ireland.

Most recently, they won over the nation as they returned to Channel 5’s Celebrity Big Brother in January for the second time, where they finished second to Coleen Nolan.

Boyband 5 After Midnight burst onto the scene last autumn when they appeared on the latest series of the hit TV show. The trio - Kieran Alleyne, Nathan Lewis and Jordan Lee - finished third overall but were quickly snapped up by Simon Cowell who signed them to his Syco record label earlier this year.

“We are super excited to play the South Tyneside Festival,” they said. “It’s our first time performing at the event so make sure to be there, it’s going to be an incredible day.”

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The X Factor stars will be supported by local youngsters from the South Tyneside Samba Drum Club, which meets during school term time and is open to children from across the South Tyneside.

The initiative teaches young people percussion skills using instruments like the djembe and samba as well as the traditional drum kit, and gives them the opportunity to perform in public at events like the Summer Concert series.