Lucie Jones

Last updated

Lucie Jones
Lucie Jones Red Carpet Kyiv 2017.jpg
Jones in Kyiv 2017
Background information
Birth nameLucie Bethan Jones
Born (1991-03-20) 20 March 1991 (age 33)
Pentyrch, Cardiff, Wales
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • actress
  • model
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
Years active2007–present

Lucie Bethan Jones (born 20 March 1991) is a Welsh singer, musical theatre actress, and model. Jones first came to prominence while competing on series 6 of The X Factor UK in 2009, where she finished eighth. She represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Never Give Up on You", finishing with 111 points in 15th place.

Contents

Life and career

Jones was born in Pentyrch, a small village outside Cardiff. In 2007, she attended the World Scout Jamboree as a Scout, and was the main performer singing "Jambo", the theme song of the jamboree. Lucie was also a part of Cardiff's own Scout and Guide Gang Show. In 2017, she married fellow X Factor contestant Ethan Boroian.

The X Factor

Jones auditioned for series 6 of The X Factor UK with the song "I Will Always Love You". She advanced to the live shows, and was mentored by Dannii Minogue. Jones was eliminated in week five, during the final showdown against John & Edward after the result went to deadlock with Louis Walsh and Simon Cowell voting to eliminate Jones while Minogue and Cheryl Cole voted to send home John & Edward. After her elimination, 1,113 viewers complained about Cowell sending the result to deadlock rather than sending home John & Edward in a majority vote.

West End

After being eliminated from The X Factor, Jones was signed to Select Model Management, and began a modelling career. [1] In May 2010, Jones was signed by Cameron Mackintosh to play Cosette in the West End production of Les Misérables . [2] In September 2010, she was revealed to be the face of Wonderbra's Full Effects campaign. [3] In 2010, she appeared in The Sarah Jane Adventures episode, "Lost in Time: Part Two". Jones played the role of Meat in the 2013 arena tour of We Will Rock You . [4] Jones also played the role of Victoria [5] in the musical American Psycho at the Almeida Theatre in December 2013. [6]

In February 2015, Jones appeared as Melody Carver in ITV's Midsomer Murders , in the episode "The Ballad of Midsomer County". In April 2015, Jones played the role of Emma in the showcase performance of Like Me , at The Waterloo East Theatre. [7] In March 2015, she was cast as Molly in the Chinese tour of Ghost the Musical . In April 2016, she played the lead role of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde at the Curve. In 2016, she was cast as Maureen Johnson in the UK tour of Rent . Jones appeared in a summer run as Holly in the UK Tour of The Wedding Singer from 20 June to 19 July 2017. [8] Between September 2017 and June 2018 she reprised her role as Elle Woods in a UK tour of Legally Blonde .

Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Jones performs at the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. Lucie Jones (United Kingdom) ESC 2017.jpg
Jones performs at the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2017.

In January 2017, Jones competed in Eurovision: You Decide , the United Kingdom's national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. Her song, "Never Give Up on You", was co-written by Eurovision Song Contest 2013 winner Emmelie de Forest. [9] On 27 January 2017, Jones won the televised show, and was confirmed to be representing the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, in Kyiv. [10]

Jones's performance was shown in excerpt at the first semi-final of the Eurovision and, following this, betting odds went on to surge. [11] [12] At the Grand Final Jones performed eighteenth in the running order and then, in the second half of the final, went on to score 111 points through combined voting from the jury vote and the popular vote. Jones also managed to score 12 points from the Australia professional Jury. [13] [14] [15] An article in the International Business Times stated that she blamed Brexit for the "disappointing" result though Jones said in a televised interview with the BBC that she had noticed no effect from Brexit in the attitude towards her from fellow contestants and fans of the show. [16]

Return to the West End

Jones made her debut as Jenna in Waitress on 17 June 2019, taking over from Katharine McPhee. [17] For 2 weeks from 13 January 2020, she was briefly replaced by Desi Oakley (who had played Jenna in the US tour) due to an illness that also affected her two understudies. From 27 January to 21 March 2020, the role was to be played by Sara Bareilles for an 8-week run, with Jones stepping back into the role until the show closed on 4 July 2020. [18] However, on 14 March 2020, the show closed early due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jones reprised the role of Jenna on 4 September 2021 for the rescheduled UK & Ireland tour (originally set to start November 2020).

In Summer 2021, Jones took on the role of Fantine in the West End production of Les Misérables , ending on 29 August 2021 so that she could resume her role as Jenna in Waitress for the 2021/2022 UK Tour, starting on 4 September 2021. [19]

Jones made her debut as Elphaba in Wicked at London's Apollo Victoria Theatre on 1 February 2022. [20] She concluded her run in the show on 4 March 2023, and reprised the role of Fantine in the West End production of Les Miserables on 27 March 2023, taking over the role from Ava Brennan. [21] She was then succeeded by Katie Hall on 25th September.

Lucie Jones did a tour with The Fulltone Orchestra in April and May 2023 https://fto.org.uk/lucie/.

Discography

Albums

TitleDetails
Lucie Jones: Live at the Adelphi [22]
  • Released: 25 September 2020
  • Format: Digital download
  • Label: Live Here Now

Extended plays

TitleDetails
Believe [23]
  • Released: 15 October 2015
  • Format: Digital download
  • Label: Jones Entertainment

Singles

SingleYearPeak chart positionsAlbum
UK
[24] 		SCO
[25]
"You'll Never Walk Alone"
(with Rhys Meirion)		2013–—Cerddwn ymlaen
"Confidence Is Conscienceless"2015–—Confidence Is Conscienceless
"The Ballad of Midsomer County"–— Midsomer Murders (Original Television Soundtrack)
"Never Give Up on You"20177329Non-album single
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
2009 The X Factor HerselfContestant
2010 The Sarah Jane Adventures GemmaTelevision series; 2 episodes
Les Misérables in Concert: The 25th Anniversary Turning Woman 2Television movie
2013Miss ToddMiss ToddShort film
2015 Midsomer Murders Melody CarverTV series, S17E3: “The Ballad of Midsomer County”
2017 Eurovision: You Decide 2017 HerselfContestant
Eurovision Song Contest 2017 United Kingdom representative
2018 Eurovision: You Decide 2018 Guest

Stage

YearTitleRoleTheatreLocation
2010–11 Les Misérables Cosette Queen's Theatre West End
2011The ProdigalsKelly Edinburgh Fringe Festival Edinburgh
2013 We Will Rock You Meat—UK Arena Tour
2013–14 American Psycho Victoria/Hardbody Bartender Almeida Theatre West End
2015Broadway to the BayFeatured Soloist Millennium Centre Cardiff
Like Me EmmaWaterloo East Theatre Off West End
Ghost the Musical Molly Jensen—China National Tour
2016 Legally Blonde Elle Woods Curve, Leicester Leicester
Musicals UnsungFeatured Soloist The Other Palace Off West End
2016–17 Rent Maureen Johnson—UK National Tour
2017 The Wedding Singer Holly—
2017–18 Legally Blonde Elle Woods —
2017 A Christmas Carol Emily/Ghost of Christmas Future Old Vic London
2019–20 Waitress Jenna Hunterson Adelphi Theatre West End
2020Lucie Jones - Live at the AdelphiHerself
2020-21 A Christmas Carol The Ghost of Christmas Past Dominion Theatre
2021 Treason The Musical Martha Percy Cadogan Hall London
Les Misérables Fantine [26] Sondheim Theatre West End
Waitress Jenna Hunterson—UK National Tour
2022–2023 Wicked Elphaba Apollo Victoria Theatre West End
2023 Les Misérables Fantine Sondheim Theatre
2024 Pippin [27] Catherine Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

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References

  1. ↑ Bumpus, Jessica (21 December 2009). "The Style Factor". British Vogue.
  2. ↑ Woodrow, Emily (20 May 2010). "X Factor's Lucie Jones to star in Les Miserables". WalesOnline. Archived from the original on 22 December 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  3. ↑ "X Factor reject Lucie Jones lands Wonderbra deal". Metro.co.uk. 15 September 2010.
  4. ↑ Woodrow, Emily (13 October 2012). "Lucie Jones lands top role in We Will Rock You musical". WalesOnline.
  5. ↑ "American Psycho Cast". Almeida.co.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  6. ↑ "Doctor Who's Matt Smith set to regenerate … as American Psycho". The Guardian . 7 October 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  7. ↑ "Lucie Jones, Georgina Hagen Showcase New Social Media Musical LIKE ME at Waterloo East Today". BroadwayWorld. 11 April 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  8. ↑ [ permanent dead link ]
  9. ↑ McIntosh, Steven; Savege, Mark (23 January 2017). "Eurovision 2017: Which former X Factor contestant will represent the UK?". BBC News. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  10. ↑ Granger, Anthony (27 January 2017). "UNITED KINGDOM: LUCIE JONES TO EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2017". Eurovoix.com.
  11. ↑ Percival, Ash (11 May 2017). "It Looks Like The UK Could Be in with a Chance of Winning Eurovision After All". HuffPost. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  12. ↑ Duncan, Amy (11 May 2017). "UK now fifth favourite to win Eurovision Song Contest thanks to Lucie Jones". Metro. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  13. ↑ Westbrook, Caroline (14 May 2017). "Australia gave the United Kingdom 12 points in the voting and it was aweseome". Metro.co.uk. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  14. ↑ "Portugal wins Eurovision for first time as Lucie Jones gets 111 points for UK". Barrhead News. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  15. ↑ "Portugal wins Eurovision for first time as Lucie Jones gets 111 points for UK". newsandstar.co.uk. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  16. ↑ Binding, Lucia (15 May 2017). "Lucie Jones blames Brexit for coming 15th place in Eurovision". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  17. ↑ Wood, Alex (21 June 2019). "Lucie Jones, Ashley Roberts and Blake Harrison join Waitress in the West End: first look". WhatsOnStage.
  18. ↑ Embley, Jochan (4 November 2019). "Sara Bareilles to star in Waitress on the West End in 2020: How to get tickets". standard.co.uk.
  19. ↑ Site, That Eurovision (7 June 2021). "🇬🇧 Lucie Jones to appear on Waitress: The Musical Tour". That Eurovision Site. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  20. ↑ Thomas, Sophie (17 November 2021). "'Wicked' announces new cast, including Lucie Jones as Elphaba". London Theatre. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  21. ↑ "Les Miserables London new cast announced including Lucie Jones, Josh Piterman, Stewart Clarke | WestendTheatre.com". www.westendtheatre.com. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  22. ↑ "Lucie Jones: Live at the Adelphi – Album". iTunes Store. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  23. ↑ "Believe – EP". iTunes Store. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  24. ↑ "Lucie Jones | Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  25. ↑ "Official Scottish Singles Chart Top 100: 12 May 2017 – 18 May 2017". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  26. ↑ "Lucie Jones on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  27. ↑ "Pippin 50th anniversary concert moves dates and venue, Further casting announced including Alex Newell, Patricia Hodge, Lucie Jones, Cedric Neal, Jac Yarrow, Zizi Strallen | West End Theatre". www.westendtheatre.com. 15 March 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
Preceded by United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
2017 		Succeeded by
SuRie
with "Storm"
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