Much derided X Factor contestants Jedward have divided opinion since clip-clopping awkwardly onto our screens in 2009. Some can't stand them while others simply cannot bear them. Yet a handful enjoyed the irony of these two plainly decent but unsophisticated Irish boys upsetting the box-headed Cowell and his many protégés.

The media, however, loved John and Edward Grimes, quickly latching onto the sobriquet 'Jedward' and pasting the lads across front pages so that a superior public could point and say "HA HA HA - JEDWARD!!" And that's about the size of it.

If there is anything to admire about the 19-year-old twins then it is their seemingly boundless optimism, enthusiasm and refusal to react to the many barbs trawled their way. In many ways, they are more 'Cowell' than the man himself. Never a flag-bearer for taste or quality, Simon has been accused of being willing to do anything (within the realm of popular music) so long as it makes him money.

The difference between Jedward and Cowell is that the Svengali would never allow himself to be made to look a fool. John and Edward meanwhile, have less choice in the matter and playing the bemused simpletons has become their lingua franca. Having recently entered the 2011 Celebrity Big Brother house alongside a motley selection of z-listers and celebrity mingers, it is likely their stock will rise as the two vacuous, polite, straightforward Irish lads are revealed as being vacuous, polite, straightforward Irish lads. They have every chance of winning.

They may even remind the viewing public that they are ostensibly 'pop stars'. With a no doubt glorious Celeb BB exit/victory under their belts and another chorus of dissenters silenced, Jedward are taking their second album, 'Victory', on the road later this year.

Jedward's Victory UK Tour begins at Newcastle's City Hall on 30th November, followed by performances in Glasgow, Blackpool and Birmingham, before the final show of the run at Cardiff's St David's Hall on 5th December.

We will have tickets for all dates when they go on sale at 9AM on Saturday 27th August, priced around £25.

You may not get to see the tightest dance routines or the strongest vocal performances but what you get will be undeniably, unforgettably and indisputably Jedward.

Prior to that, the duo will be playing a few dates across the Irish sea at the Royal Theatre in Castlebar and the INEC in Killarney. Tickets cost €27.65 and are on sale now. And if the prospect of going to a pantomime fills you with dread, how about the prospect of a pantomime featuring Jedward?... The imaginatively titled "Jedward and the Beanstalk" will feature Jedward, a beanstalk and a giant and will take place at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin over the Christmas period. Tickets start at €25, with family tickets available for €20 (groups of 5) or €21.25 (groups of four) and are on sale now.