2008 was officially a bit of a mixed year, truth be told. For every Olympic world-record achieved by Usain Bolt at that year's Games, there was a bank collapse or another Third World crisis and for every "WALL-E" there was a "Kung-Fu Panda". In the music world during 2008, things were just as turbulent. Coldplay dominated the world, sales-wise with the "Viva la Vida" album, Lady Gaga hadn't discovered off-the-hook meat dresses (yet) and Westlife celebrated their tenth anniversary. So you see, a bit mixed.

The final number one of the year came from Alexandra Burke, with the Leonard Cohen-penned sob-a-rama, "Hallelujah", a feat that might otherwise have befallen another act had they got the full vote. X-Factor, TV's cattle-market of broken dreams, wailing Sharons, precocious Kevins and Cowell's box-shaped bonce, had reached its fifth series conclusion with a winning vote for Burke and a runners-up prize for a boy-band called JLS. The result certainly hasn't done either of the performers any harm.

In fact, JLS have come out of it slightly better, mainly due to chalking-up two huge albums in two years, five number 1 singles (the highest for any X Factor contestant) and become idolized gods in the eyes of many kids, teenagers and parents (of both sexes).

The latest album will see the light of day on 14th November and 2012 will see the lads perform songs from that plus their other hits in an arena tour during March, starting with Liverpool, Birmingham, Cardiff (2 shows), London (O2 - 2 shows), Nottingham, Sheffield, Manchester, Newcastle, Aberdeen and Glasgow. We'll have tickets from 9am on Friday 9th September (that's next week), with prices starting at £25 and rising to £32.50 depending on location.

Last time out, JLS were "Outta This World" - this time they're entering the tour of the "4th Dimension" (it says here). Don't miss out!

Extra dates added!

With demand causing ticket-servers to struggle this morning, and tickets selling-out for certain dates, five new dates have been added in Birmingham (17th Mar), Cardiff (21st), London (25th), Manchester (31st) and Glasgow (5th Apr) - all on sale now!