#billionlights

We've never been massive fans of JLS. Despite being one of the best, most fully formed pop acts that The X Factor has ever produced, we have always been a bit disappointed with the route the boys chose to take after the show.

This was a fantastic first audition:

This was a briliant performance:

And of course, how could we forget the best thing they've ever done:

It hasn't been the perfect pop career. There have been highs (Hottest Girl In The World), and there have been lows (Everybody In Love). But their final single, Billion Lights - which, if you're counting is 1000x more lights than Cheryl Cole's last effort - feels as though it sums up everything good about the group. It's like a mashup of all their best bits. They could have so easily released a schmaltzy ballad, something so overwrought with sentimentality that you could imagine the potential for a slow motion video full of their fans weeping and holding "ASTON HAVE MY BABIES" banners from the maudlin first few bars. But they didn't do that. Instead they're releasing this.

See you later, JLS.