Everyone’s heard of this new boy band One Direction right? Well, this is just a little article to give a little more information about these five singing pop stars.
The five –Harry Styles(18), Niall Horan(18), Liam Payne(19), Zayn Malik(19), and Louis(pronounced Lou-ee) Tomlinson- auditioned for the 2010 X-Factor in England as solo acts. Each of the boys made it through auditions and moved on to boot camp where they did not make it through.
On July 23th, the judges decided that they would not have been good enough on their own. So, the judges decided to put them into a group. The name ‘One Direction’ was made up by theirvery own Harry Styles. He said that they were all trying to go in ‘One Direction’, and that was to become famous for their singing skills.
The boys sang ‘Torn’ by Natalie Imbruglia at their mentor, Simon Cowell’s house. Once again, the boys made it through. Each week, the boys made a video diary for the X-Factor website. Jokes for their fans such as ‘”No!” Jimmy protested!”, “Kevin the pigeon”, and ‘”I like girls who… eat carrots!”’ came up in these videos.
After making it through many weeks of live shows, the boys were voted off in third place on December 12th. The boys were signed by Simon Cowell, or as the boys call him, “Uncle Simon” to SYCO RECORDS.
In September, a little less than a year later, the boys came out with their single What Makes You Beautiful which sky rocketed to #1 on the pop singles chart. “Directioners” –which is what their fans are called- were ecstatic and couldn’t wait for the album to be released.
Then two months later,on November 21st 2011, their album titled ‘Up All Night’ was released. The boys became more and more popular.
In December 2011, the boys announced that they were going on tour. Starting with Europe, then going to Australia in February, and ending in North America in April. The boys performed their songs “Na NaNa”, “Stand Up”, “I Wish”, “Moments”, “Gotta Be You”, “More Than This”, “Up All Night”, “Tell Me A Lie”, “Everything About You”, “”One Thing”, “Save You Tonight”, “What Makes You Beautiful”, and “I Want.” Followed by covers of the songs, “I Gotta Feeling”, “Stereo Hearts”, “Valerie”, and “Torn”. The tour ended in July 2012.
While on tour, the boys’ book, “Dare To Dream” came out in stores. The book is packed with information, pictures, and funny stories about the boys. Such as birthdays, favorite colors, baby pictures, rare photos, and stories about times on the X-Factor or just random times at home.
On February 21st 2012, the boys were nominated for a Brit award. Being up against an artist like Adele, the boys thought they wouldn’t win. But they did. They won against some of the biggest names out there. The fans were extremely proud.
And just recently, the boys were nominated for three Video Music Awards (or VMA’s). Most Shared Video, Best Pop Video, and Best New Artist. The boys went home with a clean sweep. Yes, they won all three awards! Being against Justin Bieber(18), the boys weren’t sure if they were going to win. But they did, and Directioners were so proud of them.
-Emily Lacouture, junior columnist for the Valley Patriot
