One Direction (boy band)

One Direction

One Direction are a British boy band consisting of Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan. The group started off as contestants on the 2010 edition of the British TV talent show, The X Factor (UK) and came third, behind winner Matt Cardle and runner-up Rebecca Ferguson. Despite coming third, the group have gained a high reputation in the United Kingdom and were ultimately signed up to Syco.

The boy band are set to release their first official single in July 2011, originally intended to be released in June 2011 .

History

Before and during The X Factor

In the 2008 edition of The X Factor, member of the group, Liam Payne, had originally auditioned at the age of 14, however, panel show judge, Simon Cowell believed that Payne was not ready for the competition and asked him to return in two years, for the 2010 edition of the show This time Cowell chose him to be part of One Direction. Harry Styles, before One Direction, was the lead singer of a band called White Eskimo with Haydn Morris (lead guitar), Nick Clough (bass) and Will Sweeny (drums).

In 2010, Liam Payne and Harry Styles, auditioned for The X Factor, along with Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan. However, the group originally auditioned separately, until panel show judge, Nicole Scherzinger recommended that they should join together as a group.

As a group, they managed to get past bootcamp and got into the live finals. Zayn Malik was starting to get uncomfortable with the idea that he had to dance when he performed, and so decided to remain backstage, until Cowell convinced him otherwise. In the finals, on week 1 of the live shows, One Direction performed a version "Viva la Vida" and were safe for that week. Week 2 was "Musical Heroes", and One Direction sang "My Life Would Suck Without You", which received positive comments from the judges; Minogue called them "five heartthrobs" and praised their performance, Cole called them "cute" and Cowell said "You are the most exciting pop band in the country right now." They sang "Nobody Knows" in week 3, "Total Eclipse of the Heart" in week 4. As early as week 4, Simon Cowell was left with just one group, as Cowell's other three groups (Belle Amie, Diva Fever and F.Y.D) were voted out. They sang "Kids in America" in week 5, "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" in week 6 and "All You Need Is Love" in week 7. They were safe each week, never once being in the bottom two. For weeks 8 and 9, they performed two songs: "Summer of 69" and "You Are So Beautiful" in week 8 and "Only Girl (In the World)" and "Chasing Cars "in week 9. They were safe both times, making it to the final live show, being the first ever manufactured group to do so. In week 10, the boyband performed "Your Song". The groups final performance was "Torn", and eventually they came third behind winner Matt Cardle and second-place winner Rebecca Ferguson.

Post-X Factor work

After the X Factor was over, One Direction were signed up to Simon Cowell's record label, Syco along with a £2 million recording contract. Since then, the group has been busy recording their debut album alongside Romanian music artist, Alexandra Stan. Several official merchandise has already started to be released, including a book entitled Forever Young. Their debut single is set to be released in July 2011.

Members

Harry Styles (born 1 February 1994) - vocals (Holmes Chapel, Cheshire) Liam Payne (born 29 August 1993) - vocals (Wolverhampton) Louis Tomlinson (born 24 December 1991) - vocals (Doncaster) Zayn Malik (born 12 January 1993) - vocals (Bradford) Niall Horan (born 13 September 1993) - vocals (Westmeath, Ireland)

See also

• [[List of X Factor finalists (UK series 7)
• The X Factor (UK)

External links

• The X Factor Finalists at itv.com