Profile One Direction
February 2nd, 2012 | 
Category: Music | 
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Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Niall Horan had never crossed paths before they found themselves competing against each other as soloists on X Factor.
Yet just a few short months later, thanks to an amazing twist of fate, the teenagers comprise the country’s hottest boyband and are embarking on a career that is sure to turn global, working with some of the greatest producers in the music industry today.
As they stood on a bare stage in front of the music industry’s toughest critics, the five boys thought their dream of stardom had been crushed.
They had just been told they had not made it through the Bootcamp stage of X Factor in July 2010, and were to pack their suitcases and return to their homes.
But little did they know, behind the scenes there were huge plans in store to create a glittering future for them.
For the lads, who had entered X Factor as individuals, were to be put together as the show’s youngest ever boy band.
The plan was devised by the panel of Simon Cowell, Nicole Scherzinger and Louis Walsh, who believed they would be stronger together than individuals.
Liam says: “My first thought was, are we going to make this work when we don’t know each other? It was such a leap of faith.”
Despite their fears, it took them just seconds to agree to join forces.
Zayn says: “I didn’t think I would ever want to be in a group. But when I was there and it was happening, and I knew the lads a bit, there was no way I was going to say ‘no’.“
The boys admit they had no idea how to go about arranging harmonies and had little formal musical training.
Liam was studying for a musical technology A-level at college at the time, and had once performed in front of a 26,000 strong crowd at a Wolverhampton Wanderers’ football match. He also got through to the Judge’s Houses stage of X Factor two years previously.
But the others had even less experience: Louis had ‘a few vocal lessons’ and had played Danny in a school production of Grease; Harry performed once in a Battle of the Bands competition at school; Niall was in the school choir for occasional Christmas performances and Zayn did a ‘couple of musicals’ at school.
Zayn says: “We didn’t know what a harmony was. We all just sang in unison for two weeks!”
And Liam agrees: “We just threw ideas around. The first few days were quite tough. We all had different ideas but we didn’t really know what a group was about.“
But the boys gelled quickly and, with a tiny amount of preparation under their belts, they sailed through first Judge’s Houses then the live shows, mentored by Simon.
During the ten weeks of live shows, One Direction covered songs as diverse as Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn”, Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida”, Kelly Clarkson’s “My Life Would Suck Without You”, Kim Wilde’s “Kids In America” and Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars”.
One Direction grew in confidence, quickly gained a huge fan base and enjoyed every moment of their live performances, although they admit the experience was a huge learning curve.
Liam says: “Normally when you put together a band they have some time to go away and develop but we had to do that on a live competition, in front of 20 million people.
“If you make a mistake in front of an audience like that, you get voted out.
“We had no room for error whatsoever. We had to grow up very, very fast.”
The trio made it to the final where they sang Elton John’s Your Song, She’s The One with guest artist Robbie Williams, and Torn by Natalie Imbruglia.
They were voted into third place and say they had mixed feelings: disappointed at not winning, but aware of how far they had come since those days practicing in a bungalow with no idea how to harmonise.
There was no question that the group would disband or give up their dreams.
They were called to a meeting with Simon Cowell after a Christmas back home with their families in their respective homes: Liam (Wolverhampton), Harry (Cheshire), Louis (Doncaster), Zayn (Bradford), and Niall (Westmeath, Ireland), and told they were to be signed to Syco.
Harry says: “Simon Cowell was telling you your life was about to change! It was weird.”
Louis adds: “We came from nothing, and had no experience as a group at all. By the time we came to the end of the show, we were a completely different group. We worked so hard, and achieved so much. We also became really close mates – we’re just all so grateful that we got along so well from the start. It’s quite sad actually – even when we go home now or have a day off, we are still texting each other! “
After the X Factor nationwide tour, and the release of their best-selling book, Forever Young, One Direction began work on their first album.
After some discussion they knuckled down to record with legendary names including Steve Mac, who has worked with Westlife, JLS and Leona Lewis; Rami Yacoub (Backstreet Boys, Bon Jovi, Britney Spears), and Matt Squire (Good Charlotte, 3OH!3, Panic! At The Disco, HIM).
Other producers credited on the album include Toby Gad (Beyonce, Fergie, Alicia Keys, The Veronicas), Red One (Lady Gaga, Sean Kingston, Jennifer Lopez), and Savan Kotecha, the X Factor vocal coach who has worked with the likes of Britney Spears, Usher and Enrique Iglesias.
Niall says: “These guys are amazing. Basically, name one of the biggest hits of the past ten years, and the guys we worked with will be behind them.
“To even meet them was incredible. To work with them was even better!”
Their single, What Makes You Beautiful (Rami Yacoub / Carl Falk / Savan Kotecha) was released on September 11 with the biggest pre-order in Sony single history. It landed in at number one and had the highest first-week sales of the year, shifting 153,000 copies in seven days.
The video, shot on a sun-drenched California beach, had more than two million hits in just four days, and the band have more than two million loyal Twitter followers who regularly get the band trending worldwide in a matter of minutes.
The long-awaited album will follow this autumn, and the boys hope it will appeal to fans of both sexes and all ages. Louis says: “I want people to listen to it and say, ‘Wow, is that One Direction?’. It’s not too cheesy – I think it’s the kind of album that guys will like as well as girls
“I’d like to surprise people. We’re not a typical boyband.”
Zayn adds: “It’s upbeat, and has a really distinct One Direction sound.
“We’ve all got quite different sounding voices and our own individual style, so we can play up to that and play to each of our strengths.“
Outside of music, the boys are proud to be Ambassadors for Nintendo, and their second book, Dare to Dream, was released on September 15 and shot straight to Number one.
In December this year, the boys will embark on their first headline tour of the UK and Ireland to give a little something back to their fans who have waited to patiently for their single and album releases.
One Direction have already achieved a great deal in such a short space of time.
And if their meteoric rise to stardom continues at the pace it began, it won’t be long before One Direction are global icons.
Ends
