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One Direction prepare for Cardiff sell-out shows

One Direction
One Direction

When One Direction arrive next week for a sold out show at the Cardiff Motorpoint Arena it will cap a remarkable rise for the UK’s hottest new boyband. Emily Lambert charts their inexorable ascent to pop fame

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 a perfectly executed twist of fate, the teenagers have metamorphosed into the country’s hottest boyband.

It’s all a world away from the moment when they stood in front of the X Factor judges, the music industry’s toughest critics.

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 as individuals.

“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,” recalls Liam.

Despite their fears, it took them seconds to agree to join forces.

“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,” adds Zayn.

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 judges’ 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.

“We didn’t know what a harmony was,” says Zayn. “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 judges’ houses then the live shows, mentored by Simon.

During the 10 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.

“Normally when you put together a band they have some time to go away and develop but we had to do that in a live competition, in front of 20 million people,” admits Liam.

“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 came third, a placing they admit they had mixed feelings about – disappointed at not winning, but aware of how far they had come. Understandably, there was no question 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.

About that life-changing moment Harry says: “Simon Cowell was telling us our lives were about to change! It was weird.”

After the X Factor nationwide tour, and the release of their best-selling book, Forever Young, One Direction began work on a highly anticipated debut album.

They were thrilled to be taken to Los Angeles to be introduced to some of the world’s finest producers.

After some discussion they knuckled down to record with a list of 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).

The reaction to their recorded material was astonishing.

Their debut single, What Makes You Beautiful was released on September 11 with the biggest pre-order in Sony Records’ single history. It landed in at number one and had the highest first-week sales of the year, shifting an eye-popping 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.

Their debut album Up All Night quickly followed in November, and to date has sold over half a million copies in the UK.

One Direction play Cardiff Motorpoint Arena on Saturday, January 21. The show is sold out, but to check for returns ring the box office on 029 2022 4488

X Factor aficionado Emily Woodrow gives her view on  what makes One Direction  stand out from the rest - page 2

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