You know you have a sensational boy band on your hand when hard to impress music mogul Simon Cowell remarks, “Interestingly, when they left, I had a bad feeling that maybe we shouldn’t have lost them and this is when the idea came about that we should see if they could work as a group. The minute they stood there for the first time together – it was a weird feeling. They just looked like a group at that point. I had a good feeling, but then obviously we had about a five-week wait where they had to work together. I was concerned whether five weeks was long enough, but they came back five weeks later and were absolutely sensational. When they came to my house in Spain and performed, after about a millionth of a second. I tried to keep a straight face for a bit of drama for the show. I remember sitting next to this girl who I was working with. The second they left we jumped out of my chair and said, “These guys are incredible!” They just had it. They had this confidence. They were fun. They worked out the arrangements themselves. They were like a gang of friends, and kind of fearless as well.”
And boy was the famous producer right about this sensational new pop act. One Direction consists of five very talented individuals, who, about a year back were completely unknown to the music industry. Question: How do you get from there to here in a mere 12 months, Answer: Be supremely talented and win top spot on a singing reality show. That’s exactly what One Direction did.
Rise to Fame
Current members Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis William Tomlinson originally auditioned for the seventh season of popular reality show X-Factor as solo artists but failed to make an impression. It wasn’t until the judges decided to put them together in a group at the boot camp stage of the competition that the world witnessed their true potential.
One Direction performing on X-Factor
The group finished third in the competition but impressed Cowell enough to sign them to a US$ 4 million recording contract under the label Syco Records. Their debut album Up All Night exploded onto the music scene with Smash Hit Singles “What Makes You So Beautiful”, “Gotta Be You” and “One Thing”. The album quickly became one of the fastest selling albums of that month and singles were among the most digitally downloaded. Their second album Take me Home broke all previous sales records set by the group and the single “Live While You’re Young” debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200. One Direction became the first ever British group to debut at number 1 in the US chart history and in the process developed a huge fan-base. Their massive popularity is why One Direction Concert Tickets sell out rapidly on popular website TicketVistas.
One Direction Concert at Amway Center
One Direction’s concert held this past summer at the famous Amway Center located in Orlando, Florida was my first experience of watching this renowned group live. To be honest, I didn’t go in expecting much but I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by this quintet of teen dreams vocal ability. The concert itself was amazing and had nothing in common with the usual boy band concerts the fans had become accustomed to. There were no choreographed routines and matching outfits. Group members seemed more like high school friends on their way to the lunch room.
One Direction began their performance with the peppy single “Na Na Na” which was immediately met with loud cheers. The arena was packed with screaming teenage girls and chants of “Marry Me” were regularly heard. Smash hit singles “Gotta Be You” and “More Than This” were highlighted by mesmerizing lighting as the singers gathered around a couch at center stage. The songs were followed by a brief Q&A session on Twitter which led to more screaming.
With awards like MTV Video Music Award and a BRIT Award to their credit, the group, in a relatively short amount of time, has sold over 8 million records and continue to sell out the largest arenas across the country, winning critical acclaim for their thrilling shows each time. Their energetic performance shouldn’t be missed by fans that are looking for a fun concert event to lift their spirits.
