They are known for being clean-cut popstars, but One Direction reinvented themselves for the X Factor final on Saturday night. The chart-topping five-piece, who won the ITV talent show in 2010, wore all-black outfits for their live performance at London’s Wembley Arena.
But, despite getting an audible reaction from fans, their appearance divided wider opinion.
Together, the boys – Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson – wore matching, black skinny jeans with rock ‘n’ roll-inspired tops.
Harry opted for a classic shirt, while Liam and Zayn wore structured jackets. Louis kept it simple with a T-shirt, while Niall wore a scoop-neck top under black shirt-jacket.
The quintet looked comfortable in their new, edgier look – but it was greeted with a mixed reaction.
Singer Boy George took to Twitter to declare: ‘Harry looked like a young Keith Richards!’ before adding: ‘Liam looked quite….messy!!’
Meanwhile, former Loaded editor Martin Daubney said: ‘Harry the headband is the next step to your inexorably morph into Mick Jagger. Espadrilles next.’
Billie Faiers then said: ‘Is it me or do one direction look really old all of a sudden ?? Haha’.
Speaking to host Dermot O’Leary, Harry said he was looking forward to some well-earned time-off over the festive period. ‘We’ve got christmas off. I’m a turkey guy, everyone is,’ he joked.
The 19 year-old then added that he won’t be exchanging mutual gifts with his band-mates for the holiday season: ‘We’re not very good at presents for each other.’
Liam chimed in: ‘We’re absolutely sick of each other, so we won’t be with each other.’
But fans shouldn’t expect them to be away for too long. Niall said: ‘We’re back on tour in April to South America and then next door at Wembley Stadium in May.’
The band’s new image was a stark contrast from earlier in the day when the band – except for Zayn, who was ill – surprised sick children with a visit.
They interrupted a special screening of their film for patrons of The Rays of Sunshine, which helps poorly children.
The welcome intrusion set off screams of delight from the crowd.
The four treated the crowd to acoustic versions of some of their hit songs, including their most famous track What Makes You Beautiful. The boys also answered questions from the crowd in between performances.
‘You can ask anything you like – passwords, credit cards, phone numbers,’ Styles quipped.
But the questions from the young audience were a lot more innocent, ranging from asking what the artists’ favourite colours were to what they wanted for Christmas and whether they owned any pets. A little boy from the crowd was even allowed to go up and take Malik’s empty seat after confessing he wanted to tour with the band.
The children were all given a signed One Direction shirt, a watch, and two tickets to their 2014 tour to remember the momentous occasion.
The four treated the crowd to acoustic versions of some of their hit songs, including their most famous track What Makes You Beautiful. The boys also answered questions from the crowd in between performances.
‘You can ask anything you like – passwords, credit cards, phone numbers,’ Styles quipped.
But the questions from the young audience were a lot more innocent, ranging from asking what the artists’ favourite colours were to what they wanted for Christmas and whether they owned any pets. A little boy from the crowd was even allowed to go up and take Malik’s empty seat after confessing he wanted to tour with the band.
The children were all given a signed One Direction shirt, a watch, and two tickets to their 2014 tour to remember the momentous occasion.
Source: Mailonline
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