The team behind The X Factor series is going into the vault to share previously unseen footage from season seven, including that of One Direction. In a newly released video on Wednesday (August 30), the boy band of Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik can be seen doing their second performance ever together – a cover of Kelly Clarkson’s hit, “My Life Would Suck Without You.”
Videos by American Songwriter
The 2010 performance took place at the judges’ house in Spain where judge and show creator Simon Cowell was joined by British-American singer Sinitta to help determine who would advance to the next round. Dressed in T-shirts, sweatshirts and baggy shorts, the band turned Clarkson’s hit from a pop banger into an acoustic number. Payne took the lead on the first verse as Styles then stepped in on the chorus while his bandmates provided backing harmonies. Malik later reprised some of the words of the chorus after Styles.
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“Well done boys,” Cowell said clapping at the end of the performance. “Your hunger for it grows as you get through each stage of the competition,” Styles stressed after the set. “It’s the biggest stage to be told ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ It’s one word that can change your life forever because it won’t be the same if you get a ‘yes.'”
Upon returning to the house, the five singers wrapped their arms around each other as they stood in front of Cowell awaiting their fate. “When it worked, it worked,” Cowell described of the performance. “And I genuinely think that you’ve worked as a band…My head is saying it’s a risk and my heart is saying that you deserve a shot and the public would like to see you and that you are talented…I’ve gone with my heart, you’re through.”
Cowell’s response immediately elicited excited cheers from the band members as they jumped all over each other with excitement before they tackled Cowell in a hug. “You don’t believe how much this means to us, we’ve worked so hard,” Horan emotionally professed to Cowell.
One Direction placed third on season seven of The X Factor and went on to become one of the best-selling boy bands of all time. Clarkson actually scored a co-writing credit on One Direction’s debut album, Up All Night, with the deep cut, “Tell Me a Lie.” In January 2016, the band announced they were going on an indefinite hiatus to pursue solo projects.
Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images
