The Australian edition of the popular reality show, The X Factor, often prompts mixed emotions. The same can be said about the boys of One Direction. (2015 has been a busy year.)
For starters, practically The X Factor‘s entire audience was thrilled to hear that One Direction would be “performing” on Monday night’s episode. Just a week after Justin Bieber performed his single, “What Do You Mean?“, the quartet took to the stage for a rendition of the single that gifted them their first #1 on the official Australian ARIA Singles charts: “Drag Me Down“.
Well, not really.
One Direction certainly took to the stage – just not an Australian stage.
You see, the boys have been extremely busy wrapping up their On the Road Again tour (their last scheduled show is 31st October in Sheffield, England) and haven’t been able to travel down under this year – at least, not yet. With a completely sold out UK leg, One Direction has had little time to catch a flight to Australia, which former member, Zayn Malik, described as being “one of the first markets [they] came down to”.
Consequently, Australian fans have had to settle for an “exclusive recording” of their lead single, “Drag Me Down” from upcoming album, Made In the A.M.
As expected, the boys did not fail to impress the screaming crowds at one of their tour shows, where the recording took place. In terms of musicality, five years of vocal training have done wonders to the improvement of all four singers’ voices. While most of the performance took place on a small stage, the entire audience was captivated – from smoldering solos to incredibly executed runs of high notes.
It was the experience of a concert, except without the screams busting your ear drums. The sound technicians did us the favour of focusing on the boys’ voices and really showcasing their vocal abilities.
This isn’t the first time The X Factor Australia has gotten One Direction fans’ hopes up. The boys have been “hot off the satellite” since they first gained international recognition, recording a performance of the ever popular “Little Things” in 2012 for the show’s grand finale.
However, in the same year, the pop group did star as guest mentors during home visits on the show. In 2013, the boys had their first and only “live” Australian The X Factor performance, which was of lead Midnight Memories single “Best Song Ever“. (Even that was prerecorded on the morning of the episode airing.)
Australian fans might be slightly disheartened at the lack of in-the-flesh appearances. After all, there will only be so many future opportunities to see the incredible music phenomena; the group plan on taking a “hiatus” in 2016.
Keeping this in mind, the #1DLDNSession competition details have just been revealed for Australian fans. The chance to fly to London, watch their intimate London Session performance and possibly even meet them comes at the price of texting or calling to enter a draw.
Already, there has been much criticism on Twitter about the lack of clarity in the competition details. (This is the only time anyone ever reads the Terms and Conditions.)
Many are unsure about the age requirements. The competition page articulates:
“Minimum age requirement of 16 years applies for entry to this event.”
This disappointing fact was followed by this gem:
“Entrants under 18 years of age must have parent/guardian permission to enter.”
If we’re, say, 15 years old, would we be permitted to enter with the consent of a guardian? What’s with the mention of 18 years? (Maths was never a strong point.)
As Oprah would say, “so what is the truth?”.
On top of this debacle, more questions have arisen concerning the eligibility of parents or other older peers entering the competition for those who do not meet the minimum age requirements. After several cycles of reciting the Terms and Conditions, we’ve all been left in the dust, questions unanswered.
Despite this entire fiasco, nobody’s complaining about seeing One Direction on The X Factor, Monday night – even if from across the globe.
Watch One Direction’s “X Factor Australia” performance below:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm8mf56Rdec]
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