CHAPTER 67

This was it. Finally, it was the day of the first live show. The first day of the next chapter in his life. Possibly the most important day of his life. Finn felt queasy with nerves from the moment he woke up, and the rest of the group were no different. The five guys went down to the breakfast buffet that morning but none of them had the appetite to eat anything. They were not the favourites in the competition, but not the worst either. They were moderately liked. They couldn't let it affect them though. All they had to do was focus on their performance, and everything would turn out okay.

At around 4 pm, One Direction went to the hair salon, where they would be getting their final haircut and styling for the first live show. If it were up to Finn, he would perform with his hair the same as when he woke up, but the other guys dragged him to the salon with them. Finn was incredibly bored sitting in the barber's chair, and the lack of doing anything did not help his nerves one bit. At least he wasn't worried about getting a bad haircut, as the guy doing his hair was the U.S Barber of the Year last year, and was very qualified for his job. It's not like there was much that was needed to be done though to Finn's hair.

"So, how are you boys feeling about tonight?" The barber, Tom, asked.

"Nervous as hell." Niall replied, laughing. Finn nodded.

"Yeah, exactly, because it's not the type of song we would normally do. It's an original song so it's a massive risk."

"You shouldn't be nervous." Tom said. "You've all got amazing voices." Tom remarked.

"Thanks, man." They said.

Two hours later, the contestants were all dressed and made up for the first live show. The greenroom, where they were waiting to go on, was absolutely silent, with everyone wearing earbuds and listening to their respective songs on repeat. One Direction was set to be second on the program after Little Mix, and they were thankful that they were on so early. They knew that it would make it even more nerve wracking to watch 11 incredible performances before performing themselves, and they felt kind of bad for Jahmene, who also had nerves issues, but was performing last. Bad luck there. But Jahmene didn't need luck. He was probably the best singer out of all of them.

The finalists watched from the greenroom TV as the audience began to pour into the arena. There were probably around 10,000 of them present in the arena, but there were around a million people watching from the comfort of their homes. Eventually, when the audience had completely packed the arena, the host of the show - Dermott O' Leary stepped on stage, and the crowd roared, eager for the fun to begin.

"WELCOME TO THE X FACTOR! YOUR SATURDAY NIGHT STARTS RIGHT HERE!" He exclaimed over the crowd's cheering. "All right. We've missed you everybody. We're back on ITV 1. We have some very excited and nervous finalists backstage, and an even more excited audience here it seems! What an audience! The contestants have performed countless times in the past, but now it's time to perform in front of the nation, and in front of our 4 pop music moguls, who are to nurture, mentor and inspire the contestants, but at the end of the day, need to destroy the opposition with their words so that their own act wins. Playtime is over, kids. Ladies and Gentlemen… I give you the X Factor judges!"

Suddenly, the stage doors opened and the 4 judges walked on stage and stopped for a moment to be introduced by Dermott.

"Louis Walsh!" Dermott exclaimed, and Louis waved.

"Tulisa!" He shouted. Tulisa winked at the cameras.

"Nicole Scherzinger!"

Nicole saluted jokingly to the cameras that were broadcasting the show on National TV.

"And finally, Simon Cowell!"

Simon simply nodded. The 4 judges then walked over and sat down at the judge's table, despite the fact that they wouldn't be judging at this stage of the competition - they would be merely commenting and giving feedback on each performance, and then it would be up to the audience to vote for their favourite act. Once the judges had sat down, it was time for Dermott to introduce the audience to the 12 X Factor finalists.

"Next, here we are with the X Factor finalists!"

The 12 finalists walked on stage together, waving at the screaming fans and listening to them scream the name of their favourite act. The finalists all stood in a line together, linking hands to show their unity before the fierce competition started.

"All right." Dermott shouted. "Already, there has been loads of tweeting and sharing about the competition, the judges' outfits, and Louis god awful hair, so if you haven't done already, get involved in that. Find us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Oh, and one more thing. You have told us that you don't like to hang around when it comes to voting, so this year, for the first time ever, the phone lines are open… NOW!"

This was a huge deal. Normally, the voting lines opened after everyone had performed, but this time, they had opened before the contestants even started singing.

"You can vote straight away to keep your favorite in the competition. Lines will remain open throughout the show, and will close tomorrow night. For a landline, call 090 20 50 51 and then add the number for your favorite. And for mobiles, call 6 50 51 and then add your favourite's number."

Dermott then walked over to the long line of finalists and started going down the list.

"So… to vote for Little Mix, add 01."

The four piece girl group received a relatively loud applause from the audience.

"To vote for One Direction, add 02."

One Direction got a very one-sided cheer from the audience. On one hand, the girls in the room absolutely LOVED the five boys, but the guys in the room weren't so keen. After all, One Direction didn't have the best voices in the competition and they couldn't rely on their attractiveness to win the boys' votes.

"To vote for Melanie Masson, add 03."

Melanie Masson probably had the weakest applause yet. Although she was undeniably a great singer, she didn't appeal to any of the large groups of voters. For example, the two boy bands and girl groups were the favourites of young teen girls, and Christopher was the favourite of many middle age and old people.

"For Lucy Spraggan, add 04."

Lucy had a pretty large fan base actually. Her funny original songs were a big hit with the audience. Matt glanced down the row at Lucy. She was very similar in style to Matt, so they would probably be splitting the vote. The same applied to One Direction and Little Mix.

"For MK1, it's 05."

MK1 had a completely different fan base to every other competitor. They had almost all of the votes from the people of the streets, as the music MK1 sang and rapped really appealed to them.

"For Christopher Maloney, it's 06."

Christopher probably had the biggest fan base of everyone. He had the votes of around 90% of the voters over the age of 30. He was a favorite to win, not for his voice, but due to his popularity amongst the viewers.

"To vote for Matt Cardle, add 07."

Matt was also a favourite to go far in the competition due to his mass interest from the young female viewers. He was good-looking and had an absolutely incredible voice - what's not to love?

"To vote for Jade Ellis, add 08."

Jade, despite having a beautiful voice, was probably going to be eliminated early in the competition. Most of the people who enjoyed her music would probably end up voting for Ella, as Ella was, beyond all doubt, a better singer.

"For Rylan Clark, add 09."

Rylan received a very mixed welcome from the audience. The light hearted fans loved him, but the uptight fans who cared solely about the quality of the voice and not the whole performance hated him, for the fact that he could barely sing and relied purely on flamboyant dance routines to carry him.

"For Kye Sones, add 10."

Kye waved at the audience. He had a moderately large fan base, and he would probably make it around halfway in the competition.

"11 for Ella Henderson!"

The roars and cheers when Ella was announced was deafening. She was definitely the fan favorite in the competition, and the audience made it known. It didn't lessen Ella's nerves though. She was still pale with worry.

"And finally, last but not least, for Jahmene Douglas, add 12."

After Jahmene's welcome, the 12 finalist acts trooped off the stage and prepared for their performances. District3 were up first, so while the rest of the competitors went back to the greenroom, they waited backstage and watched Dermott introduce them.

"Enough business, let's get on with the show. Tonight's theme is Rock, and I know that I for one are bursting with excitement at seeing what our finalists have come up with. First up are the groups, so we go their mentor, one of the world's most successful music managers, the one and only Mr. Simon Cowell!"

"Okay, thank you Dermott!" Simon shouted over the audience's cheers. "First up tonight, we've got Jade, Leigh-Anne, Perrie and Jesy… Little Mix!"

The crowd erupted as Little Mix walked on stage, microphones in hands. They performed a superb cover of Livin' on a Prayer by Bon Jovi, complete with extremely hot choreography as well. The audience absolutely loved the performance. Little Mix had certainly set the bar high, and it was now up to the other finalists to meet them there.

After Little Mix's performance, there was a short break where a surprise guest would be appearing on the show. None of the contestants had any idea who it was, so they were eagerly watching the TV in the greenroom. Dermott walked on stage after the break, a huge smile on his face.

"Welcome back to the X Factor!" He said to the audience. "Hope you're enjoying the show so far. It's still the early days, but already the acts have their eyes on the prize. They would love to follow in the footsteps of some of our great success stories. I'm talking about Leona (Lewis), Olly (Murs), and 5 young men in an R'n'B group that this year have gone stratospheric. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you an X Factor Global Sensation, 620 million youtube hits, 12 million album and single sales worldwide, it's JLS!"

The 5 members of the sensational boy band walked on stage to the applause of every single fan in the stadium. JLS were one of the greatest success stories of the X Factor - getting on the show two years ago, the group went on to make it to the final. But their journey didn't stop there. Their debut single - Everybody in Love - easily topped the UK Singles Charts, and they were definitely heading for greatness. They were the main idols of One Direction, because they wanted to do what JLS did and use the X Factor to springboard

"Oh, lads…" Dermott said. "Two years ago, you sang in this very competition, and now you're one of the biggest boy bands in the world. What are your memories of the experience?"

"Um… the last couple of years have been absolutely amazing." Marvin Humes - one of the members of the band - replied. "I remember walking through those stage doors and it was such a nerve wracking feeling, but after the performance, it would be such a wonderful feeling."

"So I know you all watch the show. Who are your favourites?"

"Well, we all absolutely love One Direction. we think they're unbelievable, and they have the potential to be bigger than we ever will be." JB Gill said.

In the greenroom, the finalists cheered and patted One Direction on the back. Finn smiled to himself. If JLS were voting for them, maybe others would too. And maybe they could actually make it far in the competition.

"And listen, you guys know how hard it is to get through this competition. The work really only starts today, and then leads on from now. What would you say to the finalists?"

"Um… I think the best thing I could say is to have a good time. There's obviously a lot of pressure on everyone, but you've gotta go out there and enjoy yourself."

"Thank you so much for coming in." Dermott replied. "We're all so proud of you. Ladies and Gentlemen, give it up for JLS!"

JLS walked off stage, and Finn knew that it was now time for their performance. They were brought by one of the producers to the backstage area, where they was handed five microphones. One Direction waited as Dermott and Simon introduced him.

"Well, on with the show, the theme tonight is Rock, and next it's another group so we pay a second visit to their mentor, Simon Cowell!"

"I'm so proud to introduce this very unique and special group." Nicole said. "This is One Direction!"