X Factor UK Headlines for 12/23/12

One Direction had a great year … Louis Walsh and Rylan Clark eat sheep brain, sheep eyeballs and pig penises on TV.

One Direction’s Right Direction: The Billboard Cover Story
As 2012 dawned, few American adults outside the most dedicated of Anglophiles knew much, if anything, about One Direction. In part, that’s because the kind of boy-band pop One Direction had already turned into 2011’s fastest-selling debut album in the United Kingdom (aided by the most preordered single in Sony Music history) doesn’t target adults. And in part it’s a matter of history: In the decade that passed since the peak of the boy-band craze led by Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync, the U.K. groups that kept the sound at the top of charts overseas were barely able to translate their success beyond a single on American shores.

Of course, One Direction would change all that, and write a little bit of history in the process.
Read more: Billboard

One Direction’s Songwriting Secrets: Their Plan for YouTube Dominance
If One Direction’s songs sound a bit familiar, it’s no coincidence.

“What Makes You Beautiful,” “One Thing,” “Live While We’re Young,” its three biggest hits to date, are all the products of Carl Falk, Rami Yacoub and Savan Kotecha, two Swedes and an American who first cut their teeth writing for Irish boy band Westlife. Like their predecessors, One Direction’s music has a uniformly pop sound to it designed to showcase voices over beats, with little regard for EDM trends or borrowed cred from guest rappers.

“It felt like everyone tried to do boy bands by going to the cool, hip producers who were coming up,” says Kotecha, the American third of the songwriting trio. “We wanted to make it very vanilla. You’re aiming for teens and tweens with boy-band guilty pleasure music. We weren’t trying to be urban or rhythmic, and they happened to share the same vision.”
Read more: Billboard

How One Direction Became The Princes Of Pop: A Look Back
Direction Infection hit Stateside in 2012 and it was contagious.

It’s not easy to explain unless you’re in it.

It’s what Beatles’ fans called Beatlemania, what Justin Bieber supporters refer to as Bieber Fever and what any lover of One Direction — MTV’s Best Artist of the Year — knows as Direction Infection. There’s nothing wrong with it; it’s not really a disease. In fact, the Infection is probably the healthiest obsession out there. But how do you describe it to people who aren’t Directioners themselves?
Read more: MTV

Home in time for Christmas: One Direction arrive back in the UK…but Harry Styles is nowhere to be seen
They have spent most of the year flying between the UK and the US, cementing themselves as the biggest boy band in the world.

And after their final trip across the pond for the year to perform on the X Factor USA, One Direction flew back into the UK on Friday just in time for Christmas.

However one member of the band, Harry Styles, didn’t appear to be with the rest of the boys as they left Heathrow airport.
Read more: The Daily Mail

PICTURED: It’s all downhill from here! Harry and Taylor Swift spotted getting close on romantic skiing break in Utah
Harry Styles and Taylor Swift move quickly, the couple are spending Christmas together at an exclusive skiing resort in Utah.

Harry jetted off to Utah with girlfriend Taylor Swift for a romantic skiing holiday and the pair were spotted enjoying a lunch with Taylor’s brother Austin at the Canyons Resort in Park City.

Pictures of the pair show them sitting with their backs to the crowds, facing the slopes with Harry’s arm slightly brushing Taylor as they eat.
Read more: The Daily Mail

‘I’ve got a pig’s willy stuck between my teeth!’: Rylan Clark and Louis Walsh chomp on some stomach-churning treats in Text Santa charity Yule Tucker Trial
One is a long-standing judge on the X Factor and the other was a contestant on the show this year.

But on Friday Rylan Clark and Louis Walsh were equals as they took part in a festive edition of I’m a Celebrity’s most gruesome trial.

The duo were faced with four stomach churning dishes, in the challenge called the Yule Tucker Trial, in order to raise £100,000 for the Text Santa Appeal.
Read more: The Daily Mail

Wish you were here! Leigh-Anne Pinnock toasts Little Mix’s success on Caribbean holiday with new mystery boyfriend
Like most 20-year old girls, Leigh-Anne Pinnock loves to Tweet.

But, as one quarter of girl band Little Mix, her Twitter feed is full of more exciting things than the hardships that come with growing up.

On Saturday she treated fans to some holiday photos from her recent trip to Jamaica.
Read more: The Daily Mail

‘Jealousy is a weak emotion’: Row between X Factor winners James Arthur and Matt Cardle escalates in bitter Twitter row
He launched a bitter tirade of words against X Factor winner James Arthur last week.

But now it seems that 2010 winner Matt Cardle is getting a taste of his own medicine as the Impossible singer has bit back in a thinly disguised Twitter rant.

After maintaining that he was more successful than James seeing as he had sold two million records, Matt has had to face the former pub singer’s wrath:

‘2 million returned and now live in the bargain bin at asda give it up the tunes are brutal.. the desperation for press is embarrassing,’ he wrote on Twitter on Friday, alluding to Matt’s claim.
Read more: The Daily Mail

Alexandra Burke releases Christmas EP as free download – listen
Alexandra Burke has released a Christmas EP called Christmas Gift as a free download.

The former X Factor winner sings a cover of ‘Silent Night’ and a new track called ‘Christmas Time’.
Read more: Digital Spy


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Irish Charts
Singles
1 James Arthur – Impossible
.
9 Olly Murs – Troublemaker (feat. Flo Rida)
11 One Direction – Little Things
33 One Direction – Kiss You
47 One Direction – Live While We’re Young
51 Little Mix – DNA
58 Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe
82 One Direction – What Makes You Beautiful
83 Olly Murs – Dance With Me Tonight
84 Little Mix – Wings
91 Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen – Good Time

Albums
1 One Direction – Take Me Home
.
5 Olly Murs – Right Place, Right Time
19 One Direction – Up All Night
20 Little Mix – DNA
28 Susan Boyle – Standing Ovation
40 Kelly Clarkson – GH – Chapter 1
46 Olly Murs – In Case You Didn’t Know
65 JLS – Evolution
84 Jedward – Young Love

_ _ _

The Official Charts
Singles
1 Justice Collective – He Ain’t Heavy, He is My Brother
.
2 James Arthur – Impossible
7 Olly Murs – Troublemaker (feat. Flo Rida)
16 One Direction – Little Things
22 One Direction – Kiss You
43 Little Mix – DNA
56 Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe
65 One Direction – Live While We’re Young
71 Little Mix – Wings
88 One Direction – What Makes You Beautiful
92 Olly Murs – Dance With Me Tonight

Albums
1 Emeli Sande – Our Version of Events
.
2 Olly Murs – Right Place, Right Time
7 One Direction – Take Me Home
16 Little Mix – DNA
20 Kelly Clarkson – GH – Chapter One
34 Susan Boyle – Standing Ovation
39 One Direction – Up All Night
45 JLS – Evolution
48 Olly Murs – In Case You Didn’t Know
57 Rebecca Ferguson – Heaven
60 Jonathan & Charlotte – Together
70 Tulisa – The Female Boss
83 Matt Cardle – The Fire

About Mateja Praznik 1060 Articles
I recently graduated from the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana, Slovenia. In my free time I like to read books, watch TV and listen to music. I'm also a huge cat lover. I cover X Factor UK for MJsBigBlog.com.