Battle of the boy bands

Students asked to choose between One Direction and Five Seconds of Summer

Izadora Goncalves, Watertown Splash staff

     The question is simple: One Direction or Five Seconds of Summer?

     One Direction is a boy band that originally had five members — Harry Styles, who is 22 years old, Liam Payne (23), Louis Tomlinson (24), Zayn Malik (23), and Niall Horan (23) — before Zayn left recently.

     They did not know each other at first — they are all British, except for Niall, who is Irish — and they all auditioned separately for the show “X Factor.” But Simon Cowell decided to put them together as a band on July 23, 2010.

     On the show, they lost in the band battle, but Simon noticed how many fans they had, so he decided to work with them.

     One Direction’s first song was “What Makes You Beautiful,” which was a big success, reaching No. 1 in several countries. It has been certified quadruple platinum in the United States with sales of 4.8 million copies, as of June 2016.

     One Direction may have lost “X Factor,” but now they are considered the best boy band in the world. Zayn Malik left the band March 25, 2015, because he wanted to be a “normal guy,” but now he is a successful solo singer.

     Five Seconds of Summer is boy band made up of four boys from Australia — Luke Hemmings, Calum Hood, Ashton Irwin, and Michael Clifford. They formed in 2011, and they became famous while being a guest band on One Direction’s “Take Me Home” tour.

     So, which band is more popular at WMS? There is one clear answer.

     Leticia Andrade said, “I like One Direction better because they have better songs than 5sos.”

     Her favorite member of One Direction is Harry Styles because, in her opinion, he has the best voice, and her favorite One Direction song is “You and I”.

     Leticia said she heard about them in 2010 when her cousin introduced them to her. She was a big fan of them at first, but then she started not to like them as much.

     Bridget Sullivan also prefers One Direction. She said, “I like One Direction better because they have better music and they are cuter.”

      She said she first listened to their music on the radio in 2012 and then looked them up. Her favorite member is Harry Styles, she said, “because he is a good singer and he is the hottest.”

      Bridget´s favorite song is “What Makes You Beautiful” because it was their first song and she used to listen to it in replay when she was in third grade.

     Liana Rice said she likes One Direction better and he favorite song is “History” because it’s catchy.

     Her favorite member of the band is Zayn Malik, she said, “because he is cute.”

     Tanya Kaya said she prefers “One Direction because they have better music and a good beat in their songs.”

     Tanya’s favorite song from One Direction is “Drag Me Down” she said, “because it has a good beat and it´s telling people that they can’t hurt them.”

      Her favorite member is Niall Horan, she said, because he is cute and has the voice of an angel.

       Lana Taffel said she likes One Direction better, her favorite member is Liam Payne, and her favorite song is “They Don´t Know About Us,” she said, “because it’s generally a good song.”

–March 16, 2017–