Simon Cowell is coming to Liverpool in search of the next One Direction
X Factor and Britain's Got Talent head judge Simon Cowell is hoping to find the next big boyband.
Music mogul Simon Cowell is heading to Liverpool this summer, in a bid to find the next One Direction. The world famous boy band of Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne was put together by The X Factor head judge 14 years ago. The band split up in 2015 after huge success and Cowell is now ‘praying’ he can find a new group to emulate One Direction.
A series of auditions will take place in cities around the UK - including Liverpool - and the whole process will be filmed for a potential documentary by Box to Box.
Rejecting the traditional X-Factor audition format, which involved a series of auditions before contestants would actually face Cowell, organisers say ‘this isn’t your usual talent show’ adding that, ‘Simon is ripping up the rulebook and doing it differently’.
Speaking to the PA news agency, Cowell said he is ‘praying’ to find a band as successful as One Direction, adding: ”I’m really passionate about this. And I always always believed that there are gems out there waiting to be discovered.”
He continued: “Bands never knock on your front door, it’s never happened in my career, someone has to go out and put them together – and the truth is since One Direction there hasn’t been a successful UK boyband.
“The only way to do it is do what I used to do, go out and do it and audition and do it face to face and don’t have any pre-casting. In other words, don’t have people choose people in advance, it really is first come first served.”
How to audition to be part of Simon Cowell's next One Direction
To audition, you must be around 16 to 18 years old and applications can be made here. Criteria for applications includes providing acapella singing videos, photographs, proof of identity and parental consent for those under 18.