Fans mob One Direction film premiere

Agence France-Presse

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

"Directioners" camp out for days to catch glimpse of chart-topping boy band

'THIS IS US.' The band finds all this 'unreal.' Photo from their Facebook

LONDON, UK – Thousands of screaming teenage girls swamped London’s Leicester Square on Tuesday, August 20, as British boyband One Direction launched their first film with a glitzy red-carpet premiere.

Fans have camped out since Sunday to secure prime spots, hoping to catch a glimpse of the 5 singers as they arrived for the first screening of “One Direction: This Is Us.”

The film, made by “Super Size Me” director Morgan Spurlock, shows the group in concert at London’s O2 Arena, along with fly-on-the-wall footage of life inside one of the world’s most famous bands.

They have topped the music charts on both sides of the Atlantic, becoming the first British act to top the Billboard chart with their debut album.

The boys in the band are Irish-born Niall Horan, 19, Zayn Malik, 20, Liam Payne, 19, Harry Styles, 19, and Louis Tomlinson, 21.

‘Amazing, unbelievable’

“This is unreal,” said Styles at the premiere.

Horan added: “This is amazing. We’re really excited to be here. We can’t believe we are here.

“This is just unbelievable. The last few years have been amazing. This is what we’ve been dreaming of.”

With thousands of fans already in place, organizers were worried that tens of thousands more may try to descend on Leicester Square, the cinema-packed plaza of UK film premieres.

They set up special areas so fans, nicknamed “Directioners,” could see the band arriving, but also urged others to follow the action online.

“The red carpet is being streamed live all over the world, so they can get the best views from the comfort of their own homes,” organizers said.

Fans sang and chanted to pass the time, holding up dolls of the band members, flags, placards, and messages including: “Harry you wanna marry me?”

Emily Gee, 16, from Solihull in central England, camped out while her mother stayed in a nearby hotel.

“I didn’t sleep at all. I’m completely shattered,” she said.

“I don’t know how to explain in words how I feel. I’m buzzing. I can’t wait.

“I like them all equally but I love Niall.”

Watch the ‘One Direction: This Is Us’  trailer here:

The band were put together in 2010 during the television singing competition, “The X Factor.”

They came 3rd in the public vote but the show’s mogul Simon Cowell signed them up and they have gone on to become global superstars.

Their hits include “What Makes You Beautiful,” from their debut album, “Up All Night,” and “Live While We’re Young” from their followup album, “Take Me Home.”

Iraia Landaluze, 18, is visiting London with her family from Spain and they joined the throng in Leicester Square.

“I have come down as I’m a big fan. I like One Direction as they are normal boys. Liam’s my favorite,” she said.

Of the crowds, she added: “It’s crazy.”

One scene from the film features Payne’s father talking about how much he misses his son because of the constant touring.

The singer told BBC television: “For me that was a bit difficult to watch. He’s always so happy when I see him and happy to have me home; to actually see what he’s like when I’m not there was a bit mad.”

Tomlinson agreed it was “tough” for their parents.

“It kind of just happened out of the blue and our mums just had to wave goodbye to us on ‘The X Factor,’ so I think it was a lot for them to take in at first,” he said.

Spurlock said fans would enjoy seeing how “normal” the band are.

“You see 5 guys who are the same 5 guys they were 3 years ago,” he said. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!