Union J - The Story. Tina Campanella
were getting on so well they felt like one big happy family.
All week they worked hard on their performance, getting themselves ready for the first live show. But they did take time out to eat together, where they constantly messed around, throwing bits of food at one another and teasing each other.
They stopped practising one night to head over to the famous celebrity club Whisky Mist, where they were showered with female attention. Joined by Jade Ellis and Lucy Spraggan, MK1, Carolynne Poole, Kye Sones and Rylan Clark, the boys soaked up the celebrity lifestyle before the live shows had even begun. But though they had a few drinks, they didn’t overdo it. It was just a chance for the boys to have one final night off before the fight of their lives began.
On the day of the live show, the boys filmed a short segment to be aired that night, where they spoke about how they were coping, spending so much time together. ‘We’re even bathing together,’ joked JJ, much to the amusement of the others.
It was clear the boys were really looking forward to the first live show. ‘We’re really excited to get the chance to sing in front of Olympic stars,’ said Josh. But there was one particular athlete they couldn’t wait to meet.
‘Laura Trott’s going to be in the audience,’ said JJ.
‘She’s really hot,’ said Josh. ‘Hot to Trott!’
‘Nooo!’cringed the others, putting their heads in their hands and groaning at the bad pun.
‘That’s really cringy,’ said George, giggling.
DID YOU KNOW?
Louis Walsh had a hair transplant before the latest X Factor series. No wonder his barnet was looking so lustrous!
That night, hearing their own voices on the pre-recorded snippet from backstage, the boys prepared to take their first steps onto the X Factor’s live stage. And they had a surprise before the show: One Direction were there to give them some advice.
The boys were definitely starstruck to see their heroes, and when they were all mingling, it was hard to tell them apart. They looked like one big superband!
‘Just have fun,’ the established singing sensations told the next big things. ‘Literally, just go out there and have fun.’
One Direction had been in their shoes at that first X Factor live show two years before and they knew what it was like so Union J were very appreciative of anything they could say to make the experience a little easier.
‘You know you can sing the song – you’ve been practising all week, so just get out there,’ said Niall. ‘Just be yourselves the whole time.’
And shaggy-haired heartthrob Harry Styles had some important words for baby-faced George. He told him: ‘Never cut your curls.’
The pep talk had really given the boys the confidence boost they needed to go out on stage and fight for their place in the competition. They’d practised for hours, but would that be enough?
Standing on a huge plinth, with their new name emblazoned on it, the pressure was on. This was it. This was finally their moment. This was where they would prove to their mentor Louis that he had made the right decision. This was where they would prove to the other judges that they deserved to be in the competition. And this was where they would win the hearts of the eight million viewers at home.
‘Tonight, I’m gonna have myself a real good time…’
George was the first to sing, to the appreciation of the audience, before he was joined one by one by Josh, JJ and Jaymi, all singing the Queen classic.
‘If you wanna have a good time, just give me a call…’ they sang and if any of the girls watching at home knew their numbers, they would certainly have been dialling.
After they’d sung a few lines, the stage was swarming with brightly dressed backing dancers and pyrotechnics and you could hardly see the boys against all that was going on. With so many scantily clad dancers gyrating in front of them, it was a wonder they could concentrate.
Tulisa looked stony faced as the boys belted out the tune but Union J were oblivious, lost in the excitement of the moment – their first ever, live, on-stage performance. When they finished, they jumped energetically down from their plinth and walked towards the judges, the cheers deafening them.
Tulisa began to speak, signalling for the audience to quieten down. It was time to hear what the judges had to say.
‘Guys, it pains me to say this and I know the audience are going to disagree with me, but I just wasn’t feeling that tonight. I don’t think you’re at your full potential.’
At this the mood in the arena changed and the cheers instantly turned to boos. The boys’ hearts began to race – this wasn’t sounding good.
‘I didn’t agree with that song choice, Louis – I really didn’t,’ Tulisa continued, focusing her attention on the boys’ mentor.
‘There was so much going on and what was important, which was the vocals, was missing,’ she added, ignoring the angry fans behind her. Then she said the words that the boys’ had been dreading: ‘If you get through to next week, I need to hear vocals.’
If…? It was a shocking start to the competition for the new foursome and somewhere deep down they must have started to worry that their dreams would be over as quickly as they’d begun.
‘Louis, what were you thinking?’ Tulisa went on, getting more and more angry at her fellow judge. ‘They’re young and they’re fresh, and you’ve made them feel so dated.’
It was a damning appraisal of all their hard work and Union J looked devastated.
Louis sounded unconvinced as he tried to defend himself.
‘I gave them a big task with Queen, okay, but listen – it’s fun, like something out of Glee…’
But Tulisa couldn’t bear to hear anymore.
‘Boys,’ she said kindly, ‘all the faults as far as I’m concerned aren’t yours, it’s down to Louis.’
It was small comfort to Union J, who knew that it didn’t matter whose fault it was: if nobody voted for them, they were done for.
Gary decided to step in, but it wasn’t good news from him either.
‘I have to agree, Tulisa. And guys, I want to say this – you’re a good band and I thought, Louis, that putting George in was a genius move, but you have to smooth them out. That was a catastrophic song choice and an awful version. It was so dated with the dancers.’
Then he turned to the Irish judge and said harshly: ‘Since you worked in the business, boybands have changed.’
In the face of this verbal onslaught, Louis gave up defending himself and the boys and eventually had to agree with Tulisa and Gary.
‘You know what,’ he said quietly, ‘I think the song choice wasn’t great, it was too big for you.’ Then he whined: ‘But it’s only Week One!’
Back and forth the arguments went. Tulisa was quite clearly angry with Louis and felt as their mentor, he’d let the boys down. Meanwhile, Louis tried to calm the raging fury directed at him by promising to do better the next week. But by now the boys must have been seriously wondering if there would even be a next week.
‘I didn’t want to play it safe,’ Louis sulked. ‘You’re all playing it too safe.’
‘I didn’t play it safe,’ said an indignant Tulisa, ‘I had someone singing their own song!’ she almost yelled.
She was referring to Lucy Spraggan, who had impressed the judges earlier in the show by singing her own composition, ‘Mountains’.
It was as if the judges didn’t even realise that the poor boys