In 2010, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson auditioned as solo candidates for the seventh series of the British televised singing competition The X Factor. They failed to progress to the "Boys '' category at "judges ' houses '' but were put together to form a five - piece boy band at Wembley Arena, in London, England, in July 2010, during the "bootcamp '' stage of the competition, thus qualifying for the "Groups '' category. Nicole Scherzinger, a guest judge, and Simon Cowell have both claimed to have come up with the idea of forming the band. In 2013, Cowell said that it "took him 10 minutes to put them together as a group ''. Subsequently, the group got together for two weeks to get to know each other and to practice. Styles came up with the name One Direction. For their qualifying song at "judges ' houses '', and their first song as a group, One Direction sang an acoustic version of "Torn ''. Cowell later commented that their performance convinced him that they "were confident, fun, like a gang of friends, and kind of fearless as well. '' Within the first four weeks of the live shows, they were his last act in the competition. The group quickly gained popularity in the UK.
when was one direction formed as a band
2010 2010