The X-Factor finalists reviewed as they perform two sold out shows in Bournemouth

It’s only been just over twelve months since One Direction finished in the final three of X-Factor but those twelve months have been a whirlwind ride for the young boy band and, as they kick of 2012 with two sold-out shows on the same day in a fairly chilly post-Christmas Bournemouth it’s fair to say their journey doesn’t look like slowing down anytime soon.
 
Of course the cynics out there will be screaming the usual phrases – ‘manufactured’, ‘plastic’, ‘karaoke pop’ etc. but, at the end of the day, the five lads in One Direction are living their dream and the few thousand screaming girls shoe-horned into the BIC for the second performance by the band that day couldn’t care less what those cynical old sods think. As screams shake the foundations of the entire building, the quintet stride out and spend the next seventy minutes working through a very polished, well choreographed performance. With flawless dance moves, pristine harmonies and a collection of highly marketable pop songs in their armoury, there is little you can fault One Direction on. Throw in a few well known covers in the form of Natalie Imbruglia's 'Torn' and The Black Eyed Peas 'I Got A Feelin’ and as the guys interact with the audience at every given opportunity you’ve got a band who’ve clearly learned some very important lessons in how to become a successful boy band.
 
While certain members of the band have made the gossip columns with their recent extra-curricular activities, One Direction come across as nice lads who you could imagine head off stage and are tucked up asleep in bed by ten thirty.  

Whether their sugary smiles and boyish charms will give them a lengthy pop career only time will tell but, for now, these five lads are clearly heading in one direction only, upwards.