One Direction vs The Wanted: Which Do You Prefer?!

There has been a little feud between One Direction fans and The Wanted fans. Which is better? Well, both bands are English/Irish. The Wanted and One Direction are also both pop boybands. I decided to write this post to help you make a decision about the two bands.

One Direction
One Direction. A group of five boys named Zayn Malik(20), Niall Horan(19), Liam Payne(19), Louis Tomlinson(21), and Harry Styles(19). Each of the boys auditioned for the X Factor UK 2010 but did not make it past bootcamp. Simon Cowell and Nicole Scherzinger decided that they couldn’t be let go so they were put together as a band by the two judges. That is how One Direction was formed. The boys made it past judge’s house and to the live shows where they won third place, with Rebecca Ferguson second and Matt Cardle the winner. But, they did not stop there. They were signed by Simon Cowell into the Syco Record Label. One Direction released their hit single What Makes You Beautiful in September 2011 which became a hit single at the top of the UK charts. Then, they became huge in the US, after becoming signed by Columbia Records in November 2011. One Direction has sold over 14 million albums and 8 million singles in the United States ALONE. As of now they are a huge success all across the globe with two debut albums and many awards such as the 2011 and 2012 BRIT award and three VMA awards.

The Wanted
The Wanted are slightly different than One Direction. These five guys, Nathan Sykes(19), Max George(24), Tom Parker(24), Jay McGuiness(22), and Siva Kaneswaren(24) were formed in 2009 during Massive Auditions held by Jayne Collins, who was responsible for putting together a UK girl group The Saturdays. After they began their first album and co-wrote thirteen of the songs. Some of their singles made it to the UK charts. When they released their debut single Glad You Came in the US in early 2012, it went to number three on the Billboard Hot 100. They currently have two studio albums and is currently working on their third. Earlier this month, they also announced that they are going to start their own TV show on E! called, “The Wanted Life” which will air June 2013.

Comparison: Their Success
    As you can see in the last two paragraphs, both One Direction and The Wanted are successful. But, we should compare their success, just to see which is more successful. Below is a chart that shows their similarities and differences based on their success.

One Direction Success	The Wanted Success
10.2 million followers on Twitter (as of 2/27/13)	1.8 million followers on Twitter (as of 2/27/13)
2010-present	2009-present
Two albums- “Up All Night” and “Take Me Home	Two Albums- “The Wanted” and “Battleground”
Over 1.2 BILLION views on Youtube	About 201 million views on Youtube
Received awards such as three ‘moonmen’ (VMA 2012), and Brit’s ‘Best British Single’ (2012), ‘Global Success’ (2013)	Received BBC Radio 1 Teen Award(2012) for ‘Best British Music Act’, and People’s Choice Award 2012 for ‘Favorite Breakout Artist’

Top Five Songs!
Now I would like to share with you my top five favorite songs from each band. Just click on the song title and it will direct you to the song!

One Direction                                           The Wanted

1. Little Things                                                            1.  I Found You
2. Rock Me                                                                 2. Glad You Came
3. Moments                                                                3. Chasing The Sun
4. Kiss You                                                            4. Warzone
5. One Thing                                                               5. Heart Vacancy

Summary
So, based on my post, what do you think? I personally think One Direction is a lot better because they are huge worldwide and I really like their music. Now, it is time for you to decide! Which band do you prefer, One Direction or The Wanted? Take the poll below or comment! -Johanne

Which Boy-band Do YOU Prefer?

Song Of The Week :)

Hello! This week I am going to talk about a Taylor Swift song(again!) This time, I wanted to talk about the song I Knew You Were Trouble. This song was co-written by Taylor herself, Max Martin, and Shellback. Its from her fourth studio album, RED, and was released on October 9th, 2012 as her third single from the album. There were a lot of positive reviews for this single, too. I Knew You Were Trouble debuted at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, and also within the first week sold 416,000 copies. Below is the music video for the song:

I Knew You Were Trouble is one of Taylor Swift's favorite songs off her latest album. On Good Morning America, she said this was "one (of the singer's) favorite songs on the album because it sounds just as chaotic as the feeling was when I wrote it. The song is about being frustrated with yourself because here you are heart-broken and you knew when you first saw that person you saw all these red flags and you just went for it anyway, so shame on me."  In an interview with MTV, she further explained that the song told the story of a good girl falling for the bad boy and continues about a "toxic relationship" between them, which resulted in break-up. I personally like this song because it is very catchy and has a real meaning to it, like most of Taylor's songs.

Thank you for reading this week's post! What do you think about the song? Comment below!!! -Johanne

Red Nose Day!

Hello! This week I would like to talk about Red Nose Day. Red Nose Day is a huge fundraising event which raises money to help end extreme poverty and support vulnerable, disadvantaged people across Africa and the UK. British/Irish boy band One Direction has teamed up with this fundraiser and released a single to help raise money for this amazing charity. The single is a cover of Blondie's song, One Way Or Another. In an M Magazine interview, Niall Horan, a member of the band, said, “We are really excited to be part of Red Nose Day this year. We recorded Blondie’s One Way or Another and we really want the song to raise lots of money and for people to show their support by going out and buying themselves a copy.” Louis Tomlinson, another member, also said,  “Getting the chance to perform Blondie’s song will be incredible. We’re so excited! Red Nose Day is a great excuse to have a lot of fun and to raise money, please get involved.” This single is released on iTunes on February 18th here in the US and in other countries but February 17th in the UK. Below you can listen to the single that was played for the first time on the UK radio BBC Radio 1:

Also, while working with Red Nose Day, the boys of One Direction were able to visit Accra, Ghana to see all of those homeless and sick children there and help out. The boys spent two days in the Ghanaian capital. There, they visited a hospital and spoke to many families with sick children. Many children there suffered with pneumonia and other diseases. Each year, about 1.7 million children die from vaccine-preventable diseases all around the world. That means one child dies every 20 seconds. This whole experience, according to Harry, Niall, Liam, Zayn, and Louis, has changed there lives. All of the proceeds from the 

charity single will go to the charity and help protect the babies. Here are a few pictures of One Direction in Ghana.

Thank you for reading this week's post an I hope it will make you want to help raise money! You can pre-order the single on iTunes at: 1D Red Nose Day Single.... -Johanne(:

Song Of The Week (4)

Hello...... This week I want to talk about the song, Someone Like You by Adele. This song by the English singer-songwriter was written by herself and Dan Wilson for her album, 21. This was her second single of the album. It was released on January 24th, 2011 in the United Kingdom and August 9th here in the United States. Someone Like You became Adele's first number one single in the UK after her performance of the song at the 2011 BRIT Awards. This song stayed at the top of the UK charts for five weeks! It also topped charts in Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, Italy, Farnce, and so many more! Adele performed Someone Like You in many awards shows and talk shows including the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The music video of this song was recorded in Paris. Here it is below:


Someone Like You was inspired by Adele's break-up with a 30 year old man that she dated for 18 months. She really believed that they were going to get married. He was engaged to someone else a few months after they split.  "We were so intense I thought we would get married. But that was something he never wanted ...So when I found out he does want that with someone else, it was just the horrible-est feeling ever. But after I wrote it, I felt more at peace. It set me free ... I didn't think it would resonate ... with the world! I'm never gonna write a song like that again. I think that's the song I'll be known for." Another thing she said about the inspiration of the song was:  "I can imagine being about 40 and looking for him again, only to turn up and find that he's settled with a beautiful wife and beautiful kids and he's completely happy... and I'm still on my own. The song's about that and I'm scared at the thought of that." 

I think this is a very sad song with a really, really deep meaning but its an amazing song that you should listen to! Thank you for reading! -Johanne(: