Opening the BBC Music Awards, this year held at the Genting Arena in Birmingham, was One Direction, playing their hit single “Drag Me Down”.
Being the first to perform can always be a daunting prospect, but not for our boys, they were ready to show Birmingham what they were made of!
The song starts with: “I got a fire in my heart…”, and it’s safe to say the boys took it literally as the pyrotechnics were in full force for the first part of the song.
Fire.
Fire was everywhere. (All maintained and kept under control, don’t worry.)
We imagine those first few rows of the standing area would have been fairly toasty.
It was a very thrilling effect, one which would have gone down a treat had they used it for the On The Road Again tour.
After the fire had had its time to shine, Niall led the group down the centre of the walkway in time for his verse.
They all looked very on point for their performance. Gone are the Up All Night days of matching outfits, they’ve all blossomed into their own style.
Harry wore black flared trousers with white vertical stripes and a classic black shirt; Liam pushed the boat out with a faded pink lobster print shirt paired with skinny jeans.
Louis was Louis, wearing a printed t-shirt and skinny jeans, and Niall reminded some fans of the This Is Us premiere because of the tri-colour varsity jacket he wore with black t-shirt and jeans.
As per every One Direction show there was an abundance of energy throughout, with a lot of prancing, jumping, and arms in the air.
Not to mention a lot of Harry punching the air in time for the beats.
His note at the end of the song will be with us forever. Just when you think you’ve gotten over it, it hits you like a lightning bolt and you have to take a moment to collect yourself.
During the performance, Louis’ voice shone through when he sang “nobody, nobody”.
His confidence has really grown over the past few years and it’s evident in his voice.
Coupled with the fact he’s been given more opportunities to show it off, need we mention “No Control”, and you’ve got a match made in heaven
Liam interacted with the audience, holding out his mic for them to sing, and all together being his loveable self. Full of smiles and happiness, which is absolutely infectious.
Niall was a bundle of energy as well, making use of his leg now he hasn’t got a cast on anymore.
At certain parts of the song you could hear his voice so clearly against the others and the music, it was definitely something great.
They all put on a great show and it was an amazing start to a thoroughly enjoyable awards show.
Other artists on the bill included Little Mix, James Bay, Ellie Goulding, OMI, and more!
This is quite possibly one of the last few live performances our boys are going to have before the hiatus, so soak it all in.
And if that fails, watch every concert, show performance, awards ceremony and interview on YouTube to get you through it.
Watch their performance via the BBC website here, and if you can’t access that then watch “Perfect” below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho32Oh6b4jc]
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