One Direction fans in Belgium have set up their own Facebook page to keep in touch with each other and discuss the latest 1D news. There are currently 1,802 fans on the page and they have a twitter account too. The Belgium Bring Me To 1D competition was really tough – fans had to complete 20 different challenges to get to the final where one winner would be chosen. Some of the challenges included finding a lookalike, designing a 1D cover and dressing a member of your family as one of the boys. The competition was hosted by the Belgium radio station MNM and only devoted 1D fans took part because some of the challenges were really difficult.
Synthia and her friend Kimberley managed to make it to the final. For one of the challenges, fans had to show their love for 1D on a national scale. Synthia explained on the official One Direction site, ‘I ran to the office of Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad and begged if there was some way to get me in the newspaper. After some emails, the newspaper published my little “love letter”. The same day, I got a call from MNM [saying] that I was selected for the big final!’
Kimberly only made the final after winning the final challenge; fans had to ring up the radio station with the zodiac signs of each member and, thankfully, Kimberley was the fastest. A hundred fans had made it to the final, but after arriving at the radio station, 25 girls were sent home virtually straight away after failing the first challenge.
1. The coin challenge: Fans had to select an envelope and hope it had a gold coin in it; if it had a silver coin then they were out of the competition.
2. Quiz to test fans knowledge of 1D: This challenge started with easy questions but then the host asked, ‘Which month on the official One Direction calendar features a picture of the boys on bicycles?’ – only nine fans got it right and made it through.
3. Musical chairs: This was the challenge Synthia found the hardest.
4. Find a volunteer in 15 minutes to sing ‘Live While We’re Young’.
5. Dress a boy like a member of 1D: Synthia survived this round but Kimberley got knocked out.
6. Guess the song: Synthia knew the right answer straight away – it was ‘Up all Night’!
The last round was the hardest round, as Synthia explained to the 1D website: ‘It was my mother who had to give the right answer. Her answer was the closest to the right one, so I won the competition! I’m still extremely happy. Of course, I took Kimberly and my mother with me to New York: they both deserved it. We feel very grateful. I think right then at that moment, we were (and still are) the luckiest girls in the world!’
Before Synthia and her mum and Kimberly left for New York they took part in a special show on the radio station so that other Belgium fans could give them some tips on what to wear and what to say. The girls were representing the whole of Belgium and so made sure they took some Belgian flags with them to America.
Their hotel was lovely and they loved receiving the VIP treatment once they got to Madison Square Garden on their second day in New York. ‘The hall was huge,’ says Synthia ‘It was a lot bigger than Het Sportpaleis [the arena in Antwerp] in Belgium, but we were sat at the front, just beside the second stage. While waiting, we spotted Zayn’s girlfriend Perrie making her way backstage!’
After watching the boys’ friend and support act Ed Sheeran perform, it was time for the boys. ‘To our surprise the boys came up on the other stage, the closest to us! It was such an emotional moment seeing them standing so close to us; we let out a few tears of joy! They started with “Up All Night”, which was quite special to me because it’s the song that made me win the Go1Den Ticket. The boys mostly sang tracks from their first album, but there were some new songs from Take Me Home, as well as “Little Things”, “Kiss You”, “C’mon C’mon”.
‘The concert was simply amazing; we had the time of our lives! It was so great seeing them in real life for the first time! The guys were just like we knew them from the many concerts we’ve seen online: they had so much fun, did crazy dances with each other, played games with each other and answered Twitter questions. It’s a pity the concert had to end – we wouldn’t have minded if it had gone on for ever! Luckily, we’ll always have the great memories!’
The girls had a live telephone interview on MNM before going to bed, and they would be meeting Harry, Niall, Liam, Louis and Zayn the next day!
The Bring Me To 1D winners and their guests were taken by boat on a tour around New York before arriving at the secret location. They had to sit at tables and briefly saw the band before the boys went off to wait in another room as fans from every country had the opportunity to see them individually. While they were waiting the winners and their guests got to eat cupcakes, have their nails done and visit a special photo booth. After the winners and their guests had met the boys and had some photos taken, the boys came back into the main room for a Q&A session. The host read out a selection of questions that had been put forward by the winners and their guests (they had had to post them in a special post box in their hotel). The boys had a few more individual sessions with the winners and then performed a private concert. They sang ‘Little Things’, ‘More Than This’ and ‘What Makes You Beautiful’, accompanied by Niall on his guitar. After they’d finished, they said a few last things and said goodbye before walking out of the room.
The host had one more surprise up his sleeves – the winners and their guests got to see the world première of the new ‘Kiss You’ video. It was great way to end an amazing trip!
Michelle is 15 and from Genk in Belgium. Her dad drove her all the way to Germany with her friend Axana so she could meet the boys at a signing for Up All Night. She was devastated when they arrived and found that they were more than 800 girls there, so there was no chance of her getting a wristband. Her dad could see she was upset so told her to search for other Belgian girls who were in the front of the queue and to try to sneak in with them. Michelle did what he said: ‘Axana and I started walking. Then there were a lot of girls screaming and running. We thought One Direction had arrived, so we also started running to where the other girls were. Suddenly, we were into the barriers and we were with the first 100 people. The people who were camping there – the first people there – were just trampled. We were crushed into a sea of screaming girls. We might have been near the front but we had to stand for 12 more hours before we would meet the boys. It was really tough; a lot of girls were crying.’
Michelle and Axana received their wristbands at 3.30pm and then met the boys just after 5pm. When they met them on the stage, it was ‘pure magic’. Michelle describes what happened: ‘When I arrived at Zayn, he spontaneously gave me a high-five! WOW! Then I said, “Hi Harry!” and Harry gave me a high-five! OW YEAHHH! Next was Louis: “Hi Louis!” High-five! BAM! Liam was the same: he gave me a high-five! WHOOOHOOO. Then there was our cute Irish Mullingar boy. I asked, “Niall, can I hug you?” Niall stood up and we almost hugged. Then our magical moment was over because Paul said, “No hug, just high-fives.” So I gave a quick high-five to the love of my life.
‘When I came off the stage I was still shaking – I’d just met One Direction! Then I realised that I had forgotten my signed Up All Night cover. So I went back and grabbed it, but a girl tried to take it off me, saying it was her cover, but it wasn’t. I quickly ran to my dad with it before she could take it off me.’