At the sound of the bell ending B period on Feb. 1, dozens of Upper School girls poured out of their classrooms, screaming with excitement, sprinting to find their friends, even holding back tears. The British boy band, One Direction had just revealed that Dallas had won the Bring 1D to the U.S. Contest and that Hockaday’s flash mob video, had won Challenge 8 of the contest.

One Direction was a finalist on the British TV show The X Factor in 2010. Since their appearance on the show, the five band members, Naill Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson, have won the support and fanatic attention of millions of girls known as “Directioners” all over the world for their charming voices and, of course, irresistible good looks.

“When I heard [Harry] sing, my insides melted,” junior Laura-Brynn said.

Their first hit single “What Makes You Beautiful” debuted Sept. 2011 and their album “Up All Night,” released in Nov. hit the top of the U.K. charts within days. The band toured Europe from Dec. 2011 to Jan. 2012 before announcing that they would hold a contest between U.S. cities to determine where they would visit during their U.S. tour. They will perform in Dallas as well as the other winning cities. As the first place winner of the contest, Dallas has won a special One Direction event to be announced.

One Direction craze hit Hockaday towards the end of Jan., with the junior class suffering an especially severe case of “Direction Infection,” some girls spending several hours each
night watching their YouTube videos.

“They are all so different and have their own little quirks which is why they appeal to so many people,” freshman Sarah said.

The contest to bring 1D to the U.S. consisted of eight challenges varying from videos of why each city should win, to a choreographed dance to their hit, “What Makes you Beautiful.”

Juniors Farheen and Kayla choreographed a dance for the final challenge that over 40 Hockaday girls and Head of Upper School John Ashton, participated in on Jan. 27. Farheen and Kayla wanted to ensure that Hockaday’s video had a high number of participants to show the large scale of support of 1D in Dallas, a contrast to other entries which featured only three to five people.

Farheen submitted the video to the contest, uploaded it to YouTube and within five days, One Direction announced on their website and twitter page that Dallas was the lucky city which would receive a “special 1D event.”

“I was jumping up and down, squealing and just having the most insane fan girl moment imaginable,” Kayla said. One Direction then tweeted that Hockaday’s flash mob was the winning video of Challenge 8 and provided a link to the YouTube video on their website. The video has since racked up over 9,000 views.

“Thank you for winning this for us!” commented YouTube user summersoverated, “So happy to be from Dallas!”

Farheen and Kayla couldn’t be more thrilled that it was Hockaday’s video that won the contest.

“I felt so grateful to everybody who took the time to learn the dance and film the video because without them, the video wouldn’t even have happened,” Kayla said.

The excitement of the day was contagious and as people heard that Hockaday won the competition for Dallas, more and more girls started listening to their music and falling in love with the band.

“It makes me sick to my stomach how much I love them,” Laura-Brynn said.

– Anisha