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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781782199496 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | John Blake Publishing, Limited |
| Publication date: | 04/01/2014 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 288 |
| File size: | 2 MB |
| Age Range: | 12 Years |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Liam Payne
The Biography
By Sarah Oliver
John Blake Publishing Ltd
Copyright © 2014 Sarah OliverAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-78219-949-6
CHAPTER 1
1993: A STAR IS BORN!
Zyn is from East Bowling in Bradford and he was born on 12 January 1993 at St Luke's Hospital, Bradford. He is the second oldest member of One Direction – only Louis is older than him. His dad is called Yaser and his mum is called Trisha. They were so excited when he was born – he was their first son and a great playmate for little Doniya, who was one at the time. Zayn's wider family were really happy too.
Yaser and Trisha gave him the middle name Javadd. They spelt his first name Zain and when Zayn was on The X Factor he was referred to as Zain but he prefers it to be spelt Zayn, so after the show he made sure that he would be known as Zayn from then on.
When Zayn was growing up he was always full of energy. He loved being the centre of attention and he liked to sing and dance. His parents had two more children after Zayn: Waliyha and Safaa. Waliyha is six years younger and Safaa is ten years Zayn's junior, but the family are all still very close.
Zayn would put on shows for his parents and, as he grew up, he kept on performing for them, along with his sisters. He would do his own versions of Daniel Bedingfield tracks like 'If You're Not The One' and dreamed of performing on stage. His mum admitted to the Mirror: 'I have quite a few videos of him singing as a little boy but he's banned me from showing anyone. My favourite is him singing "I Believe I Can Fly" [By R. Kelly] wearing a green dressing gown.'
Zayn is close to his dad, who looked after him before he went to school. Zayn was very hyperactive so Yaser had his hands full! Both Zayn and his dad love drawing and art.
Even though Zayn didn't go to nursery he was still really excited about starting primary school. He liked playing in the sand with the other children and listening to his teacher read stories to the class. He was small for his age but very intelligent. By the time he was in junior school he could read difficult books that even teenagers might have struggled with. Back home, he practised reading a lot with his grandad, who encouraged him to push himself.
But school wasn't always a happy place for Zayn. Often he felt like the odd one out because there were no other children like him. No one else was of mixed heritage (Zayn's dad is British Pakistani and his mum is half Irish and half English). Zayn only stayed at his first primary school for two years before moving to another school where he was much happier. He met his best friend Sam at Lower Fields Primary School and they had lots of fun together until they moved schools and drifted apart.
Zayn ended up going to lots of different schools, for a whole host of different reasons. He admitted to Sugar magazine: 'I got expelled from a couple of schools for fighting.
'Where I'm from, you kind of had to get into a couple of scrapes to survive.'
While at Tong High School, Zayn was caught with a BB gun in school and got into lots of trouble. He hadn't fired it at anyone but that didn't matter, his teachers still had to punish him for having an imitation firearm.
Whenever he started at a new school he would get lots of attention from girls, who wanted to know everything about him because he was new, which made Zayn feel cool. He liked getting extra attention.
Zayn has always loved singing and one of his earliest gigs was while he was a pupil at Lower Fields Primary School and he sang in a choir for the Lord Mayor at his local supermarket. At Tong High School Zayn combined singing with acting when he played the title role in their production of Bugsy Malone. He didn't get nervous although he sang in front of 400 people in the audience. Zayn also appeared in the school's production of The Arabian Nights and had a part created for him in the musical Grease. He wasn't old enough to be a T-Bird so his teacher created a young T-Bird part for him and one for his friend Aqib Khan.
When he was in high school acting was Zayn's real passion and singing was his second love. He joined the school choir at the request of his teacher Mrs Fox, who thought he had a good voice. Around this time Zayn became best friends with a boy called Danny, who was in his drama class, and also befriended Danny's younger brother, Anthony. Today, they are still close and chill out with each other whenever Zayn is home. They love playing on the Xbox together and share the same sense of humour. If you google Zayn Malik, Anthony Riach & Danny Riach Dancing you will see a cool video of the three of them dancing to an Usher song – and boy, can they dance!
'He was always a star performer in all the school productions so it was no surprise when Simon Cowell threw him his big chance.'
One day when Zayn was at school he was given the opportunity to sing with British singer-songwriter/rapper Jay Sean. Jay remembers the day well and explained to 2DAY FM in June 2012: 'About five years ago I happened to be at a school in England and I was doing, like, these talks about music and who wants to be a musician and blah, blah, blah. So anyway, I was on stage singing and then I went out to the crowd and I was like, "Are there any aspiring singers over here?" and then this little boy puts his hand up and I was like, "You, come up here, man!" and I was like, "Have you ever sung before?" and he was like, "No, I'm really shy, I'm really nervous," and I was like, "Listen, we're going to do this together. We're going to sing one of my songs and we're going to do it together, me and you."'
Jay Sean and Zayn sang the song 'Ride It' and the experience was to leave a lasting impression on Zayn. It was the first time he had sung on stage and it really boosted his confidence. Recently, Zayn tweeted Jay Sean to ask him if he remembered that day, and to say a big thank you.
In the summer before starting at sixth-form college Zayn grew a lot so he was no longer small for his age. Some of his classmates were really shocked when they saw him in September – he looked like a new person, he had grown so much. He had started boxing in his spare time and confessed to the Daily Star: 'I did boxing from when I was 15 to 17. I love it and I've started training again now on the side, even though we don't get much time off for exercise.
'I'm trying to eat healthier so I can bulk up. I'd love to pursue it properly one day.'
CHAPTER 2TIME TO SHINE
Zayn would never have auditioned for The X Factor if had not been for his music teacher, who told him to go for it. For two years he had the application form but never sent it in – he was just too nervous. Zayn auditioned in Manchester and was given the number 165616 when he registered. He nearly backed out but his mum encouraged him, with Zayn admitting to the Telegraph & Argus newspaper: 'I was really nervous but she told me just to get on with it and not miss my chance.' If it wasn't for Trisha, Zayn could have missed out on the opportunity to be in One Direction.
The first people that Zayn had to impress weren't the judges but the backstage production team. They judge everyone before choosing their favourites to return on a second day to sing for Simon Cowell, Nicole Scherzinger and Louis Walsh. Thousands of people wanted to get through so Zayn had his work cut out to impress the production team. They only pick the very best (and the absolute worst) singers to make it through to the next round. Zayn was over the moon when he was told he was good enough, and his family were very proud. All he had to do now was make sure his nerves didn't get the better of him.
Zayn chose to sing 'Let Me Love You' by Mario. He decided to dress casually for his audition rather than wear something too smart. Backstage, his proud mum, dad and sister waited with host Dermot O'Leary and they clapped every time they heard a judge say 'Yes'. Zayn got a yes from all three judges so he knew he was going through to X Factor Bootcamp!
It was really disappointing for Zayn's family and friends that his audition was missed from The X Factor and Xtra Factor audition shows when they were shown on television. Only Harry and Liam's auditions made The X Factor audition shows and Niall's performance was shown on The Xtra Factor one. Louis also missed out. At this stage The X Factor producers couldn't have thought that Zayn and Louis were going to make the live shows and decided to showcase other singers instead. Poor Zayn, he had done so well in his audition and he deserved to have his performance shown.
Zayn did so well standing on stage and singing for the judges in his first audition because there were thousands of people watching in the audience. He needed to impress them as well as the judges, so he had to try and hide his shyness. Because Zayn has performed non-stop since The X Factor, these days he is a lot less withdrawn but he still has his shy moments. He would describe himself as 'the shy one' out of all the boys. In an interview for VEVO he said: 'Before X Factor I'd never done anything that required me to have to speak in front of cameras or in front of people. The X Factor kinda helped me with that because you're followed around by cameras and you get used to it.'
Zayn never thought he'd make it to the finals of The X Factor. He entered the show 'just for the experience.'
For the Bootcamp stage Zayn had to head for London, leaving his family behind. From that time on, things were going to be even tougher because the judges had chosen only really great singers to make it through. Bootcamp was held at Wembley Arena over five days in July 2010 to whittle down the 211 acts that had survived the first round. All the singers had to be at the Arena early on 22 July because they had a lot to fit in. Zayn had to stand with the other lads, as he would be in the Boys' category if he made it through. The Boys were told to practise 'Man In The Mirror' by Michael Jackson. The Girls had to practise Beyoncé's 'If I Were A Boy', while the Groups practised 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now' by Starship, and the Over-25s had to sing Lady Gaga's 'Poker Face'. At this stage none of the contestants' first auditions had been shown on TV so Zayn had no idea who the favourites in the Boys' category were.
He must have been feeling nervous when Simon Cowell told all the singers: 'By the end of the day, half of you are going home. Today you're going to be put into your categories and you're going to sing one song. There are literally no second chances today.'
Zayn really didn't want to be on the train back to Bradford that night and so he had to make his version of 'Man In The Mirror' really stand out from the other hopefuls. He was under a lot of pressure, but this is what Simon and Louis Walsh were after: they wanted to push these aspiring pop stars hard to get the best out of them. In their first auditions the singers had been able to choose any song they liked, but their first Bootcamp song had to be something selected for them.
Zayn did really well – his performance of 'Man In The Mirror' was great and he showed the judges what a talented singer he was. Other singers failed to perform to his level and some even struggled to remember the lyrics. Harry, Liam, Louis and Niall also did well at this stage but because they were all auditioning as solo artists at this point they were competing against each other.
Zayn was thrilled when he was told that he was to come back for Day 2: he had made the next round and wouldn't be going home that night. He knew that Day 2 would be even tougher, though, because already so many good singers had been told to leave. After he rang his family to let them know Day 1 had been a success, he then tried to get some sleep.
On arrival at Wembley the next day Zayn and all the remaining singers were instructed to go to the stage. Simon and Louis introduced them to Brian Friedman, international choreographer and dancer, who would be teaching them how to dance. Brian is one of the best choreographers in the world and has worked with Britney Spears, Beyoncé and Mariah Carey among others.
Brian told the singers: 'I don't want you to be scared. What we are going to work on is your stage presence and choreography.'
There had never been a dance element at Bootcamp before so Simon and the other judges had no idea what it would be like, but they wanted to challenge the contestants to try something new. Simon reassured the singers that no one would be eliminated if their dancing skills weren't up to scratch but they still had to give 110 per cent.
Zayn tried his best in rehearsals but he struggled to pick up the choreography and it made him feel like a failure. He felt he was so bad that he couldn't perform in front of Simon. When the boys were called on stage to show the judges what they had learnt, Zayn stayed backstage and he must have thought that his X Factor dream was over. Simon, Louis and Brian watched the boys dance, picking out their favourite dancers. Before Brian could dismiss the boys and call on the next group of dancers, though, Simon asked him where Zayn was – he had noticed that he was missing. At first Brian didn't know but after asking, he discovered that Zayn was backstage, refusing to come out. Simon decided that they couldn't go on without Zayn so personally went backstage to ask him to dance.
Zayn told the backstage camera: 'I seriously don't want to do it because I hate dancing and I've never done it before, and I feel like an idiot on the stage with other people who are clearly better than me and I just feel like an idiot – I'm not doing it.
'I just know I'm going to do it wrong because I don't know it. When you've got to perform in front of Simon and professionals that know what they're doing and how to dance, and professional choreographers and stuff, and I just don't know ...'
Normally Simon would have had no time for someone who refuses to do what he wants him to do but he felt like he had to help Zayn. He had been impressed by the young man's singing the day before and didn't want him to make the biggest mistake of his life and leave because of his reluctance to dance. This was the kind of decision that Zayn could end up regretting for the rest of his life.
Simon asked him: 'Zayn, why aren't you out there? Why aren't you out there? You can't just bottle it ... you can't just hide behind here. Zayn, you are ruining this for yourself! I'm trying to help you here. So if you can't do it now, you'll never gonna be able to do it, right? Come on, let's go and do it.'
Zayn couldn't ignore Simon's advice and so he decided to give it a go. Just before he went on stage, Simon said: 'Don't do that again, get on with it.' They quickly shook hands and Simon went back to his position next to Louis and Brian.
Simon allowed Harry and a few of the other boys to dance again with Zayn so that he wouldn't have to do it on his own. Zayn wasn't great but he wasn't that bad and although Simon thought he looked 'uncomfortable', he was impressed that Zayn had tried. Afterwards, the reluctant dancer must have been relieved that it was all over and he told the cameras that he would work on his dancing skills and his confidence levels.
On the third day of Bootcamp Zayn and the other contestants met the third judge, former Pussycat Dolls' singer Nicole Scherzinger. She had been impressed with Zayn after his first audition but he knew that he must impress her again if he was to make the 'Judges' Houses' round. Nicole was a surprise addition because the third Bootcamp judge was supposed to be former Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole but she was recovering from malaria so couldn't be there. She had contracted the disease after climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for charity. Nicole would simply be taking Cheryl's place at Bootcamp, and Cheryl would hopefully be back soon.
Because of the changes to the judges' line-up, The X Factor producers chose to cancel the live element of Bootcamp. They tweeted: 'Due to the unusual circumstances, we are not inviting an audience to watch the contestants perform at The X Factor boot camp.' Although this announcement disappointed thousands of people who had been looking forward to catching a first glimpse of the contestants it must have helped the Bootcamp residents, who were no doubt feeling nervous and lacking in confidence. Zayn could simply concentrate on impressing Simon, Louis and Nicole – the three judges who had given him three 'yeses' in the first audition round – rather than thinking of the thousands of people watching in the arena.
For their final performances the singers were given a list of 40 songs and told to find one number to sing that would showcase their voice. No one could afford to pick the wrong song and they couldn't make too 'safe' a choice, because they were required to perform it in a different slant, treating it in their own unique way. Zayn chose 'Make You Feel My Love' by Adele/Bob Dylan, which incidentally is the exact same song that Louis chose to sing!
After Zayn had performed it must have been hard as he made his way backstage because the judges didn't give any feedback at all, they just said 'thanks' and there was no hint of what they thought in their facial expressions. All Zayn and the other contestants could do was go back to the hotel and try tosleep – the next day the judges would be deciding who would be going through to Judges' Houses, so the wannabe pop stars had an anxious wait ahead.
It might have been tough on Zayn and the other singers but the fifth and final day of Bootcamp was tough on the judges too because there had been so many talented singers that it really was hard to pick just six in each category to make it through. In the end they decided to choose eight singers for each category and to slightly adjust the older category so that it was Over-28s instead of Over-25s.
There were 30 talented boys left in the competition so the atmosphere was tense when they were called onto the stage to find out their fate. As the judges started calling out the names of the singers who had made it through, Zayn was incredibly nervous.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Liam Payne by Sarah Oliver. Copyright © 2014 Sarah Oliver. Excerpted by permission of John Blake Publishing Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Zayn Malik,Dedication,
Epigraph,
CHAPTER 1. 1993: A STAR IS BORN!,
CHAPTER 2. TIME TO SHINE,
CHAPTER 3. IMPRESSING SIMON,
CHAPTER 4. SINGING TO MILLIONS,
CHAPTER 5. UP ALL NIGHT,
CHAPTER 6. FINDING HOME,
CHAPTER 7. GIRLS,
CHAPTER 8. FAN LOVE,
CHAPTER 9. FAMILY TIME,
CHAPTER 10. TOURING,
CHAPTER 11. FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD,
CHAPTER 12. TAKE ME HOME,
CHAPTER 13. SPECIAL MOMENTS,
CHAPTER 14. ZAYN'S BEST TWEETS,
Liam Payne,
Dedication,
Epigraph,
CHAPTER 1. 1993: A STAR IS BORN!,
CHAPTER 2. TIME TO SHINE – TAKE TWO,
CHAPTER 3. X FACTOR LIVE SHOWS, WEEKS ONE TO FIVE,
CHAPTER 4. X FACTOR LIVE SHOWS, WEEKS SIX TO TEN,
CHAPTER 5. SINGING TO MILLIONS,
CHAPTER 6. UP ALL NIGHT,
CHAPTER 7. FINDING HOME,
CHAPTER 8. GIRLS,
CHAPTER 9. FAMILY & FRIENDS,
CHAPTER 10. FAN LOVE,
CHAPTER 11. LOOKING GOOD,
CHAPTER 12. TOURING,
CHAPTER 13. SPECIAL MOMENTS,
CHAPTER 14. TAKE ME HOME,
CHAPTER 15. MIDNIGHT MEMORIES,
About the Author,
Plates,
Copyright,