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Harry auditioned for The X Factor in Manchester, just like Louis Tomlinson, but they didn’t meet that day. His friend Will went with Harry and his mum to his very first audition. They queued up at 6am in Trafford, Manchester and had to wait for hours and hours. Will could tell Harry was very excited but nervous at the same time. He really hoped his friend would get through. The X Factor production team thought that Harry had great potential so he was interviewed by Dermot O’Leary. For his audition Harry wore a white T-shirt with a grey cardigan and a green and black scarf. He chose casual trousers rather than jeans and looked quite smart without being over the top.

For The X Factor the singers don’t get to go in front of the judges straight away; they have to impress in several rounds first before coming back another day. The people behind the scenes only let the very best and the very worst singers through. When Harry’s friends and family found out that he was good enough to go in front of Simon Cowell and the other judges they couldn’t wait. They had special T-shirts printed with ‘We Think Harry Has The X Factor’ printed on them; the women wore white ones and the men had black versions to make themselves stand out from the crowd and let Harry know they were behind him 100 per cent.

For Harry, getting the opportunity to audition was a dream come true. He had wanted to audition for the show in previous years but had been too young. Harry told Dermot O’Leary in his first X Factor interview: ‘People tell me I’m a good singer – it’s usually my mum [pointing to Anne, who was standing right next to him]. Singing is what I want to do!’

When he was called to go on stage, Anne was so emotional that she gave him a kiss on his cheek; his cousin gave him a kiss on his head. Gemma gave him a good-luck pat on the back too. Dermot jokingly asked the rest of his friends and family if anyone else wanted to kiss him!

Harry might have been nervous but the audience loved him straight away. He didn’t even have to start singing – they just started to cheer. He had picked Stevie Wonder’s ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ for his audition song, an unusual choice for someone of his age. By the time he’d finished, Harry had the audience spellbound – and guest judge Nicole Scherzinger was totally smitten. Behind the scenes, his family were applauding and his mum punched the air in delight. She knew he’d put in an amazing performance.

What the judges said:

Nicole Scherzinger: ‘I’m really glad that we had the opportunity to hear you a cappella ’cos we could really hear how great your voice is. For 16 years old, you have a beautiful voice.’

Louis Walsh: ‘I agree with Nicole… however, I think you’re so young. I don’t think you have enough experience or confidence yet.’

Simon Cowell [talking to Louis]: ‘Someone in the audience just said “rubbish” and I totally agree with them because the show is designed to find someone, whether you’re 15, 16, 17, it doesn’t matter. I think with a bit of vocal coaching, you actually could be very good.’

When it came to casting votes, Louis said: ‘Harry, for all the right reasons I am going to say no.’ Meanwhile, Simon Cowell was so disgusted with Louis’ rejection that he encouraged the audience to boo him louder – even Harry joined in with a ‘boo’. Nicole confessed, ‘I like you, Harry, I’m going to say yes’ and then Simon added, ‘You’ll be happy to hear that I’m going to be agreeing with Nicole.’ Harry was so thrilled to be going through that he was a bit speechless and just said, ‘Thank you… cheers, thanks’, and walked offstage to be given a huge hug by his mum.