After a laughable, strange, weird, annoying third season of X Factor, the winner will FINALLY be announced. Kelly Rowland says someone will win the million dollars, and it will change their liveS. Yep, an S. So, either one person has multiple lives, or that was her slip on who she believes will win… (Alex and Sierra). Also on the show, a ton of randoms, and ONE DIRECTION!

The top 13 came out to sing U2’s “One”, and reminded us how horrendous most of the acts were, but also how much of a shame it was that singers like Khaya Cohen were eliminated so quickly. Mario awkwardly interviews the top 3, asking obvious questions like how much would this mean to you, how bad do you want this? There is then a video package mocking Paulina Rubio, which does not do justice to how stupid most of the things that came out of her mouth were…

Each contestant sang a Christmas song, which began with Carlito. He sang “Christ (Baby please come home)” with barely clothed women in Santa wear following him around. No thanks. He didn’t sound very impressive either. But I guess the judgement is all out the window at this point, and I swear if he wins… His performance was followed by a package with his family calling him kiddo a lot and his adorable grandparents.

There was an awkward montage of Kelly flirting with young guys before Jeff Gutt performed “O Holy Night.” He sounded strained for most of the song, but again, judgements are void at this point. Skipped over his video package, because, let’s be real, it’s going to be all about how he NEEDS THIS FOR HIS SON. Alex and Sierra performed next, and although I believe they should have gone with “Baby Don’t Go,” I’m okay with their rendition of “All I Want For Christmas.”

And the award for most awful thing to happen on X Factor goes to the package about Demi Lovato and her “annoying juice.” The package seemed to insinuate that her juice was alcohol. For anyone who doesn’t know, Demi was in rehab for drugs and alcohol, among other things. She was clearly not happy. And if there was any question about whether or not Demi would return, I guess now you know…

Lea Michelle performed her single, “Cannonball,” and as always, sounded incredible. But the song was dull… The repetition in the song was annoying, and catchy. But at least she’s a super adorable person?

Finally, we get to some results. In third place is.. CARLITO! I’m glad that despit some bad choices, America got it right with this one. And as much as I’ve been mean about Carlito, I wish him the best…

After some more random recaps and Leona Lewis, Alex and Sierra performed a duet with Jeff. I wonder if they paired up duets with every possible outcome? The three performed a lovely rendition of John Newman’s “Love Me Again.” There were some pitch problems, but oh well, I’m sure they were anxious to hear the results.

One Direction performed “Midnight Memories” and Louis sounded decent! Harry and the rest of the guys are such cuties, and I have to admit that I’m a little bit in love with this group. I can’t help it. Such a fun song, such a great little boy band. Oh and, swoon at Harry’s scream towards the end.

Finally the winner is announced, and it is, ALEX AND SIERRA! Jeff Gutt was visibly upset, but made sure to let everyone know that he met the right people during the competition to continue his career. Okay. Alex and Sierra tred to sing “Say Something,” through tears. All the contestants rushed out to hug them as they finished their performance. Beautiful. Amazing. I’m so happy.

As for their future, I hope Alex and Sierra don’t follow in the pattern of the previous winners, and disappear. Let’s hope they pull a Phillip Phillips and stick to their sound to make good, memorable, music.

I’ve enjoyed One Direction since “What Makes You Beautiful,” but only because I understood one hundred percent what they are — a boy band.

The guys were literally thrown together by Simon Cowell and made into superstars. I understand the “1D can do no wrong” mentality their fans have towards their manufactured music because I lived it with Backstreet Boys and Aaron Carter (yeah, I thought “How I Beat Shaq” deserved a Grammy). While I generally listen to more “indie” music, I’ve always appreciated One Direction for their contributions to my “Getting Ready” playlist, or my drunken loud sing-a-longs. All that being said, the guys surprised me with their latest album “Midnight Memories.”

While the band’s past two albums have been more on the pure pop side, “Midnight Memories” has a very obvious rock (mostly 80s) edge to it. “Best Song Ever,” which most obviously bridges the gap between “Take Me Home” and the latest LP, is the pure pop song we’d expect from the quintet. But don’t think people didn’t notice that nod to The Who’s “Baba O’riley” in the opening. The album’s title track “Midnight Memories” seems very influenced by Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me.” From the deluxe version of the album, “Does He Know?” is clearly an ode to Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl.” “Little Black Dress” also addresses 80s rock, with a messy and sexy song that sings, “I wanna see the way you move for me baby,” which will surely have 90,000 girls screaming every night on their just announced 2014 “Where We Are” stadium tour.

The band began when the boys were just 16, 17, 18, so now, three years later, it would be pretty sad if their albums didn’t continue to show some growth. Since the guys are still young, (Harry, the youngest at 19) the songs have become very sexually charged, but with some amount of subtlety in their “rock ‘n roll” lyrics. After all, One Direction still has young fans, ones which they don’t want to quickly lose like Miley Cyrus did. The chorus to “Midnight Memories,” sings, “Midnight memories oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.. Baby you and me, stumbling in the street singing, singing, singing, singing. Midnight memories, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Anywhere we go never say no. Just do it, do it, do it.” The “Little White Lies” chorus says, “You say you’re a good girl, but I know you would girl.” However, you’re not fooling anyone over 14 with those lyrics.

While the 80s rock bit might be fun for the parents dragged to the show to listen to, the songs sometimes feel forced. Instead of being rock, it sounds more like “Hey, I’m a rock (pop) star!” This is fine though, because it’s what’s to be expected from a boy band with an “edgier” album. The songs that sounded more genuine were the folky, Mumford and Sons paddle-drum-inspired tracks. The band’s second single, “Story of my Life” is a perfect example. All five of the boys helped co-write the song, which is by far one of the best songs on the album. With the acoustic aspect, the strong writing, and super developed vocals from all five of the boys, this feels like the most natural next step for the group. Following in a similar suit is the Lumineers-esque “Happily” co-written by Harry Styles. The song is very reminiscent of and just as catchy as — if not more so — than “Ho Hey.” “Through the Dark” and “Something Great” also fit in with these songs. If I were to pick the direction (ha) their next album would go, it would be in the style of these four, which by the way, all feature at least one of the members as a co-writer (as do all but three songs on the Deluxe edition).

Other songs on the album are everything you want to have in a One Direction song: a perfect balance of all five guys singing, super catchy choruses, fun up-tempo dance songs, and cute ballads that will make everyone swoon. “Diana” is very infectious, following suite with the more 80s rock influenced. “Don’t Forget Where You Belong,” written by Niall Horan and McFly, is very anthemic, clearly written with a stadium tour in mind. “Why Don’t We Go There” is one of the more “pop” songs on the album, and I have to give credit to Niall who sounds great at the end of the song (really through the entire album, his voice has matured the most). “You and I” and “Half a Heart” will surely bring some tears and aw-ing from the girls, as well as raised cell phones and glow sticks (do they still sell those?). Although, I have to remark on the awkward line in “Half a Heart”: “I’m walking around with just one shoe.” That’s not endearing, go find your other shoe.

While the band had some solid songs that begin to show signs of artistry in some of the members, others are completely unmemorable. Songs like “Strong,” “Better Than Words,” and “Right Now” were among my least favorite, mostly because they felt unnecessary. The songs added nothing to album, and honestly, it took me a few listens to even remember them. “Alive” is another one, but due to the poor songwriting. The beat and melody are catchy, but the song is saying “Yes, go sleep with every girl you see. It’s okay, ‘if it makes you feel alive'” No thanks. These songs, mixed with the more “forced” sounds, and the “almost-there” songs, show how rushed this album was. Three albums in three years? If the lads had taken their time on this album, perhaps had the opportunity to write more songs without co-writers, the album would have felt more like an album, and less like a cluster of singles. Although rumors of a 2014 album have already started, I hope they take their time on the next one.

But hey, most of these songs are catchy beyond belief, and I may or may not be buying tickets to their 2014 stadium tour…so, I think they’re doing something right.

 Score: 3.5/5

One Direction released their latest single, “Story of My Life” on iTunes today. The single, written by Graffiti6 band member Jamie Scott, is currently the number 1 single on the iTunes charts. One Direction has also claimed the number 1 spot on the iTunes top albums chart with the pre-order of their next album, “Midnight Memories.”

“Story of my Life” seems to take on a new less pop, more alternative rock-infused sound. Scott wrote nine of the songs from “Midnight Memories,” so could the entire album take on this new direction (pun not intentional)? 1D star Niall Horan told Capital FM, “It’s up there with the best that we’ve brought out but ‘Story Of My Life’ might just take it. It’s a very passionate song and when you see the video that goes with it, it suits it as well.”

Listen to the new song below.

One Direction announced on Friday (Sept. 6th) the name and release date for their next album, Midnight Memories. Their third studio album will be released November 25th, but fans can pre-order it beginning today on iTunes. The boys put up a blog on their official website writing,

“We’ve put a lot of love into this album and we’re really proud of our new music – we hope you’ll love the tracks as much as we do. We had amazing time writing and recording on the road!!”

Sony also just announced that an extended version of 1D’s film, “One Direction: This is Us,” will be released this Friday. The version will feature 20 minutes of extra footage, including four new songs. This release may be to bring back the adoring fans into theaters and boost sales. The movie saw a 74% drop in box office during it’s second weekend, which is a higher drop than previous concert films like Justin Bieber’s (55%) and Michael Jackson’s (43%). Sony says, “We’re overwhelmed by the response to the film, so we’re thrilled to be able to release this extended cut of the film for One Direction fans.”

Anyone else love One Direction’s subtly explicit album titles?