Pop Media Cult Part Deux

Yes, I know, my Title for May is my worst metaphor yet!  I'm going to keep this month as brief as possible.  And it turns out that "brief" may be relative LOL:

Here is a recap of the recap to date:

Hiatus Direction 2016 - Preamble: Birth Love and Death
Hiatus Direction 2016 - January Part 1 - Freddie Reign
Hiatus Direction 2016 - January Part 2 - Into the Wilderness
Hiatus Direction 2016 - February Part 1 - Secret Love Song #1 Louelle
Hiatus Direction 2016 - February Part 2 - Secret Love Song #2 Cheriam 
Hiatus Direction 1016 - March & April - Silent Sprint

So let's begin:

Hiatus Direction 2016 - Come What May


Liam In Paris

One of the reasons that this May recap is lengthy is that I am starting out with Cheriam again. 

Liam and Cheryl did a number of gorgeous high profile red carpet appearances during the month of May,   They went to both Paris of The Global Gift Gala (in which Cheryl was an honoree) and an event in Cannes the Chopard Trophee, in association with Cheryl and L'Oreal.





<---5.9.16,  The Paris Global Gift Gala - I'm sorry, haters, but they are a very attractive couple.  And there is no debate about that.  And he looks at her like she's his world.


And again in Cannes

 <---  5.12.16, Again they are just plain smoking HOT!

But I'm sad to report a couple of things going on regarding this couple from the fandom's POV.

1.  The hate was fast and it was furious.  The 1D fandom hating on a 1D girlfriend isn't unusual, but the nastiness they unleashed on Cheryl's IG, and even on Liam's IG when he mentioned her - was rank vicious.  The two words that trolls liked to use against Cheryl were (and continue to be...)  Grandma and Ziam.  (Yes, people still ship Ziam as though it is real... ::eye roll::)

2.  Even as early as May, pregnancy rumours were very prevalent.  Of course she wasn't actually pregnant... yet.  (oops, Spoiler Alert!)

pssst - a couple of pictures were the basis for the original rumors:

 <--- People started speculating about the shape of her belly in this gorgeous but tight dress.  And about her hand on her belly at the Paris airport.  The people doing that speculation were of course wrong... at that particular time.  ;)

Finally on the subject of Cheriam...

  <--- That is the way he looks at her! ::::thunk:::  Haters can bite me.



Harry's Haircut

Another reason why this May post is relatively long is... Harry got a haircut.

Harry was MIA for most of May, and would generally remain so for the rest of the year.  But on May 6, the big, earth shattering news broke:  Harry Styles had cut his hair.   This shocking turn of events had been anticipated by the reality based portion of the fandom, the fans who understood the inevitability of the haircut.  Remember the news that broke in March that Harry had accepted a role in the Christopher Nolan movie Dunkirk - a war movie - playing a soldier in a WWII period movie.  And we understood that playing such a character is a historical drama would require much shorter hair.  

So RIP Long Haired Harry:

<--- RIP



Here is how this monster news story unfolded:


First, Harry posted a shot of just his hand... holding the erstwhile lock of hair on and Instagram post on May 7th 


 <--- He kindly donated the proceeds for the auctioned lock to a charity, Little Princess Trust, which provides wigs to children who suffer hair loss due to cancer treatment.

This story was covered high and low, such is the magnetism of Harry Style's hair.

Here are just a few examples:


GQ
Glamour UK
E News

The next anticipated step was for Harry to unveal his new look in public.  Alas, new glimpses would be painfully slow in coming.



But Harry didn't post a picture of himself with his shortened hair, leaving his fans waiting with baited breath.  Finally on May 9, the paps found him out and about.  Unfortunately, his hat kept the new hairstyle discretely covered.    The full reveal would have to wait for later in the month.

  <---  Much ado about this haircut.

When the hair cust was at last unvealed, it was indeed in conjuction with Harry's movie role.    In Mid May Dunkirk filming was ramping up on location in the town of Dunkerque France, and in Amsterdam.  And on May 18th, Harry was spotted in Dunkerque and that is where he would continue appear for most of the Summer.  You will see all of that Dunkirk filming goodness in the Summer round up post to follow this one.

On May 26, we got the first official glimpse both of the haircut, and even more exciting, of Harry in costume as a WWII soldier...

 <---  So much more to come!


Sporty Niall



Niall spent May reminding us all of his love for golf.  On May 19, Niall partnered with good friend Rory McIlroy for an event associated with the Northern Ireland Open.  Golf Digest was all over it. Let's just say that the golfing industry seems to regard Niall's involvement in their sport as a very positive thing for attracting new young golfers. Some choice quotes from Golf Digest:





<--- Niall playing at one his May golfing events.


Later in the month he played in another Pro-Am in Surrey





And he closed the month with a charity event for Cancer that he co-hosted with Golfer Justin Rose:



<--- With Justin

But there was one more sporty event that Niall attended at the end of the month/beginning of the next...  But I'll save that for the end of the post.

Finally, Louis

Louis continued living with the complications of his life including being a new dad, and balancing girlfriend and babymama.  Although, we would later learn, that it was in May that Louis learned some truly terrible news that he would be carrying with him for the rest of the year.  A devastating  twist he held in secret from the fans for most of the rest of the year.  

Let's start with Louis and Danielle.  During May they took two rather glamerous trips together.  First they took a vacation to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico...


<--- Seen here taking what must have been a glorious selfie on a Yacht.*  May 12, 2016

*Ahahahaha, Poor Larries.  Another yacht!

Later during their stay in a resort, they were caught making out (and worse) by a long distance paparazzi.  Unfortunately, the Pap caught pictures of Louis taking off Danielle's bikini top, of her topless, as well as the two of them kissing.

 <-- Here are some of the makeout photos, but I won't repost the topless pics... Sorry.

Later in the month, they went on a trip to Monaco for the Grand Prix.  They looked very glam walking around the beach.

 <-- Surely few couples ever looked this glorious and perfect together.  At least for this moment in time.  If only Danielle had had a crystal ball.

Between those two trips, Louis was twice papped in Los Angeles with Freddie and Briana, apparently exchanging the baby in public places for Louis' visitation.

 <-- May 8

 <-- Here on May 19 with Briana.

 <--- Again with Briana on the 21st.
These pubic exchanges in parking lot are actually good practice for parents who are co-parenting.  It keeps the exchanges on neutral ground.  Of course most co-parenting couples are not so high profile.  And Boybander with a Baby is a pap magnet.  :(

Finally, on May 25th, just after the trip to Monaco, Louis and Danielle attended the wedding of James Vardy in London.

<--- Louis and Danielle at the Vardy Wedding.  Looking every inch the happy and in-love couple.

 But the fandom learned later that there was a dark side to this appearance.It was at this event, the fandom later learned, that Louis first learned that his mother's cancer was terminal.  

***
On that note, Louis had one more event for the end of the month.  A charity football match in London.  And Niall had agreed to come as well.  For the end of May, we were treated to lovely images of these two boys forming the new IT BROMANCE of 1D.  

Long live NOUIS

 <-- Louis and Niall on June 1.   They put on a fantastic event.

***
And the so the year wound on into the Summer.  Things would start to quiet down as the Hiatus settled in on the boys.  The star of the Summer will be Harry Styles.

 

Here we are in Part 2 of my recap of Hiatus Direction:  covering the month of February 2016.  Here is a recap of the recap so far:

Hiatus Direction 2016 - Preamble: Birth Love and Death
Hiatus Direction 2016 - January Part 1 - Freddie Reign
Hiatus Direction 2016 - January Part 2 - Into the Wilderness
Hiatus Direction 2016 - February Part 1 - Secret Love Song #1 Louelle

Hiatus Direction 2016:  SECRET LOVE SONG #2 Cheriam

Let's continue with the recap of February aka the month of love.  But we shall shift the focus from Louis to Liam.  And this part is going to be a long one!  Because Liam, had a secret, and it was a blockbuster.

Back in December, it had seemed that Liam was planning a low key Hiatus, one that involved spending a lot of time with his dogs, and which didn't involve making solo music.  But January had muddled that impression.  He had posted a song snippet, appeared on social media with Juicy J and had spent the month globe trotting between London and Los Angeles.  What could be going on with Liam?  

Was it possible that he had been trying to tell us something all along?

 Maybe in retrospect the first clue was Liam's mysterious mid February vacation to the Maldives.  During that trip, he had posted a photo of a rose with a caption indicating he had a "baby" and wishing his Baby happy Valentines Day.   So, who was his baby?   It was certainly a puzzle, and he had the fandom's attention.  


 <-- Also, what was up with Liam and the roses?  First the tattoo on his hand, and now this picture...  


Whatever the case was, Liam arrived alone back in Los Angeles  on Feb 19 looking gloriously happy.  Not at all like a man who was spending his time sulking with his great dane...

 <--- Yet another one of my favorite Liam Airport pappings.  Such a secretive little smile he had.  The Fandom knew he had been to the Maldives because of a fan sighting at the airport there.  But the vacation did seem quite random...  


Anyway, this brings us back to the night of the Britt Awards on Feb 22 in London - and Lilo's joint appearance.   I talked about Lilo at the Britts in the last entry, and here it is again!  But this time, with added drama, because Liam's Big Secret was about to drop.


<--- Lilo's beautiful Britt Reunion
Portrait.  Nope, still not the Secret Love Song that everyone would wish ;)    But Love was never-the-less in the air.  

<--- More lovely pictures of our boys from the Britts because why not!






Earlier in the evening, before arriving at the Awards, Liam posted a shirtless selfie to his Instagram while getting ready for the show:

<--- Lordy the boy had gotten in shape since the Hiatus began.  


Perhaps that was a distraction for the fans, because Liam had some other social media activity that evening.  Specifically, he liked a photo that Cheryl Fernandez-Versini,  Popstar and X-Factor Judge, posted of herself also getting ready to attend the event.  In fact, the two of them conducted a short social media conversation involving multiple heart eyed emojis.


<--- In the age of social media, this was essentially an unofficial announcement that 22 year old Liam and 32 year old Cheryl were dating.


Here is Cheryl on the Red Carpet that night, looking banging hot!


 <--- Recognize her yet?



If not, here's a little picture to jog your memory...(I told you those photos from the Last Night on the X-Factor were important LOL.)

<---  This is the full image.  Because there is Cheryl, right in the middle of the picture with...


<--- Liam's arm around her.  Ah ha!  



So, who is Cheryl anyway?   Perhaps before going any further we should get to know her a little bit more.

***

A Short History of Cheryl Tweedy/Cole/Fernandez-Versini

Cheryl was born in Newcastle in the north of England to a working class family very similar to the Payne family.  And like Liam, she first came to fame by auditioning on a TV talent show in 2002 called Popstars: The Rivals.  From that, she ended up becoming a member of a very successful girl band called Girl's Aloud.  

<--- That's Cheryl in the middle of this early Girls Aloud photoshoot, 2002.


<--- The glitzier later days
They are actually one of the most successful girl groups of all time.  Everywhere except that is, the U.S. where they are comparatively obscure.

After Girls Aloud went on Hiatus in 2009 Cheryl began a very successful solo career in the UK including three number one albums.  She is one of the most successful solo female artists ever in the UK.  

Other key events:

*In 2003 Cheryl was arrested for assaulting a lavatory attendant.  She was eventually convicted and served 120 hours of community service.  She was acquitted of a charge that the assault was racially motivated. Cheryl was 19 at the time, and has had no repetition of such an incident.

*Cheryl met footballer Ashley Cole in 2004 and married him two years later.  The marriage was tumultuous and Ashley reportedly cheated on Cheryl numerous times. The entire relationship was tabloid fodder all the way until it's end in 2010.

*Cheryl married French businessman Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini in 2014 after dating him for only three months.  That marriage was apparently essentially over by Oct, 2015.  Which was the same timeframe as Liam's unexpected breakup with Sophia Smith towards the end of 1D's last tour.

*Cheryl is a spokeswoman for L'Oreal Cosmetics and has been twice voted the most beautiful woman in the world by FMH

<---  The photo that got Cheryl voted most beautiful woman in the world.

So, in short, even though she is relatively obscure in the U.S., Cheryl is a big deal in the UK.  She is a media tabloid darling and has been in the spotlight for a decade and a half.

***

Here Comes The SUN



In the wake of the Britts, rumours about this new possible couple were flying fast and furious.  The fandom was NOT PLEASED and instantly jumped to their old standby - calling the rumored relationship "PR", a "Sham" and spinning stories that is was all just for "Promo".  The comments on Cheryl's Twitter and Instagram blew up with repeated use of the words "Grandma" and "Ziam". 

But nothing is official without a confirmation.  So the fandom waited for the other shoe to drop.  Would a confirmation come?

And it did on Feb 26, straight from Dan Wooton, the Sun columnist who so frequently gets the scope of 1D Members - The Sun dropped the official "Revelation"

<--- The Sun cover In all it's lurid glory.

The fandom was NOT amused. 

And the tabloid coverage was relentless.  And it was all made infinitly worse by the emphasis on Cheryl's age, 10 years older than Liam, and her role as an X-Factor judge, which essentially placed her in a mentor role to young Liam going all the way back to 2008 when  Liam was only 14 years old.  The fact that the couple's first meeting literally took place on camera when one of them was a minor, made the whole thing much worse as well.  The image of the cheeky 14 year old Liam flirting with the 24 year old Cheryl who was already in full pop star/X-Factor judge mode are easy to sensationalize. 

Still, the photos and videos of that meeting were published everywhere and they are, and always will be cringe inducing: 

<--- A GIF of Liam and Cheryl's first meeting.  He was a flirty kid, and she appears to be amused by his flirting.  Well, at least he's the one who did the winking.  But the fandom will NEVER forgive her for this.  Ever.


*****

One more aside about the Sun Article - it gave a possible explanation for Liam's obsession with roses.

<--- The tattoo in question.


<---  Cheryl has a giant tattoo of roses all over her ass, and her lower back.  The Sun article said that Liam's new hand tattoo was a tribute to this large tattoo.   Liam obviously likes those roses a lot.  ;)

***

On the same day that the news broke Feb 26,  Liam did a Pap Walk outside of Sony's HQ in London.  He continued to look gloriously happy:

<--- This is also one of my favorite Liam Pap Walks of all time.  And as this appearance was outside Sony HQ, it seemed to be yet another hint that Liam might make the plunge into solo music afterall.

On the last day of the month, Liam changed his Instagram profile picture to a shirtless picture of himself, with Cheryl in his arms.  It didn't last long because of the brutal hate he got from jealous 1D fans calling Cheryl "grandma" and/or referencing  "Ziam".  

He replaced the photo with a selfie of just himself after only a few days.  But he added the word "Happy" to his Instagram profile. And it that word has remained their ever since.

 <--- the photo in question.

Liam and Cheryl would spend the next month trying to acclimate the fandom to their new relationship.  The fandom remained unkind, but this relationship would continue to be in the public eye for the rest of the year.

Stay tuned.  So very much more to come.

The next segment will move forward to Spring, and the year in review will continue.

Hiatus Direction 2016 - January Part 2 - Wandering in the Wilderness

Here is Part 2 of Hiatus Direction 2016.  This part covers Harry, Liam and Niall's doings that January.

Here are links to the previous posts in this series:

Hiatus Direction 2016 - Preamble: Birth Love and Death
Hiatus Direction 2016 - January Part 1 - Freddie Reign

****

The most important thing that happened in January, was obviously the birth of Freddie Tomlinson.  but the other three boys were doing intersting things as well.  Things which set the tone for the rest of the year, and on into 2017.  So we will need to know what Niall, Liam and Harry were doing at the very beginning of 2016.  All of them were on the move.

****

Let's start with Niall.


Niall was papped arriving at LAX on January 11.





But Niall did not stay there. 

In fact, Niall spent much of January of 2016 in the same place where he spent January 2015.  Syndney Australia.  And the fandom was treated again to photos of Niall from courtside at the Australian Open.

 <---Niall at Australian Open, Last week of January 2016.  Wow, remember how Blonde his hair was?

From there, Niall would stay on the move into February and March.  In fact, he was about to disappear into the Wilderness.

****

Harry, arrived home from his glamourous tropical Yacht trip, into the cold London Winter.  He was papped there on January 9.

<--- But he didn't stay there long either.  He was soon bound to his second home Los Angeles.

 <--- Happy arriving at LAX on Jan 22.

He spent the rest of the month hanging out at his regular haunts.

 <--- Wow, remember how long his hair was?

As we got deeper into 2016, Harry too would be pulling frequent disappearing acts.

****

Which brings us to Liam...

For a man who claimed NOT to be planning a solo career, he seemed to be spending a lot of time in Los Angeles studios with high profile people such as Juicy J.



He was papped twice going in and out of LAX

  <--- Jan 15 and Jan 23 respectively.

Mid-month Liam posted a song snippet on Instagram.  The snippet was a mix of hip/hop and pop and was about a fast car.  But that didn't matter because Liam fans were excited that we might get Solo Liam after all.

  <--- I might be that he was just showing off the new Rose Tattoo on his hand.  He seemed very proud indeed of that tattoo.   He seemed to mean something to him, because he put it on IG twice. 

Hmmm.  What was up with this rose tattoo?  Maybe in February, we would find out.


<--- Hint Hint

***

The main theme for these three is that they were still jet-setting.  Even though they were on a break, they were visible, and clearly moving in different directions.  We will see, as 2016 where those different directions would lead.

But most immediatly, February was now upon our intrepid band members, and Love was in the air.

And here we go!

Welcome to my first official One Direction Series in two years! 

I'm so excited!  It has been awhile, but I have finally been inspired  to write more of my adventures in One Direction fandom.  One Direction has been on Hiatus for the last two years, and so have I.   But my Hiatus ends today, even if theirs goes on for another ten years.  ;) (Or forever...)

The last series I wrote was my OTRA tour recap of 2015 which I titled Roadkill: A Love Story.   2015, and the OTRA tour feels like a long time ago now.  I remember being quite drained by the time that series was finally finished.  Perhaps that is why my hiatus has lasted this long.  

That being said, I give you a warning, I'm pretty sure this recap of 2016 will also be another opus.   A lot has happened these last two years.  Real life has happened to One Direction, including both the births of children and the deaths of parents.  This story isn't all fantasy this time, it's about babies and surprise romances and also about grievous loss.

First I have a few points of order.  

*This is essentially a combo of the shipping series I did in 2014 and 15, with a Recap similar to the Roadkill series.

*I considered including Zay, but I decided I had my hands full just covering the recaps of OT4.  I will include a Zayn in a follow up post attached to the next series I'm going to do... Speaking of which:

And yes, another warning because I am a glutton for punishment, I'm also planning a followup series to this one which will be called Solo Direction 2017.  But that is down the road.  First comes:


Hiatus Direction 2016: Birth, Love and Death

****

The story of One Direction 2016 was a journey. It literally begins with the birth of a baby boy, and ends with the death of his grandmother. I suppose that was a spoiler alert.


Lets set the stage for 2016 with these images in our minds from the X-Factor in London on December 13, 2015.    This was the last appearance of One Direction together before the Hiatus began.  Remember these. They are important.

 <--- The boys together on the X-Factor stage where it all began for them five years earlier.  Perhaps for the last time.  Perhaps not.  Only time will tell if we will ever see them together again.




<--- There are some great pictures from that night, though I have an unpopular opinion about Harry's suit...



<--- The last group hug  ::sniffle::



This last picture is especially... entertaining... Hindsight being 20/20 and all, but you'll see ;).

 <--- The boys with the X-Factor judges at the end of the evening.



After that last X-Factor performance, as that December moved towards the New Year, each boy prepared to go his own way.  Here's what we knew about where they were headed.

***

Niall

I don't think that anyone had high exceptions regarding Niall starting a solo career.  Towards the end of 2015 he had formed a company in partnership with 1D's Management team called Modest Golf.  Niall's interest in golf and participation in various golfing events made everyone assume that his future lay on the course, and perhaps with this new Golf Management company it would.

 <--- One of Niall's many Golf Outings in 2015

***

Liam


Liam had spoken several times in interviews that he was planning to write and produce music for others, but not necessarily for himself during the upcoming break.  Believe me, lots of Liam girls were heartbroken about the prospect of no Solo Liam.   But because of his statements there were few expectations for a solo career.  He had also recently broken up with his long time girlfriend, Sophia Smith so it seemed that he was in a lonely place.  He was posting a lot of pictures of quality time with his enormous Great Dane.  Oh how little we knew...  LOL  


<--- Liam with his Great Dane, Watson



 <--- Hint Hint



***

Harry


Because Harry is everyone's Media Darling, there was a rumored bidding war going on to sign Harry's solo record deal, which everyone other than the willfully blind* knew was going to happen.  Harry did nothing to dissuade those rumors when he made an extremely public appearance on New Years weekend, in Saint Barts, on a Yacht, with Kendall Jenner and his music management company owning best friend Jeff Azoff.  The paparazzi were all over it.


 
<---Harry & Kendall on the infamous St. Barts New Years Yacht excursion.


There was even what appeared to be a contract signing ceremony on New Years Day for Jeff to officially become Harry's new manager.  The theory is that New Years day, 2016 was the first possible day that Harry was free to sign a new contract.

 <--- signing ceremony photographed by Kendall herself...

* The Willfully Blind = the fandom's plague of tinhats...  I'll probably address them in this series in one way or another.



***

Louis

Finally, Louis prepared for the upcoming birth of his child with his Ex Briana Jungwirth by revealing that he had a NEW girlfriend, Danielle Campbell (known for playing Davina on The Originals).  In late December, she took him to meet her parents in Chicago, and fans spotted them all over various places in and around the Chicagoland area for a solid week.  And then he took her to the UK for the Holidays with his family in Doncaster. 



<--- Louis hugging Danielle from behind at an Oberwies, a local Ice Cream parlor.


 <--- One of Louis and Danielle's stops was a tattoo parlor, where Louis apparently had a penguin tattooed on his ass.

Meanwhile Briana waited in Los Angeles for 2016 to come.

 <--- Briana chilled out in L.A... Waiting.  Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick.


***

And so began 2016, Year One Of Hiatus Direction.