One Direction surprise fans with impromtu appearance

These days, the best way to go from a "nobody" to a "somebody" is riding the coattails of a world famous boy band while bringing a unique talent to our eyes and ears via YouTube.

One Direction blew up the music scene globally with their hit "What Makes You Beautiful" and on Thursday, August 2, two of the band members took to a shopping mall in London for an impromptu performance of their hit song plus a few more.
149692421 One Direction Surprise Fans With Impromtu London Appearance, Get Covered For Olympians

Niall Horan and Liam Payne, the latter sporting a brand new hairdo, jumped on a pop-up stage at the Westfield Shopping Centre in Shepard's Bush, London, for a quick acoustic performance. Horan played guitar and fans went crazy over the surprise free gig.

It's safe to say two members of One Direction weren't at the Olympics that day. A shame for them, as it was "gold rush" day for the UK teams as they earned six new gold medals. It was also a red-letter day for Team USA, especially women's gymnastics, as Gabby Douglas followed up Wednesday's major gymnastics landslide to became the first black woman to win the women's individual gymnastics gold.

America's current love affair is with the US Olympic gymnastics team, aka the the Fab Five. Jordyn Wieber, McKayla Maroney, Kyla Ross, Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas stuck their landings and earned some gold by winning the women's team final and continue their ascension to Olympic immortality by taking home individual medals.

Naturally, this calls for a cover song set to One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful."

Despite poking fun at their short stature and inability to drive a car, this clever cover bends and twists "What Makes You Beautiful" into "What Makes You Flexible."

And because we can't get enough of One Direction, we have to share one more cover from the Piano Guys. They've recently found YouTube fame with over 5 million views of their rendition of "What Makes You Beautiful." Despite the Guys' "na na na's" and "whoa-oh's," they never sing a single lyric of the song, but there is no mistaking the catchy beat.

Neither YouTube sensations are new to pop music parodies. The Piano Guys have tickled ivory to tattooed beauty Christina Perri's "Thousand Years" and the parody team behind "What Makes You Flexible" created the ode to Lochte that went viral earlier this week set to Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe."



-Sarah Scroggins & E.J. Judge, 92.3 NOW/New York