They were formed together during bootcamp on season 2 of The X Factor USA.[1] They finished third overall in the competition, behind winner Tate Stevens and runner-up Carly Rose Sonenclar.
Music Career
2012: The X Factor formation
Each member originally came into the competition as solo singers, but were eliminated. They were called back to take part as a group at bootcamp. At the judges' houses the group sang Impossible by Shontelle. Originally, the group's name was LYLAS, which stood for "Love You Like A Sister", but another group consisting of four of Bruno Mars' sisters, called The Lylas, claimed that the show stole their name. Therefore, LYLAS changed their name to 1432, which stands for "I Love You Too", and it was announced on the October 31, 2012 episode. Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid criticized the new name. 1432 performed "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" during the first live show on October 31, 2012. During the first live results show on November 1, 2012, 1432 performed "Skyscraper" in a sing off with Sister C. Cowell decided to send them through to the Top 12 and announced that they would be renamed by the viewers online. The name chosen by the public was announced and it was Fifth Harmony. On the second live show on November 7 (on Movie Week), they performed "A Thousand Years", by Christina Perri, from the movie The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, having reached the fifth place in that week's results. On the third live show on November 14 (Divas Week), they performed the song "Hero", by Mariah Carey, and reached the sixth place in the week's results. On the fourth live show they sang I'll Stand By You by The Pretenders. and uring placed 7th on the week 4 result show. On the fifth live show the group sang Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) by Kelly Clarkson and placed fourth on the leader board competing in the top 6. During week six due to her grandfather's loss Hernandez had leave to go see her grandfather's funeral, resulting in missing practice. They performed two songs: Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain" and Demi Lovato's "Give Your Heart a Break". In week six's results, they placed in the bottom two and sung for survival with Mariah Carey's "Anytime You Need a Friend" and landed a spot in the Top 4.
In the semi-finals stage of the show, they performed Ellie Goulding's "Anything Could Happen" and they also performed Shontelle's "Impossible" for the second time in the competition. Their first performance of the evening (Anything could happen) was "a finals-caliber performance" according to L.A. Reid and described as "Magic" by 2012's top-earning female entertainer Britney Spears. Their second performance of the night (Impossible) received mostly negative reviews from the judges because the group had performed the song at Simon Cowell's home (although not on "The X-Factor" concert stage). Three members of the group (Camila, Lauren, and Ally) sang parts of the song in fluent Spanish. The following night's public-vote results got Fifth Harmony advanced to the Final 3 with soloists Tate Stevens and Carly Rose Sonenclar. After the first round of the finals they did not receive enough votes from the public to get them to the Top 2, and they ended up coming in 3rd place on December 20, 2012.
Fifth Harmony won PopDust Breakout star of 2013, beating Austin Mahone, Little Mix, Timeflies, and Union J. On January 17, 2013, it was announced that they had been signed to Epic Records and Syco Music.
Name Change
Fifth Harmony was originally named LYLAS, which stands for "Love You like a Sister", but had to change the name because there was already a singing/modeling group called The Lylas, which was made up of famous singer Bruno Mars' sisters. The second name change was to 1432, which stands for "I Love You Too". Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid verbally criticized their new name. Cowell, their mentor, said that they made one mistake, and Reid said that it all went wrong starting with the name. Another issue was that there were too many numbers in the name. Two other groups, Emblem3 and LYRIC 145, had digits in their names. On the first live show, Cowell suggested that the public decide the group's name, and the name chosen was Fifth Harmony.
Fifth Harmony's version of "Impossible" by Shontelle has reached over 3.9 million views on YouTube as of November 27, 2012. A second version of the song was made and reached 1.2 million views. As of now, almost all of their videos have over 1 million views. the second highest views in The X Factor history behind singer Carly Rose Sonenclar. Many celebrities have tweeted about their performances such as Snooki, Khloé Kardashian, Kim Kardashian, Adrienne Bailon, Raven-Symoné, Vanessa Williams, and Whoopi Goldberg. Fifth Harmony refers to their fans as The Harmonizers
Members
Ally Brooke
Allyson "Ally" Brooke Hernandez, July 7, 1993 (age 19), from San Antonio, Texas, born to parents Jerry and Pat Hernandez. Brooke was born as a premature baby weighing 1 pound and 14 ounces as she said in The X Factor interview. Her dad added that when she came out that she was screaming which is unusual for premature babies to be doing that. This gave him a sign that Brooke was meant to be singing. Brooke has been singing ever since she was just a baby screaming. She attended regular school until the sixth grade where she was homeschooled all the way through 12th grade and earned a High school diploma. Her biggest influence is Selena saying "She’s my favorite entertainer of all time. I loved her so much.” “What I loved most was her sweet spirit, joyful personality.” She has also mentioned that she wants to have a perfume and clothing line coming out soon. Brooke is the oldest and shortest member of the group. Just recently a couple days before the week 5 performances aired Brooke's grandfather passed away. In return the girls dedicated their week 5 performance to her grandfather.
Dinah Hansen
Dinah Jane Hansen, June 22, 1997 (age 15), born and raised in Orange County, California, residing in a home with 23 other people. She is the youngest member in the group; the eldest of 15 grandchildren and lives with 23 people (extended family) in a 4-bedroom house and is of Tongan, Samoan and Danish descent. Her family eventually moved to Santa Ana, California. She was exposed to music at an early age in life. Her mother vividly remembers the first time she heard Hansen sing at only 4 years old; she was singing Happy Birthday and her mother could hear her voice vibrate. She sang The National Anthem in public at age 7 in Sacramento, California. Since then, she has been performing at various events in Orange County, California. She caught the ear of superintendents when she was in elementary school and was connected with gigs in the Boy Scouts of America. At age 11, she had a serious talk with her mother and father about pursuing a music career and her parents gave her full support. She was connected with music producers and songwriters, including Big Dave from Pacific Icon Management Group (PIMG), Kennedy Mailo, TreySmoov, MsBrown, and Baby J. She would sing songs made by her inspirations Beyonce, Leona Lewis, Mariah Carey, and Etta James. Hansen won a YouTube cover contest hosted by Polynesian music artist Teki. She has often been compared to Beyonce and Leona Lewis. Hansen is the youngest member of the group. As of now, Hansen's audition has the most youtube views of the group.
Camila Cabello
Karla Camila Cabello, March 3, 1997 (age 15), known by her stage name Camila Cabello is from Miami, Florida, she's the only member of the group that did not have their audition and bootcamp performance shown due to copyright issues. She is half-Cuban and half-Mexican. Cabello once did a cover of Skyscraper by Demi Lovato on YouTube. Her influences include Disney stars and teen icons such as Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, and Miley Cyrus. She has also stated that The X Factor judge/mentor Demi Lovato was one of her biggest influence too. Despite her being a mentor/judge and Cabello being a contestant on the show.
Lauren Jauregui
Lauren Michelle Jauregui, June 27, 1996 (age 16), is from Miami, Florida and the eldest of three children. She attended Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart since she was in 7th grade. Jauregui is rumored to be dating Emblem3 member Keaton Stormberg but has denied it. Jauregui said "My family is the most important thing to me. They're my supporters, they're my loved ones, and they're everything to me." Jauregui's audition has over a million views on YouTube. Her father, Mike Jauregui, is a huge supporter of Fifth Harmony. Jauregui musical influences include a mixture of Kelly Clarkson and Coldplay.
Normani Hamilton
Normani Kordei Hamilton, May 31, 1996 (age 16), was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, until Hurricane Katrina hit the area in 2005 resulting in her family moving to Houston, Texas where she currently resides. Hamilton has been singing and dancing ever since age 4. Her biggest musical influences are Aretha Franklin, Beyonce, Alicia Keys, and Jennifer Hudson. She considered herself a soul and gospel singer until she was formed into a girl group. Hamilton has won a series of awards and honors, including receiving a spot in the prestigious group LA Entertainment Dance League and on Louisiana and Texas Regional and State awards. Prior to The X Factor she competed in Miss Texas pageant and made it all the way to the finals but instead decided to audition for The X Factor. During her time on the show she has had a friendly connection with The X Factor contestant Arin Ray. There have been multiple rumors about the two dating, but both have denied the rumors. This caused an X Factor conflict with the show and Simon Cowell. Hamilton has also played the role of Bryn in a short titled "Book," which deals with bullying and social prejudice. “There is definitely a lot of pressure on us, being a part of Simon Cowell’s team, because he is one of the most, if not the most, respected talent scout in the world,” Hamilton says. “The fact that he believes in our potential as a group is a huge accomplishment.” Hamilton has participated in modeling for brands like Target and has done runway appearances as well.
