One Direction To Help Inaugurate Simon Cowell’s You Generation

Simon Cowell‘s The You Generation is about to begin its yearlong quest to uncover hidden talent all over YouTube, and the blunt British music exec has invited some special guests to help kick things off in style. One Direction, best known for its huge Twitter following and sing-songy pop rock anthems, is appearing on the channel at 2 PM EST for a special performance of some sort.

In a short preview

, channel presenter Will Best hinted that the boy band’s appearance may not be what fans are expecting. “Because we’re all about hidden talents here on The You Generation, I’m going to be challenging them to show off a new set of skills.” Is that new set of skills the ability to write their own songs?

A live stream of the launch event will be available on The You Generation‘s YouTube channel.

One Direction have been allied with Cowell from the start. Its members came to international attention after finishing third in the seventh season of Cowell’s British series The X-Factor. After the band’s success on that show, One Direction signed with Cowell’s Syco Records, at which point it was off to the races. Now, they’re giving back to the man who helped launch them. Aww, how cute.

Once One Direction is done dropping its sexy all over The You Generation, the channel will kick off its search, which will span 26 different categories and will evidently involve hundreds of startled young people, a healthy dose of sarcastic quipping, and, if we’re lucky, some prolific displays of talent.