One Direction decline White House invitation

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/apr/03/one-direction-white-house-invitation

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One Direction are too busy for the White House. As the boyband attempt to break America, they have been forced to decline an invitation to join Barack Obama's family at a forthcoming Easter egg hunt.

Last weekend, the chart-topping mop-tops met Michelle Obama at the Nickelodeon Kid's Choice awards. Impressed with the quintet – or swayed, perhaps, by the opinions of her young daughters – the first lady invited One Direction to join them at the White House's annual Easter Monday egg hunt. Unfortunately, the BBC reports, Malia and Sasha Obama will have to hunt for chocolate without the distraction of British-Irish schoolboys: One Direction are heading off for a tour of Australia.

Asked about the Obamas, One Direction's singers chose their words carefully. "[Michelle] is a very classy woman, very elegant," said Liam Payne. He reportedly rated her "an 11 out of 10". Harry Styles, meanwhile, said he had "too much respect for Barack" to remark on the first lady's appearance.

One Direction have proven a surprise success in America, where their debut album was released on 13 March. Selling 176,000 copies in its first week, Up All Night became the first British debut to instantly top the US charts. That's an even better result than the former X Factor contestants had closer to home: both in Ireland and the UK, Up All Night peaked at No 2.