Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan of One Direction have been selected to represent the UK by performing at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics held in London. They will be performing their multi-platinum debut single “What Makes You Beautiful” from their debut studio album Up All Night on Aug 12 2012.

The British-Irish boy band was chosen to be the lead performers of the night, and was chosen over other successful British performers such as George Michael and Robbie Williams. They will be performing alongside a flash mob of about a thousand dancers.

“The main theme of the Olympic closing ceremony will be celebrating the best of British music, so it's only right that One Direction are opening the show. They are the UK's biggest music ­export at the moment behind Adele, who is also ­rumored to be involved in some way. It's all top secret and the boys aren't allowed to talk about it but they are thrilled,” said a source.

“It isn't every day you get the instant exposure of performing in front of a billion people. One Direction are unstoppable at the moment. They have achieved many career highlights at such an early age but this is right up there. To perform in their home country's Olympic ceremony is like winning their very own gold medal.”

One Direction is currently one of Britain’s most successful acts to date, having garnered a huge fan-base of several million people. Just a year ago, the band were unknown out of the UK and Ireland – and now, they are performing sold-out concerts in the United States and Australia.

It is going to be a very hectic year for the boys. They have another world tour coming out, and they are also rumored to be voicing a cartoon series. On top of that, their second studio album is set for release in either late 2012 or 2013. These five boys have definitely taken the world by storm.

Reports have suggested that One Direction will be performing in front of a worldwide audience of about one billion, from all over the world. This could be their key to dominating the Asian markets, which is their next goal after their stint in the United States.

Their phenomenal success in the United States has led their label Sony Music UK to predict One Direction’s net worth to be a whopping $100 million dollars in 2013.