Liam Payne first auditioned for The X Factor U.K. as a solo artist when he was just 14, and Simon Cowell cut him loose at judges’ houses because he felt the singer was too young for the pressures ahead. When Payne auditioned two years later with a rendition of Arthur Hamilton’s “Cry Me a River,” it was with a pitch-perfect, adorably try-hard performance that would set the stage for the rest of his career.