One Direction-mania sweeps America

One Direction taking America by storm Credit: X Factor

Scroll down for One Direction's New York performance

X Factor's One Direction are taking America by storm in scenes reminiscent of 1960's Beatlemania.

Screaming teenage girls welcomed the five boys, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson, as they performed live in New York during NBC's Today show.

The band's song What Makes You Beautiful became the highest debut single for a UK band in the US for almost 14 years, charting at 28 in the Billboard Singles Hot 100.

In comparison, the fab four from Liverpool saw their first proper release in the US, I Want to Hold Your Hand, debut at number 45 in January 1964.

Simon Cowell is confident of One Direction's success in America Credit: REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Simon Cowell, who mentored the boy band in ITV's X Factor, told a press conference last month that One Direction were "about to literally explode in America".

Fans of the boy band spoke about their performance in New York on social networking site twitter:

However, not everyone was pleased with the comparisons between One Direction and The Beatles: