‘The X Factor’ UK final: Louis Tomlinson performs ‘Just Hold On’ with Steve Aoki

Tonight on “The X Factor” final, we had a chance to see a live performance like we haven’t seen on the show before — really since the very first audition of his back in 2010. After years with One Direction, Louis Tomlinson returned to the series tonight during the first part of the final to perform his new solo song “Just Hold On” with Steve Aoki — it was a big arena and a lot of pressure, but we do have a feeling that he managed to handle that just fine.

The biggest story coming into the performance was mostly about the circumstances that led to him hitting the stage tonight. Earlier this week, Tomlinson lost his mother Johannah Deakin following a battle with leukemia, but he decided to still take the stage and try to perform, knowing that he had the support of not only his fans, but also many of his friends and One Direction bandmates.

One thing we are happy about is that the show really chose to focus more on Louis’ performance of the song rather than trying to find people in the audience. There were reports that many of his bandmates were going to be in the audience of the show, and we really didn’t need to see them to know that they were proud given that this was his moment. It was a powerful, emotional moment to watch, especially given everything that he’s been through.

After the performance, Simon Cowell passed along some incredibly heartfelt words to Louis, and it is something that he can unfortunately relate to having lost his mother just last year. Typically we’d post a poll talking about how the performer did, but we don’t think it’s altogether appropriate in this case. Instead, we invite you to share your thoughts on the performance below. You can also watch it in the attached video.

For some other news when it comes to “The X Factor,” be sure to head over to the link here! (Photo: ITV.)