The “Building the Band” finale took a few moments to honor the late Liam Payne, who tragically died months after the Netflix competition series was filmed last year.
On Wednesday, July 23, which also happened to mark the 15th anniversary of the day that One Direction was formed, the streamer released the season finale of “Building the Band,” featuring an appearance by Payne.
During the series, the former boy band member served on a judging panel alongside Nicole Scherzinger and Kelly Rowland to determine which band performed better than the rest and deserved to be crowned the winner, handing them the $500,000 prize.
In the final episode, the show included a sweet behind-the-scenes moment of Payne, paying tribute to him. “In loving memory of Liam Payne” text over the screen reads before One Direction’s first hit, “What Makes You Beautiful” begins blasting through the speakers of the “Building the Band” set.
Fans immediately start singing and dancing along as the camera pans to show Payne proudly smiling. He then stands up and joins the crowd in belting out the lyrics, encouraging them to sing louder.
Next, he makes his way into the crowd and sings with a smaller group of fans into a microphone, nailing his ad-libs from the record. Meanwhile, Scherzinger and Rowland are also clapping along on stage.
Payne keeps motioning for the audience to give it their all while he returns to his seat. As the final lines of the chorus play, he jumps up and down, beaming.
When the song ends, Scherzinger turns to him and says, “That was awesome!”
He gives her a high five and replies, “That was so fun.”
“Building the Band” was Payne’s final television appearance prior to falling to his death from a third floor hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Oct. 16 at the age of 31. The series previously addressed his untimely passing and honored his memory in the premiere. The show opened with a poignant message from host and Backstreet Boy AJ McLean.
“When we came together to film ‘Building the Band,’ we never imagined we’d soon be saying goodbye to our friend, Liam Payne,” McLean said. “Liam is a guest judge in later episodes, and through his presence, we see his deep love for music and his unwavering commitment to helping others find their voice.”
The show included a photo and video montage from Payne’s time on set before the Backstreet Boy member added, “It’s through that spirit that we dedicate this series to Liam and his family.”
McLean also praised Payne during an interview with TODAY.com in which he spoke about their time working on the show together.
“He lit up any room that he walked into,” McLean recalled. “Whether it was a dressing room, on set, where he was, he lit up that space with his energy, with his open heart, open mind. He was extremely, very well spoken, very articulate when it came to giving feedback as a mentor to these groups.”
He also complimented Payne for being “very supportive, rigorously honest in a compassionate way” and “the coolest dude” on the set.
