In Italy , the band performed the song at the 2012 Sanremo Music Festival on 14 February 2012 . In France , they performed " What Makes You Beautiful " and " One Thing " on '' Le Grand Journal '' on 22 February 2012 . In the United States , One Direction performed the song along with " More than This " and " One Thing " for the first time on '' The Today Show '' at the Rockefeller Center on 12 March 2012 . An estimated 15,000 fans descended on the plaza . Melissa Lonner , senior entertainment producer for '' The Today Show '' , said : " One Direction is relatively unknown with no hits yet . They basically exploded , and all the adults are saying , ' Who are these people , and how do they know about it ? ' " . They also performed the song at the 2012 Kids ' Choice Awards on 31 March 2012 . One Direction performed " What Makes You Beautiful " and " One Thing " on the NBC comedy television show '' Saturday Night Live '' on 7 April 2012 , and also appeared in a comedy sketch with Sofía Vergara . In Australia , they performed " One Thing " and " What Makes You Beautiful " at the 54th Logie Awards , where they also presented an award for " Most Popular New Female Talent " on 15 April 2012 . On 12 August 2012 , One Direction performed " What Makes You Beautiful " at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in London , which represented the handover to Rio de Janeiro as the host of the 2016 Summer Olympics . It was included on the set list of the group 's headlining sold-out show at Madison Square Garden on 3 December 2012 . One Direction performed the song on two of their major concert tours : '' Up All Night Tour '' ( 2011 – 12 ) and '' Take Me Home Tour '' ( 2013 ) . Also this song added in '' Where We Are Tour '' ( 2014 ) & '' On the Road Again Tour '' ( 2015 ) . The second verse of the song had originally been sung by Malik . After Malik 's departure , Payne took his verse . In 2017 , Harry performed the song on his first solo tour
2012 Sanremo Music Festival
Sanremo Music Festival 2012
What Makes You Beautiful