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Louis Walsh has announced auditions to find a rival to global boyband, One Direction.

The auditions will be held in Ireland, but all nationalities are encouraged to apply, and Walsh is looking for the next global superstars - and apparently already has a record company and partner on side.

He told The Sun, "It has been 12 years since I did auditions for a boy band. It’s boys over 16 from anywhere, any nationality, but they must be prepared to work hard. Vocals are key. I’m looking for five pop stars and I have a major record company and a high profile UK partner."

The auditions are set to take place at The Button Factory in Temple Bar, Dublin, from 19-21 May at noon.

Walsh has previously managed both Boyzone and Westlife, who used to dominate the charts. Boyzone sold over 20 million albums worldwide, whereas Westlife sold over 50 million and had 14 No. 1 hits.

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Louis Walsh has recently apparently signed up for the next series of The X Factor, without even asking for a payrise on his current £1million salary. Despite fellow judges Sharon Osbourne apparently being paid £1.8million and Gary Barlow asking for an increase of his £1.5million salary, Walsh is content to stick with what he's got.

An insider said, "Louis is mindful of economic troubles, particularly in his native Ireland where the property market has crashed, so he didn’t think it was right to ask for a pay rise. A £1million deal is plenty for anyone and he’s just happy to have his place back on the panel."

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