5-year-olds from Arizona in Mormon boy-band hit YouTube

You've probably heard of Harry, Niall, Louis, Zayn and Liam — and if you haven't, ask any teenage girl.

But the boy band that may have a hit record 15 years from now is YouTube's latest, Five and Fresh.

These five 5-year-old Mormon boys from Arizona recently came together with their four older sisters to create a music video to the famous One Direction song, “That's What Makes You Beautiful.” The video stars Colton Wiggins, Cougar Holt, Byron Sargent, Vern Wolfley and Daxon Lutter with feature appearances by Cambry Wiggins, Kendal Holt, Natalie Wolfley and Savannah Sargent. While the production was full of stylish moves and trendy outfits, parents also took the opportunity to teach their kids about self-worth and respect.

It all started because of the boys' love for the song. With older sisters who constantly played the tune, it was easy for the boys to learn every word and eventually love the song themselves.

“All of these boys are just best of friends,” said Blaine Wiggins, the filmmaker and father of Colton. “We're all in the same (LDS) ward so they are in the same class together and go to kindergarten together. So most of them are in the same carpool, and as the moms would pick them up they would get the request from the boys, 'Play our song!'”

Wiggins has created several videos with his kids before — several for Mother's Day and others starring each one of his kids — so Colton knew it was his turn to star in a video and began to ask when they could make a film with his friends and him. It was after Wiggins recognized the boys knew all the words to the One Direction song that he began to think of producing the boy band music video.

“I made the mistake of telling Colton and his buddies about it a little prematurely because this was before the holidays,” Wiggins said. “But they were so patient — as patient as 5-year-olds can be. But they would ask me all the time, 'Brother Wiggins, when are we going to make the video?'”

A few weeks ago Wiggins decided it was time to finally get the video done. Nine kids arrived (five boys and four older sisters) along with a mom to help with hair. Wiggins spent a couple hours shooting as the boys and girls took their turns to be in front of the camera. He then spent a few hours each night editing the footage, finally creating the finished product.

Wiggins invited all of the families over recently to watch the video.

“We had a red carpet, we had them dress all 'Hollywood-like' and we had the big premiere of their video,” he said.

But Wiggins said he and his wife also took the opportunity to talk to their kids about what the song is all about.

“We used it as a teaching point for one of our family home evenings,” Wiggins said. “Clearly they like the song, but we wanted to talk about the message of it to young men. We talked about how they need to treat women the way they deserve to be treated, and that they are beautiful inside and out. That's a big thing in our family. We want our boys to be gentlemen.

“So we used that song to help teach how important it is to acknowledge that all young women are daughters of God. And it's the same thing with our daughter. I can tell her she is beautiful, her mom can tell her she is beautiful, but ultimately she can know her Heavenly Father knows she is beautiful inside and out.”

Wiggins said they don't always turn the song into a teaching moment.

“When the song comes on and we dance to it as a family we don't always necessarily make it a family home evening moment,” Wiggins said. “But it was nice that we could use it as a chance to talk to our kids.”

Since the video was posted on YouTube it has received almost 5,000 views to the excitement of Colton, who checks the total views with his dad every day.

“They all think they're famous and they are all convinced that they are going to meet One Direction,” Wiggins said.

But the 5-year-old boys aren't the only ones who think they can make it big. Several pre-teen girls in the boys' ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are already fans.

“As a bishopric we had our 'New Beginnings' night,” Wiggins said. “And mind you, I had only put the video up the day before. I knew some people had passed it around, but I didn't know the reach. So I walked in and all these girls came running up to me, 'Brother Wiggins, Brother Wiggins, we saw Colton's video!' And before I knew it I was surrounded by all these little 11-year-old girls.”

Wiggins talked with the girls and found out they had watched the video several times.

“So I jokingly said, 'Oh, well, did you guys get their poster? Are they up in your room?' They really thought I was serious and wanted a poster,” Wiggins said. “So the next day I was driving to work and I just thought, 'How cool would it be if I designed a couple Five and Fresh T-shirts and posters and made a little website to sell them?' So then I decided we'll have 100 percent proceeds go to the boys' mission funds. Who knows if anyone will actually buy them, but at least the girls in our ward will have cool T-shirts and posters of these little 5-year-olds.”

Overall the experience brought lots of fun memories and an opportunity to spend quality time together as a family.

“It was just so much fun to make,” Wiggins said. “It was definitely a family affair.”

Sarah Sanders Petersen is an intern for Deseret News where she writes for Mormon Times and other feature articles. She is a communications major and editing minor from Brigham Young University.