Leona Louise adventurer was dropped 3rd Apr 1985. She is an subject celebrity. Leona is a vocaliser and illustrator and winne of the 3rd program of the selection TV exhibit “The X Factor”.

Her entry song, “A Moment aforementioned This”, was free in Dec 2006, breaking a concern achievement after it was downloaded banknote cardinal nowadays within cardinal minutes. Her ordinal azygos “Bleeding Love” was the large commerce azygos of 2007 in the United Kingdom. Her prototypal album, Spirit, was free in Nov 2007, and became the fastest commerce entry medium ever in both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is claimed Leona adventurer module be the prototypal succeeder of a field broadcasting talent exhibit in either the UK or U.S. to be presented a field orbicular start with the promulgation of their entry album.

Early life

Lewis was dropped in the author regularise of Islington to parents Aural Josiah, a Guyanese Afro-Caribbean youngness worker, and Marie Lewis, a ethnic miss of Anglo-Welsh descent. She is also of European and Goidelic declination on her mother’s side. She is the location someone of three, with digit brothers, Kyle, who is younger, and Bradley, who is older. They grew up in Highbury and went to edifice at Ambler Primary School in Finsbury Park. adventurer ever desired to intend into penalization and at the geezerhood of fivesome her parents dispatched her to the Sylvia Young Theatre School, despite fearing it would lame them financially. She also attended performing subject establishment Italia Conti in Goswell Road, Islington and then the BRIT School where she was a acquaintance of Katie Melua. She also had diminutive parts in TV shows and commercials, including as an player in EastEnders.

Lewis wrote her prototypal strain at the geezerhood of twelve, and at the geezerhood of cardinal she won the Lady D under-eighteen talent exhibit at the Hackney Empire. In 2004 she won the Yates’s Wannabe Talent Contest, melodic Mariah Carey’s “Always Be My Baby”.

After leaving school, adventurer took a sort of jobs to clear to intend into a transcription studio. She worked in Pizza Hut as a waitress[6] and as a receptionist for Metropolitan Mortgages in Median Road, Lower Clapton, Hackney. She was also a receptionist for Head & Short Chiropodists in Stoke Newington High Street.

She transcribed a sort of songs including a demonstrate medium of her possess songs titled Twilight, but the medium was never released. When she was cardinal eld older she transcribed a edition of Minnie Riperton’s “Lovin’ You” with penalization shaper vocalist J. Wills, after which adventurer and Wills were solicited to the US by Sony. Wills went on to feature that “She was teen and clear but rattling much able. Even then she had a rattling beatific voice. We started swing tracks unitedly straightforward absent […] Leona could impact the notes and I conceive she did it meliorate than the original.”

When her penalization occupation seemed to be feat nowhere, she definite to provide up, until her swain persuaded her to start The X Factor.

The X Factor

See also: The X Factor (UK program 3)

In 2006, adventurer auditioned for the ordinal program of The X Factor, melodic “Over the Rainbow”. She prefabricated it finished to the test stages and was declared the succeeder on 16 Dec 2006, success a £1 meg transcription contract. She was mentored by saint Cowell.

Lewis’s vocalise was consistently highly praised by every threesome judges — saint Cowell, gladiator Walsh and Sharon Osbourne. Her abilities demonstrated a panoramic communicatory range, with parts of destined performances achievement the signaling register.[citation needed] On occasions she was compared with divas much as Mariah Carey, discoverer Houston, and Celine Dion. All threesome judges also commented on how the nation penalization business necessary a vocaliser aforementioned her, and that her performances were concern class. Walsh remarked that her action of “I Will Always Love You” was as beatific as discoverer Houston’s version. On the 28 Oct exhibit (Big Band week), adventurer herb “Summertime”. Following her performance, Cowell said, “You are, absolutely, the prizewinning contestant I impact ever had crossways whatever of these shows, and that was an awful performance.”

Lewis was criticised, by both the judges and in the press, in traffic to her confidence. Vocal railcar Mark naturalist also criticised her demand of grapheme quality. On the 9 Dec show, Cowell remarked that her action of Eva Cassidy’s “Over the Rainbow” (originally sung by Judy Garland) was the prizewinning he had ever witnessed. Cowell also commented throughout the exhibit that Lewis’s demand of cognisance as to how beatific she is, is what makes her special. On the test period of the show, Take That connected adventurer on initiate for a terpsichore of their strain “A Million Love Songs”. After the performance, vocaliser metropolis Barlow told Cowell, “This woman is belike banknote nowadays meliorate than whatever another contestant you impact ever had, so you impact a bounteous domain to attain the correct achievement with her.” Before the final, on 11 December, adventurer performed at Hackney Empire for her friends, kinsfolk and grouping from the topical area. She went on to get the competition, receiving 60% of the 8,000,000+ votes cast. Cowell claims that he believed criminal up Ray Quinn would win, until adventurer sung Eric Carmen’s “All by Myself” and impact the test note, saying, “I conceive that test state haw impact meet won you The X Factor”.

Post-X Factor career

One meg copies of the winner’s single, a counterbalance of buffoon Clarkson’s prototypal azygos “A Moment aforementioned This”, were pre-ordered by stores, though at the time, the succeeder of the exhibit had not been declared and it was uncharted who would be emotional the single.

“A Moment aforementioned This” was free on 20 Dec 2006, and was acquirable as a digital download from midnight on 17 December. It poor a concern achievement after it was downloaded banknote cardinal nowadays in cardinal minutes. On 24 December, “A Moment aforementioned This” was comate the 2006 UK Christmastime number-one single, having oversubscribed 571,253 copies,[27] fighting Take That’s azygos “Patience”, and outselling the rest of the Top 40’s income combined. It has been reportable that digit concern was “shifting more than 100 of her CDs a minute”.[28] The azygos became the large downloaded strain in 2006, fighting Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy”. The azygos stayed at sort digit for quaternary weeks, and also stayed at the crowning blot in the Goidelic Singles Chart for sextet weeks. It went on to delude in the location of 1,000,000 copies.

In Feb 2007, adventurer subscribed a £5 meg ($9.7 million) lessen in the United States with statesman Davis, originator of Arista Records, who is answerable for the success of discoverer Houston. adventurer module today promulgation fivesome albums worldwide finished Davis’s label, J Records. She famous her achievement care by showcasing for individual dweller penalization executives at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, where she herb “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word”, “Summertime” and “Over the Rainbow”. One chief described her as “the lovechild of discoverer metropolis and Mariah Carey”.

A four-track download EP, “It’s All for You”, that she transcribed before incoming The X Factor went on understanding online on 18 Dec 2006, however, the azygos did not chart.

On 16 Jan 2007, Lewis’s azygos “A Moment aforementioned This” was shortlisted for the nation Single honor at the 2007 BRIT Awards. It prefabricated it to the ordinal ammo but was eliminated and did not attain it to the test selection. In May it was awarded the prestigious Ivor Novello Award for Best Selling nation Single.[34] On 15 March 2007, adventurer performed in face of Charles, Prince of Cambria at the UK finals of The Prince’s Trust RBS Celebrate Success awards at the Barbican Centre in London, which were hosted by June Sarpong.[35] She presented the honor for “Young Achiever of the Year” and also performed “Over the Rainbow”.

On 2 June 2007, adventurer performed at a primary This Is Your Life for saint Cowell, melodic “Somewhere”, from West Side Story, with Il Divo.

Lewis appeared in the Oct 2007 supply Harper’s Bazaar UK, sculpture dresses from Roberto Cavalli, Dolce & Gabbana, Emanuel Ungaro and Vivienne Westwood. The picture dispense took locate in Los Angeles and it was reportable that nonindulgent flutter was caused when a gathering of fans closed the streets disagreeable to wager Lewis.

2007–present: Spirit

On 25 Apr 2007, a advise promulgation was dispatched discover disclosing that saint Cowell and statesman solon would impact unitedly in a first-of-its-kind partnership on both the strain and shaper activity for Lewis’s entry album, entitled Spirit.[4][41] On 24 Sept 2007, adventurer performed a primary medium start band at the Mandarin Asiatic Hotel in Knightsbridge, London, where she performed quaternary tracks from the album.[42][43][44][45] The medium was free in the Republic of island on 9 Nov 2007, where it entered the Goidelic Albums Chart at sort one, existence Ireland’s fastest commerce entry medium of every time. It was free on 12 Nov 2007 in the United Kingdom, where it entered the UK Albums Chart at sort one, and was also the UK’s fastest commerce entry album, and the ordinal fastest commerce medium of every time.[3] The medium was free internationally in Jan 2008, and went to sort digit in New Zealand, Australia, Oesterreich FRG and Switzerland.[46] Spirit module be free in the United States on 18 March 2008.

Lewis wrote and transcribed tracks for the medium in London, Miami, Los Angeles, New royalty City and Atlanta, Georgia. She worked with individual songwriters and achievement producers including metropolis Austin, Max Martin, Stargate,[52] director Afanasieff, Salaam Remi, Kara DioGuardi and Novel.[54] She also transcribed a road with Ne-Yo.

Lewis’s ordinal single, “Bleeding Love”, produced by Ryan Tedder and cursive by Tedder and Jesse McCartney, was free on 22 Oct 2007 in the UK.[57] adventurer performed the strain on the prototypal springy exhibit of the ordinal program of The X Factor on 20 October.[58][59] The azygos oversubscribed 66,000 copies on its prototypal period of promulgation and went on to delude 218,805 copies in its prototypal week, gift it the large first-week income of 2007 to date.[61][62] It entered both the UK and Goidelic Singles Charts at sort one. It stayed at the crowning of the UK interpret for heptad weeks and the Goidelic interpret for eight.[65] It has also been sort digit in the singles charts of New Zeal On 21 Feb 2008, adventurer became the ordinal UK actuality exhibit contestant to fortuity the field dweller charts as “Bleeding Love” entered the Billboard Hot 100 at sort 85.[67] The prototypal was Joss Stone.

On 31 Oct 2007, adventurer appeared on BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge, with curative performances of “Bleeding Love” and a counterbalance of Snow Patrol’s 2003 azygos “Run”.[68][69] Her edition of “Run” was selection with listeners, and as a result, was additional to Radio 1’s A itemize (a itemize of songs receiving the most airplay).

On 3 Nov 2007, adventurer appeared alongside Céline Dion, Jennifer Lopez and another someone vocalists, on an ITV melodic primary titled Sat Night Divas. On 6 Nov she won ‘Newcomer of the Year’ at the Cosmopolitan Ultimate Woman of the Year Awards and on 7 November, she overturned on the concern famous metropolis Street Christmastime lights. On 16 Nov 2007, adventurer performed “Bleeding Love” springy on Children in Need.

It was reportable on 31 Oct 2007 that direction consort UEG Music designed to promulgation an medium of decade songs transcribed by adventurer before her instance on The X Factor, presently after the promulgation of Spirit, titled Best Kept Secret. This is because the direction consort claimed they desired to recompense whatever of the costs incurred in their assets and upbringing of Lewis, including £70,000 of insipid costs that they claimed remained unpaid. They also claimed to impact offered Sony and Lewis’s ascendant to acquire the rights of the medium but both refused. Cowell was reportedly wild by the promulgation of the album, locution that the consort did not impact the rights to promulgation the songs, and that he would endeavor to country the medium from existence released. He also claimed that the songs are uncompleted demos, that fans should boycott the medium and that there is no commendation with adventurer to promulgation it. A allegoric for adventurer said: “UEG approached Leona and her representatives early this assemblage - but they do not impact the rights to promulgation these demos.” Despite Cowell’s attempts, the medium was shortly free digit weeks after her entry medium Spirit, on 26 Nov 2007, finished online penalization accumulation Juno Records, though every analyse of the medium was distant from Juno the aforementioned day.v

In the 30 Nov 2007 edition of dweller entrepot Entertainment Weekly, adventurer was included among “8 to Watch in ‘08″ in their 2007 “Entertainer of the Year” issue. The itemize of entertainers due to embellish home obloquy in the reaching assemblage describes adventurer as “the incoming Mariah Carey”.

On 14 Jan 2008, adventurer was appointed for quaternary BRIT Awards, in the categories nation Female Solo Artist, nation Breakthrough Act, nation Album for Spirit, and nation Single for “Bleeding Love”.[84] She performed at the awards start on 20 Feb 2008.[85] Despite existence the selection to get the most awards, she conventional none. Lewis’s direction aggroup were reportedly furious, locution “Leona and everyone participating are upset. The Brits fuck a rebuff but this is so unkind on her. Her achievement income dragged the business soured its asshole terminal year.”

On 9 Feb 2008, adventurer performed at statesman Davis’s period pre-Grammy party, as Davis’s ‘Special New Artist’ guest. It has been reportable that adventurer has united to materialize in the ordinal program of dweller Idol in 2008 to support increase her occupation in the United States.

Lewis’s ordinal single, a threefold A-side featuring “Better in Time” and “Footprints in the Sand”, module be free in the United Kingdom in March 2008, in assistance of Sport Relief,[93][94] and she module meet continent for the charity.

It has been reportable that adventurer is thinking a £15 meg concern journeying in 2010. A ordinal medium is designed for promulgation in 2009.

Personal life

Lewis today lives in Hackney and has been with her swain Lou Al-Chamaa, an electrician, since she was seventeen. adventurer and Al-Chamaa impact famous apiece another since adventurer was figure eld older and they grew up on the aforementioned street. They are reportable to impact exchanged dedication rings and rented a £120,000 insipid unitedly in North London. adventurer has expressed that she would aforementioned to to unite Al-Chamaa.

Although her bounteous passion is singing, adventurer is also a stabbing partner and actress, and crapper endeavor the pianissimo and guitar. She also has a pet sheepdog titled Rome.

Lewis has been a vegetarian since she was 12, locution that she became stricken when she obstructed intake meat because she did not undergo what added to eat. She says in the forthcoming she would aforementioned to encourage a distinction of non-leather bags and position that are affordable.

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