Yeah, baby, she's got 'It'
Groomed for fame after a talent-show victory, Leona Lewis is taking North America by storm
Non-conformists need not apply, thank you very much. When commercial music mavens Simon Cowell and Clive Davis set out to craft a new pop starlet, they probably had a lovely, compliant sort of singer in mind - someone with the pipes of Whitney Houston, though not the crack pipes; someone like the young Mariah Carey, not the older Mariah scary; someone like the tumultuous Amy Winehouse, but without her assorted barefooted scandals.
They have their anti-diva in Leona Lewis, the dusky-skinned darling who won the third edition of Cowell's British talent show The X Factor in 2006. Under the extreme grooming of Cowell and American producer and label supremo Davis, Lewis has blossomed, from the shy owner of a strong soprano voice to a superstar on the rise. The catchy, syncopated R&B pleader Bleeding Love, from her debut album Spirit, sits atop the Billboard singles chart south of the border and, as of this week, the album itself is No. 1 in Canada, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
It has all been quite a rush for a 23-year-old singer who not so long ago worked as a podiatrist's receptionist and a Pizza Hut waitress in London. "It's kind of amazing," Lewis says, speaking from New York recently. "It's kind of hard to prepare for it, with the media attention and things like that. It's amazing to be doing music on this level."
Lewis says "amazing," or other such bland, praising adjectives, quite a bit. About her singing idol Minnie Ripperton? "She's amazing." About BRIT School, the Fame-like London performing arts academy where Lewis, along with fellow pop stars Kate Nash, Kate Melua, Adele and Winehouse, were trained? "It's a great school." About Oprah Winfrey? "She's such a lovely lady." And about her taskmasters Davis and Cowell? "They're fine, they're all good and lovely and supportive. Clive is so wonderful and so passionate about music, and it's a privilege to work with both of them, with all of their expertise."
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Non-conformists need not apply, thank you very much. When commercial music mavens Simon Cowell and Clive Davis set out to craft a new pop starlet, they probably had a lovely, compliant sort of singer in mind - someone with the pipes of Whitney Houston, though not the crack pipes; someone like the young Mariah Carey, not the older Mariah scary; someone like the tumultuous Amy Winehouse, but without her assorted barefooted scandals.
They have their anti-diva in Leona Lewis, the dusky-skinned darling who won the third edition of Cowell's British talent show The X Factor in 2006. Under the extreme grooming of Cowell and American producer and label supremo Davis, Lewis has blossomed, from the shy owner of a strong soprano voice to a superstar on the rise. The catchy, syncopated R&B pleader Bleeding Love, from her debut album Spirit, sits atop the Billboard singles chart south of the border and, as of this week, the album itself is No. 1 in Canada, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
It has all been quite a rush for a 23-year-old singer who not so long ago worked as a podiatrist's receptionist and a Pizza Hut waitress in London. "It's kind of amazing," Lewis says, speaking from New York recently. "It's kind of hard to prepare for it, with the media attention and things like that. It's amazing to be doing music on this level."
Lewis says "amazing," or other such bland, praising adjectives, quite a bit. About her singing idol Minnie Ripperton? "She's amazing." About BRIT School, the Fame-like London performing arts academy where Lewis, along with fellow pop stars Kate Nash, Kate Melua, Adele and Winehouse, were trained? "It's a great school." About Oprah Winfrey? "She's such a lovely lady." And about her taskmasters Davis and Cowell? "They're fine, they're all good and lovely and supportive. Clive is so wonderful and so passionate about music, and it's a privilege to work with both of them, with all of their expertise."
continue...
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