Leona Lewis
It is now two years since Leona Lewis was politely asked to step on the X and take her tentative first audition steps at a TV talent show. Her spine-tingling vocal delivery and classy posture immediately separated her from the hundreds of thousands of wannabes that have assumed the same position for the last five years.
With no gimmicks necessary, within two weeks of the live show, Leona Lewis had become the new thermometer by which the temperature of all the talents that have splayed themselves in front of Simon Cowell, on both sides of the Atlantic have since been measured. She has been used adjectivally to render the TV talent show something more than first class Saturday night entertainment. She has made it important to the music business itself; to the hopes and dreams of young singers itching to get the break; to the idea of British talent operating at an international standard, period. Behind her coy smile, Leona Lewis is something very special.
‘Forgive Me’ is the latest release from the new global icon Leona Lewis. ‘Forgive Me’ is a song that takes Leona bang out of a balladeering comfort zone and into the contemporary buzz of street-beats and killer hooks. Written and produced by US singer -songwriter Akon, imagine a crossover point between Whitney’s ‘I’m Your Baby, Tonight’ and Gwen Stefani’s ‘Sweet Escape’, add Leona’s remarkable vocals and you’re half way there.
Some Leona statistics to mull over for a second. Her debut single, ‘A Moment Like This’, was downloaded 50,000 times in the first half hour preceding her benchmark X Factor triumph in December 2006. Sales of its follow up, ‘Bleeding Love’, now stand at a staggering 2.9 million. It has been number one in almost every country you have ever heard of (go on, try naming more than 35 off the top of your head!). ‘Spirit’ has cleared 4 and a half million till receipts worldwide, including over 1 million in the UK and 2 in the US. With all due respect to the lads from Sheffield, it effortlessly outstripped the Arctic Monkeys debut album to become the fastest selling debut of all time in her homeland. It has been certified Platinum in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, South Africa, Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia, 6 x Platinum in Ireland and has been certified Gold in Japan, Holland, Italy, Sweden, Austria, Belgium and Hong Kong. It is and she is a phenomenon.
Statistically, emotionally, dramatically and with an apparent ease that masks the deeper machinations of Leona’s fundamental talent, 2008 has been hers. With Leona this still feels like the beginning of a story that will continue to beguile her millions of admirers and bemuse the received wisdom of how the star story ought to progress for a long time into the future.
The music video airs on Channel 4 tonight at 11.05pm.