Leona Lewis
Background information
Birth name	Leona Louise Lewis
Also known as	Leona
Born	April 3, 1985 (1985-04-03) (age 22)
Origin	Islington, London, England
Genre(s)	R&B, soul, ballad, pop
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocals
Years active	2006–present
Label(s)	Sony BMG, Syco Records, J Records
Associated acts	Shayne Ward, Steve Brookstein, Raymond Quinn
Website	www.leonalewismusic.co.uk

Leona Louise Lewis (born April 3, 1985 in Islington, London) is an English singer and songwriter, who was the winner of the 3rd series of The X Factor.

Her debut single, "A Moment like This" was released on 20 December 2006. The single was also available as a digital download from midnight on 17 December and broke a world record after it was downloaded fifty thousand times in thirty minutes.

Biography

Leona Lewis was born in Islington, London, in 1985 to Joe, an Afro-Caribbean and Marie Lewis, of Anglo-Welsh descent. She is the middle child of three, with two brothers, Kyle, who is younger, and Bradley, who is older. They grew up in Highbury and went to school at Ambler Primary School in Finsbury Park. Lewis wrote her first song at the age of twelve, and at the age of thirteen she won the Lady D under-eighteen talent show at the Hackney Empire. She attended the Sylvia Young Stage School, Ravenscourt Theatre School and the BRIT School. Although her big passion is singing, she is also a keen dancer and actress. Before auditioning for The X Factor, Lewis recorded a demo album of her own songs called Twilight, but the album was never released.

Lewis now lives in Hackney. She has been with her boyfriend Lou Al-Chamaa since she was seventeen. Prior to winning The X Factor, she worked as a receptionist for Head & Short Chiropodists in Stoke Newington High Street. She had also worked in Pizza Hut as a waitress.

When Lewis was fifteen years old she recorded a version of Minnie Riperton's "Lovin' You" with music producer Marley J. Wills. Wills went on to say that "She was young and innocent but very much able. Even then she had a very good voice. We started putting tracks together straight away." ... "Leona could hit the notes and I think she did it better than the original."

The X Factor

See also: The X Factor UK and Ireland series 3

Lewis sings in The X Factor final

In 2006, she auditioned for the third series of The X Factor, singing "Over the Rainbow". She made it through to the final stages and was announced the winner on 16 December 2006, winning a £1million recording contract. She was mentored by Simon Cowell.

During the show, her vocal talents were consistently highly praised by all 3 judges (Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne), and on occasions was compared with divas such as Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. All 3 judges also commented on how the British music industry needed a singer like her, and that her performances were world class. Walsh remarked that her performance of "I Will Always Love You" was as good as Whitney Houston's version. In week 3 (Big Band week), Lewis sang "Summertime". Following her performance, Cowell said, "You are, absolutely, the best contestant I have ever had across any of these shows, and that was an amazing performance."

The only criticism Lewis received, both by the judges and in the press, was related to her confidence. On the 9 December show, Cowell remarked that her performance of "Over the Rainbow" was the best he had ever witnessed. Cowell also commented throughout the show that Lewis's lack of awareness as to how good she is, is what makes her special. On the final night of the show, Take That joined Lewis on stage for a duet of their song "A Million Love Songs". After the performance, singer Gary Barlow told Cowell, "This girl is probably fifty times better than any other contestant you have ever had, so you have a big responsibility to make the right record with her." Lewis went on to win the competition, receiving approximately 4,800,000 (60%) of the 8,000,000+ votes cast.

Post-X Factor career