Leona Lewis

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Leona Lewis

Profession: X Factor Winner
Place/Date of Birth: Islington, London, 03 April 2020

X Factor title for sensation Leona - Dec 16 2006
Singing sensation Leona Lewis was crowned the winner of the X Factor talent show.

The former waitress’ dream of stardom is a step nearer after she beat rival Ray Quinn in the final of the ITV1 reality show.

Thousands of hopefuls entered the competition but their numbers were whittled down to just two by judges Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne, Louis Walsh and the voting public.

A million pound record deal and possible fame awaits Leona, 21, from London, who has dreamed of singing professionally since she was a little girl.

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Biography

Leona Louise Lewis was born in Islington, London on April 3 1985 to Guyanese father Joe and half-Welsh mother, Marie. She grew up in Highbury and won the nearby Hakney Empire’s Lady D talent contest at just thirteen. Talented in acting and dancing as well as singing she attended the Sylvia Young stage school as well as the vocational BRIT School. However, despite recording her own album (which was never released) Leona worked as a Pizza Hut waitress and chiropodist’s receptionist until late 2006.

However, Leona was immediatly noticed by judges when she auditioned for the third series of The X Factor and soon found herself one of Simon Cowell’s under-25s group. Comparisons with Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston were forthcoming as Leona garnered unprecedented praise as she proved from the very beginning to be head and shoulders above the rest of the contestants. She was crowned the X Factor winner with 60% of the votes in the final showdown against fellow under-25 Ray Quinn.

Leona released her debut single, A Moment Like This in the week prior to Christmas, ensuring her a festive number one. Record stores reported unprecedented sales, with one chain selling a hundred copies of the single a minute. The track also knocked Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy of of the year’s number one download spot.

Accoding to the press Whitney Houston has offered to mentor Leona and she is set to fly out to the US to sign a multi-million pound deal with Arista Records.
updated January 2007
October 2007