Leona Lewis

British singer Leona Lewis is making a huge impact on the worldwide music scene.

Soulful singer Leona Lewis was born in Islington, London, England to parents Joe and Maria Lewis. She is the second child in the family and has two brothers, Kyle and Bradley. Noticing her talents early, her parents enrolled Leona in the prestigious Sylvia Young Theatre School at the age of five and later at the equally as prestigious schools, the Italia Conti Academy and the BRIT school. Given the schools she was attending since such a young age, it's no surprise that Lewis penned her first song at the age of 12. By the time she was 13, she had already won the Hackney Empire Lady D award in the Under 18 category.

When Leona Lewis was 21, she auditioned for the Simon Cowell produced talent show The X Factor. During the course of the show, it was evident to the judges and the public that Lewis had amazing vocal talent, but she was often criticized for her lack of confidence. Vocal coach and music producer Mark Hudson even went so far as to comment that Lewis lacked "star quality." As the third season of the hugely popular U.K. show progressed, judges and critics alike were still not convinced that Lewis had what it took to become a star, that is, until her performance of the Porgy and Bess classic, Summertime. It was during this performance in which the usually acerbic Simon Cowell stated that he saw Lewis "transform from a great singer to a superstar."

After winning the show by a huge margin (receiving 4.8 million of the total 8 million votes), it didn't take long for Leona Lewis and superstardom to meet.

After winning the £1 million contract, Leona Lewis worked with Cowell and her first planned single released was a remake of A Moment Like This, originally sung by American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson. The single broke worldwide records upon its release by being downloaded over 50,000 in just 30 minutes. With the enormous success of her debut single, some may have feared that Leona Lewis was going to be relegated to "One Hit Wonder" land. Their fears were put to rest as her follow up single Bleeding Love, written by Jesse McCartney and One Republic's Ryan Tedder, sold 66,000 copies in its debut week and took the number one spot on the U.K. Singles charts for nearly two months.

With the magnitude of popularity of her first two singles, it isn't surprising that her obviously highly anticipated first album Spirit debuted at number one in nine different countries worldwide. The album also holds the title for the fastest selling debut album in the U.K. Seems that Simon Cowell was right when he said that Leona Lewis was "…one of the most talented singers I have ever heard. I have a feeling America is going to feel the same way about her." Cowell was so impressed by Lewis' talents that he gave legendary music producer Clive Davis a call. Davis and Cowell signed Leona Lewis to a J Records/SyCo contract for five albums at the rate of £1 million per album.

Lewis' second album is set for release in 2009.

Here are a few fun trivia facts about the beautiful and talented Leona Lewis:

• She's a vegetarian
• Worked at Pizza Hut
• Plays the Piano
• Plays the guitar
• Doesn't drink alcohol
• Stays in shape by belly dancing
• Currently holds the record for consecutive weeks in the number one spot for female artist single on the Pop 100 for Bleeding Love
• Wants to design a line of non-leather shoes
• Has known her current boyfriend since she was nine years old
• Scoffed at rumors that she and Cowell were having an affair, claiming he was "too old" for her. Ouch.

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