Her voice has constantly been likened to those of her idols - Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and Houston herself - and Cowell declared Leona "one of the best singers we've had in this country for 20 years".īut while Leona's life has undoubtedly changed in the past ten months, little news has emerged of her musical progress.
Simon Cowell, The X Factor creator and a man not traditionally known for sentimental outbursts, declared that she had made his "dreams come true".Ĭlive Davis, the American record producer who discovered Whitney Houston, teamed up with Cowell to sign her up for a £5 million, five-album record deal, and even those not particularly enamoured with the reality TV show method of churning out winners, who promptly return to the obscurity from whence they came, couldn't argue with the fact that, in Leona, the show had discovered a girl who could actually sing. The X Factor - and this in itself is no mean achievement - was simply recognising the talent that was there.
Instead of simply being 'discovered', Leona had spent most of her childhood in stage schools prepping herself for stardom. For if The X Factor could unearth someone with Leona's talent, how many other similarly gifted youngsters were just waiting to be plucked from obscurity?Īs it turned out, Leona's story wasn't quite the rags-to-riches one the show liked to portray. The surprise wasn't that she'd won, but rather where she'd been hiding all this time. She blossomed before everyone's eyes, transforming every week from a pretty 21-year-old into a stunning diva, eventually beating the more assured 18-year-old Ray Quinn in the final that was watched by almost 13 million viewers. When Leona won The X Factor, she was the embodiment of a million girls' daydreams.Ī working-class girl from London's Islington, with a normal family, a steady boyfriend and a job as a receptionist, the only thing that set her apart was that extraordinary singing voice.Įvery week we watched as the shy young girl openly battled loneliness and homesickness while stuck away in the house that the show's contestants shared, to astound judges and viewers with her assured performances. "At times, the last year has been pretty overwhelming." "I just look at everything that has gone on before, all the difficulties and upsets, as part of the journey," she says. "Daunting" is a word that frequently peppers Leona's conversation, as do the words, "I have to keep pinching myself", and, "I don't want to waste this opportunity" - phrases she offers up with almost mantra-like regularity.īut the girl who so emphatically won The X Factor last year is "not taking anything for granted" (another choice phrase).
"It was really good fun," she says, her spoken voice surprisingly girly when compared with the womanly sound emerging from the speakers, "but having so many people there, and realising they're all there to make my video, is very daunting." Leona, in her typically unassuming way, isn't so sure.