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Leona Lewis

Leona Louise Lewis was born in London, England in 1985, to parents of Welsh and Guyanese descent. A talented singer from an early age, Leona attended a number of performing arts schools during her youth including the Sylvia Young Theatre School and the prestigious BRIT School, an academy whose alumni include Amy Winehouse and Kate Nash. She wrote her first song at age twelve, and became a regular at talent shows across the London area.

Though she recorded a demo at age 15 and was even flown once to the United States to meet with Sony executives, no record deal materialized and her singing career stagnated after high school. Though she had considered giving up on music, her boyfriend convinced her to enter the 2006 season of The X Factor, a British musical talent show conceived by Simon Cowell of American Idol fame. Leona ended up in first place, winning herself a recording contract worth one million pounds and sweeping comparisons to divas like Mariah Carey and Celine Dion.

In the wake of her success on The X Factor, Leona went on to release American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson’s song "A Moment Like This" as a single across Great Britain. The single was available in both CD form and as a digital download, setting a world record when it was downloaded over 50,000 times within 30 minutes on her personal website. The success of the single won her a record contract with influential label J Records in the United States, a label whose star-studded roster includes Alicia Keys, Carrie Underwood, and J. Valentine.