Her voice is nice but I wonder how it would translate to music I haven't heard before.

Leona is alright, I guess. The problem is that her upper range is strong, but her lower range is unimpressive. So that really restricts her. This is has been consistent in all her live performances.

Here she is performing Without You: http://www.youtube.com/wa...oMkC3MVF6g

Also, she has the same singing mannerisms as every other reality contestant out there.

TommyRoss said:

Well to her credit she did a version of Donna's Could It Be Magic on whatever show she was on (I have no idea about British TV). She seems to be in the Mariah/Whitney vein vocally. You know none of these winners ever take big musical risks, at least not with the debut. Simon will give her some Will Young schmaltz.

WOW I totally disagree.....I saw her perform her new single live yesterday evening and towards the end of the song she hits the lower range and I tell you she held her own.

what mannerims do you refer to?

VoicesCarry said:

I hadn't heard that one until you mentioned it. Good stuff. I think I'm always going to prefer Barry's original, but Donna's remake is very, very good. She made it her own. That Leona one is a good knock off. She does have that Mariah dolphin thing. Never heard it before.

http://www.youtube.com/wa...laqEDHASzQ

beautifullandb said:

If she hits your spot, that's good. I've just followed her performances and haven't been really that impressed one way or another. Part of the reason why Mariah is so good at these types of tracks is she can go REALLY low, which Without You needs in the intro. Then you go up like three octaves or so when you break out into the big emotional part. That's the way the song needs to be done, and Mariah understood that but had the vocals to back it up. You either do the song in a super-dramatic fashion or you do it in soft, acoustic singer-songwriter way. There's no in-between.



I call it the Mariah/Whitney stylie. Except they are never as good as Mariah or Whitney. So it winds up looking like self-conscious karaoke night. Made even worse by the fact they choose to sing Mariah & Whitney tracks, often in the exact same way as Mariah or Whitney did it.
[Edited 12/17/06 15:14pm]

I'm just looking forward to her own material to come out, hopefully the label will do right by her and won't have her doing covers.

beautifullandb said:

Unfortunately you will have to wait until her second album to get anything remotely interesting. Simon will be in control, I'm guessing? It will be complete schmaltz with a few covers. First albums of these winners ALWAYS suck.

I loved her performances. I agree that she is the best thing that UK X
Factor has produced. I think time will tell, but Simon did respond to Gary's comments and said that he was speaking to people in America about her (writing/producing I presume). I think that he is probably aware that it really is in his hands now as she has all the talent but needs to be handled correctly to prevent it being wasted.

Not sure if you guys have discussed her here yet...
she is the winner of X factor in the UK, she has the most amazing voice I have ever heard!
If you get a chance check out her singing 'Summertime' on youtube.
I got goosebumps all over my body thoughout the entire performance she is SENSATIONAL!!
She is gonne be HUGE!

beautifullandb said:

Coming to UK tv screens soon: Whatever Happened to Gareth Gates?

sj1600 said:

The worry about using some US producers is that they will simply churn out the current chart bland Rnb flavour.

Shapeshifter said:

Come on! Gareth Gates...V....Leona? there's no comparison!

beautifullandb said:

You're right. No comparison. Leona's infinitely more talented. BUT the shelf-life of those reality tv show winners is about six to nine months. Exceptions: Will Young and Lemar.