After One Direction became an instant – almost frighteningly so – pop phenomenon, subsequent series saw the judges search for acts who already had "the look" and the show became a marketing machine instead of a search for pure talent. In series seven, five boys who auditioned as solo artists were put together by judge Nicole Scherzinger, not on the basis that they were all great singers but because they looked good and would make a shit ton of money. While Simon Cowell churned out pop stars year on year, they weren't quite achieving the same level of international success as Leona – something needed to be done. In the handful of years following, you could practically feel the grip of Simon Cowell's stranglehold on the music industry tighten in his constant bid to earn Syco the Christmas number 1 and more. It spawned an international success in Leona Lewis it was now a legitimate way into the music industry, and so began its winning streak. In that way, the song changed pop's direction at the time.īy the fifth series of the show, two years after Leona's victory, considering The X Factor a second-rate talent show felt laughable. Beyoncé and Jordin Sparks both enlisted his help for their own hits have a listen now, and you'll see that "Halo" and Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield" follow pretty much the same sonic formula as "Bleeding Love". In addition to making Leona a star, the song also introduced Ryan Tedder's signature simple chord progressions and blatant heartstring-pulling production to pop. Depending on how strong a stomach you have for fist-pumping pop power balladry, that wasn't Leona's only major impact. "Bleeding Love" was nominated for actual Record of the Year at the 51st Grammyss in 2008 and still Leona remains the only act from X Factor to ever be Grammy-nominated.īut fine, stats are one thing. It went on to top the charts in over 35 countries and became the best selling worldwide single of 2008. It was crowned the best selling single of 2007 in Britain and in March 2008 it clawed its way from number 8 to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Leona only the third UK female artist to hit the top spot with a debut US single.
"Bleeding Love" went on to sell over 200,000 copies in its first week of release in the UK and spent seven weeks at number one. "Sometimes a vocal or emotion can make the song and she murdered that record – it's still one of the best vocals I've heard in the past ten years." "A lot of people think a hit song is a hit song for everybody," he said. The song was originally written by McCartney for his own album Departure, but he later admitted that he didn't think it would've been such a success if he'd kept it for himself. It was remixed for nightclubs and played across every Oceana in the country the grotty student house parties I went to always seemed to end with "Bleeding Love" and it even earned the singer a degree of credibility from people who hated the show, who begrudgingly accepted that it was a hit. Leona wielded her voice like both a weapon and instrument on it, going from her potential as "nice voice that can fade into the background" to something much more powerful. Leona's melismatic vocals floated over Tedder's meaty, modish production, transforming a relatively standard ballad into a song that hit a particular nerve like the zap of electricity when your hand hits the static charge on a car door handle. Co-written by OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder and Jesse McCartney (the guy who did " Beautiful Soul"), the song delivered something the previous X Factor singles hadn't. But after stern warning from pop's self-appointed wise dad Gary Barlow to not squander Leona's obvious pop star potential, actual time, effort and money was put into making her a star.Ī year later in 2007, the R&B-tinged pop ballad "Bleeding Love" came fluttering and falsettoeing into the world. Previous winners traditionally rush-released a follow up single and album within months of winning. After landing the coveted Christmas number 1 with her winner's single, a cover of Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This", Leona was given a whole year to work on her debut album.
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