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Interview Podcast Audio Leona Lewis
"Bleeding Love"

Music talent show winners always get a big boost.

But as American Idol judge Randy Jackson has said, the win merely gets you a ticket to the dance--just ask folks like Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks.

But for every One-Shot Scott, there are folks like Carrie Underwood, bound to be a star regardless.

By most accounts, Leona Lewis, winner of UK music talent show X Factor, falls into the latter category. In an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show last month, the prickly Simon Cowell--rarely generous with praise--said that during Lewis' third-round X Factor performance, he "could see her transform from a great singer into a superstar."

The requisite top-shelf songwriters and producers have helped Lewis craft a pop album that seems destined for success. She spoke to MP3.com about her idols, her rise to the top, and her new album, Spirit, which hits stores tomorrow.

MP3.com: Hey Leona. Leona Lewis: Hi there. How are you? Good, how are you? Fine thank you. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me. Oh, thank you. I hope you can humor me for a second. I know that your album has been a huge hit in the UK and internationally for quite some time. But for those of us here in America who might live under a rock and haven't heard of you or haven't heard your music yet, I wanted you to start by describing your sound. Well, it's kind of hard to describe my sound. But on the album, there's a mix of classic and contemporary styles. I've got some big ballads on there and then I've got songs like "Bleeding Love," which is a bit more edgy but still very song based and very melody driven. That makes sense. You've mentioned in the past that Whitney Houston is an idol of yours. I was wondering who else was among your favorite artists when you were growing up. Yeah, it's funny, I did listen to some of Whitney Houston. But my biggest influences are probably people like Oleta Adams, Eva Cassidy, people like that. OK, interesting. And you actually got a chance to meet Whitney during Grammy weekend in February, right? Yes, I did. That must have been a nice little thrill for you. Yeah, it was great to meet her. She's fantastic. Did you have any doubts along the way that you would make it in the music business before you made it onto X Factor and before you won the top prize? Was it something that you believed in all along the way? Or were there moments where you thought maybe it was time to get a different career going? Yeah, well, I've been singing for a very long time. I went to performing arts school and then I'd work and then go to the studio whenever I could. Always knew that this is what I wanted to do and I wanted to be a singer and I wanted to write. And it's quite hard when you don't really know that many people. It's kind of hard to get into the music that way.

But the show gave me an excellent platform, and a great chance to showcase myself to people. It just gave me a really good platform. Absolutely. Now the process of putting this record together, following the win on X Factor, was an incredibly long one, with loads and loads of people involved in writing and producing. Was it a difficult process for you? Or did it progress just as you would have hoped it would? I don't think it was difficult at all. It was really enjoyable and I recorded a lot of the album in the States. I worked with a lot of amazing songwriters, and got to write with some real classic ones like Walter Afanasieff and Billy Steinberg--and I got to work with Ryan Tedder as well. From One Republic, yeah. Yeah, exactly. It was a great experience and it was a really kind of natural process, really. Cool. I wanted to ask you about songwriting. Kelly Clarkson, who won American Idol a few years back here in the US and whose song, "A Moment Like This," you covered. She went through a little bout with her record label late last year over her interest in writing her own songs and the label's interest in having her perform songs written by other people. I know you co-wrote two of the songs on this record. But is writing your own songs very important to you? Do you plan to do that as much as you can along the way? Yeah, definitely. It's good to keep that creative flow going and express yourself that way and I love to write as well. But for me, it's about songs I feel connected to, whether I've written them or someone else has. But I'm definitely going to keep on going forward in writing and recording. OK, so it's more about the connection to the song than it is whether or not you wrote it. Yeah, definitely. Got it, OK. I know you don't want to look too far ahead. But what are your longer-term goals in the entertainment world? Do you have acting aspirations? Well, you never know. I love movies and I did drama when I was younger in the performing arts. I'd like to see what happens behind the camera and it's great doing photo shoots and video shoots where you can see all the things that go into it, like lighting-wise, sound, and cameras and stuff. I'm very interested in that side of it as well. So you're interested in the process of all that too, the movie making and stuff. Yeah, definitely. Cool, OK. I saw that you have a birthday coming up. I was curious what your birthday wish might be, at this point. Happiness really is the thing, I think. OK. I know that you are doing several major American morning and daytime talk shows next week around the release of the album, Spirit. But do you have plans to tour more extensively this year? Or are you going to wait and see until after the release of the album? Yeah, you're right. I'm going to wait and see, because I'm just putting the feelers out there right now and people are getting a vibe from me and what I do. So I'm waiting really to see about touring after that. OK, but do you feel very comfortable on stage already? Yeah, that's my comfort zone really, on stage. I love being on stage, I love performing and that's where I get my buzz and my adrenalin rush. That's the main thing. So it's a question of just waiting for the right timing, not whether or not you're into doing it? Yeah, it's all about timing. I got you. OK, well, Leona, I very much appreciate the time. Oh, thank you so much, great to talk to you. You have a good one. Thank you, bye.