Leona Lewis Performs "Bleeding Love" on American Idol
On last week’s American Idol results show, X Factor winner Leona Lewis
took the stage to perform her hit single “Bleeding Love.”
When I was watching the performance, I was in shock that it wasn’t lip-synced because I felt like this is one of the best performances by a guest performer in the history of American Idol – not including Idol Gives Back-related performances (where Carrie Underwood’s “I’ll Stand By You” video/performance reigns supreme).
, coincidentally sounds exactly like an American Idol winner’s album, except that it’s a little more ballad heavy than most Idol debuts, even more than Katharine McPhee’s runner-up album.
Considering that Leona Lewis’ first single in England was Kelly Clarkson’s “A Moment Like This,” it’s not surprising that her first album is a little reminiscent of Clarkson’s Thankful album.
If you’re at all interested in the album, take a listen to “Bleeding Love,” “Footprints in the Sand,” “Yesterday,” and “Here I Am,” which are by far the strongest tracks on the album.
Lewis gets a good deal of criticism for taking on a few too many riffs and runs throughout the CD, which makes the CD virtually impossible to sing along with during the bridges and last choruses of songs (though I try), but I actually enjoy the vocal overdone-ness of the album.
People like to throw around the word “diva” with Lewis and vocally, she has “it.” I don’t think that many people should try and do what she does, but she actually makes the most overdone riffs and runs perhaps in the history of modern pop music sound really good.
Check out her performance below and see what you think!
Leona’s UK release wasn’t as ballad-heavy as the US disc. Apparently her label though we needed more of the slower, softer side to Leona to really embrace her and to understand her vocal talent. That’s something I think was true in the nineties, but I don’t think it matters so much anymore. Some of the most popular artists today (whether or not they’ll have staying power) were made so with a hip-hop flavored dance track. Actual range and register often come second to gimmick and trend. But I think Leona in general is a throwback to material you’d hear in the nineties… and I hope she leads the revolution to take music back to a purer place.