‘Bleeding Love’ belter Leona Lewis wasn’t exactly showing much love to chart rivals in a recent interview with ‘Time Out Dubai’. The 26-year-old, whose most recent ‘Collide‘-lead LP ‘GlassHeart’ was pushed back to a March release, lent her opinion on the current status of the music industry’s vocalists to the worldly magazine, even suggesting reality talent show contestants best their established counterparts.
While many-a-talent show, including ‘American Idol’, ‘The Voice’, and Lewis’ own native ‘X Factor’ have boasted immeasurable talents in their years, is Leona’s assessment far-fetched?
See her thoughts and weigh in on this topic and more after the jump:
Via Time Out Dubai magazine:
TOD: A lot of people don’t take reality TV musicians seriously. Have you encountered that?
LL: “Not really. To be honest, because my first single, ‘Bleeding Love’, did so well – it went number one in, like, 30 different countries – I’ve proved myself not to be a sell-out. And people see me on the show, where people are singing live; there’s no miming like you see so many artists now doing on TV shows. You’re out there in front of so many people and there’s so much pressure. So in all honesty, a lot of reality-show musicians are more talented than the artists who are actually out right now. There’s no Auto-Tune, no nothing. It’s all raw, genuine, so a lot of the people are actually very, very talented.”
You can read the article in its entirety here.
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While some may argue that Lewis is indirectly tooting her own horn, we have to say we agree with her. Any random click on Youtube would reveal a sea of talent that without effort could outsing a great number of today’s leading artists. But, any glance on Billboard charts would reveal a sea of pretty faces with varying level of talents whose skills are enhanced or drowned out in a sea of hot beats. Tis’ life. Unfortunately, knowledge of such doesn’t boost one’s own sales. Ask most of the ‘Idol’ winners post 2005 and they can tell you, talent does not always equal success.
![Leona Lewis Drops 'One More Sleep' (Director's Cut) Music Video & Behind the Scenes Clip [Watch]](https://thatgrapejuice.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/one-more-sleep-thatgrapejuice-leona-lewis-2023-directors-behind-scenes-464x260.jpg "Leona Lewis Drops 'One More Sleep' (Director's Cut) Music Video & Behind the Scenes Clip [Watch].")
VOCAL TALENT DOES NOT EQUAL SUCCESS THESE DAYS. YOU’VE GOT TO HAVE THE TOTAL PACKAGE…
@CURLY SUE
Yes, chile preach!!!! Unless you have a voice with enough power,emotion, and skill like Adele’s,Celine Dion’s, Whitney’s, Mariah’s, or Aretha’s, girl standing their is not gonna cut it. Better get some personality, stage presence, and choreo. It is her opinion, but that is an insult to the artist out right now who have talent+work ethic, and the whole package. Ms.Lewis can’t get mad because no one is buying what she is putting out. I be trynna tell these artist, you CANNOT come out with the same formula singing about the same ish. It is NOT GOING TO WORK. She better get it together before she becomes the next Ciara (in terms of the path of her career)
she doesn’t understand that having a good voice soesn’t mean being an artist , this is why singers with less voice than her are more respected as singer/musicain ecc..
Sour grapes cause she sucks balls. She’s so boring.
lol i smell Rihanna shade….i have to agree with her…The music industry is No longer based on talent, it’s FILLED with gimmicks! I will be happy when this era of foolishness is OVER!
Hell, she’s right. 90% of the ‘hitmakers’ on the radio would get gonged from, or voted off of, every popular reality show talent competition. “Package,” my ass. Look at somebody like Rihanna, who herself has no style or charisma on stage and proves that what you to have success you gotta be some label executives pet project. Reality show talent hopefuls are naive enough to believe that their TALENT can be their gimmick. The nerve of them.
I don’t mind artist who use auto-tune as along as I know that they actually have a good singing voice. Ke$ha over uses Auto-tune but she can actually sing really well PLUS she is great on stage. People have to realize that being just a good singer won’t make you successful, you also have to be a great performer!! This is why I stan for Beyonce, Kelly Rowland, and Lady GaGa because they got the whole package.
People need ti realize that Leona is the real deal. Leona doesn’t require slutty dances or outfits to get a #1. She does it with her glorious voice. She is a true artist. She is one to watch out for in 2012. ‘Glassheart’ will be HUGE!
Oh and she isn’t throwing shade at Rihanna, in her latest interviews she’s saying that she actually likes her 🙂
@ Sarah Agreed. I think her shade was toward Britney Spears.
I don’t think this is rihanna shade because leona has said she likes rihanna BUT rihanna is a glaring example of her theory .. I like rihanna too but I dnt think rihanna could get pass one round on these singing reality shows .. Rihanna isn’t about good singing she’s about a bad ass image young ppl love to hang on to .. I don’t knock her hustle if ur legally putting food on your table and gettin money that’s all fine with me .. when it comes to who I STAN for its beyonce and adele for me .. Those two women could go on a reality show sing once and probably shut the show down because clearly the winner has been found LOL I love singers and that’s what these shows are about .. Ppl like rihanna and britney are popstars and there’s nothing wrong with that because those type of people have their place in the industry as well
Just because you can sing (and this applies to anything that requires a bit of natural talent) does not mean you have what it takes to be famous, or even a superstar. Plus, I always feel that people who want success badly but aren’t too talented tend to work much, much harder than people with a natural talent.
in this day and age you got to have the total package to be successful,not everyone can pull off a Adale,and people from back in the day could never survive now,it is what it is things change no matter how you want to go around it…these people need to watch there own carrier and figure out how to keep it afloat instead of shading outs,usually when artist start shading others is when they are having problems with there carriers behind the seens,until it burn out in to the public.
Leona ‘s assessment is not far-fetched at all. TGJ stop looking for useless drama.
She’s right, a lot of people don’t take reality-TV stars serious ALTHOUGH most of them are way more talented than some chart-topping artists out there right now.
Don’t take her words out of context y’all.
hmmm she has a pretty voice but she’s boring. Jessie J is a more fun person and better artist. She should be given more exposure.
i didnt get any shade about rihanna from leona lewis unlike the haters who were first to spot the nonsense. and again with stuff like label pet??
she contacted jay z to try and get signed and she did she used her island background for her first two albums, and you constantly hear the people who work with rihanna like neyo and the dream talk about what rihanna was deciding to go with and what direction she is taking. i mean honestly after the success of gggb do you think if she was a label puppet/pet that they would drastically change it. and her very first single being russian roulette, why not some uptempo bubble pop song????
there has been absolutely no proof as to any of those idiotic statements!! i want to know how is it you select few know this??
also how is it that riri is the only puppet out there? if they do stuff like that then why arent there more successful artist selling a minimum of 3 million and racking up #1s like there is no tomorow???
so many questions lets see if anyone who claims she is a puppet has some facts and not just an opinion!
I don’t care if the artist has the “whole package” gimmicks are irrelevant on my m**. What I want is a great voice to listen to, and that is what Leona, has, an Amazing Voice.
While I can appreciate artist that put on a good show such as madge, Gaga and Ri. I think we should also make room for artist who’s craft is simply captivating us with their Voice.
Don’t get mad at Leona for telling the truth. Many of today’s pop stars wouldn’t make it past the audition stage of a singing competition, and most of them wouldn’t ultimately win. Can you imagine the likes of Rihanna or Katy Perry trying to convince sitting judges of their TALENT against a dozen others hopefuls? Please. The majority of A.I. and X-Factor winners can hype a crowd, can command a stage and do have potential “it”-factor. However, they don’t get to compete on nothing but image and media manipulation. Because it’s a competition, their talent has to be blatant at all times, in addition to having other star-making qualities. People like Rihanna get to skip over that factor and immediately get handed a song by a hit producer because said producer is in the pocket of their A&R guy.
The real problem with these talent shows is that seeing someone journey to become pop star becomes less interesting after they win the race. It hard to adjust your perception of someone being a former contestant on a reality show to being a “star” after it’s over. The competition was the high point. Furthermore, the TV show spoils something along the way. A random newcomer who pops up out of seemingly nowhere with a hit song on the radio is more intriguing than someone we saw compete for fame. The former you wanna learn more about…the latter’s story you already know.
She is right, they have raw talent. She does as well, Leona is amazing.
Plus I don’t think she is throwing shade at anyone.
I agree with her. people say ‘package’ instead of gimmicks. rihanna cant sing or dance neither can katy perry what package do they have? its not about how talented you are, its about how strong your PR team is.
oh she’s crazy!
I have to agree + disagree…
Agree bcos most artists today are built off succesful record labels, astounding management, autotune + s** appeal… Not talent…
Disagree bcos a reality tv singer proves that they are better singers, not so much better artists… Bcos an artist is defined by more than just vocals, but character/personality + their fanbase…
Some may argue that Leona Lewis is boring or whatever, but I feel she appeals to a niche market… Todays music industry is driven by mostly crazed teenagers #fact. Leona doesn’t try to make music for kids, she seeks the real meaning of music + sticks to it… Leona IS one of the greatest artists of our time. And if she was around when RnB was king, she’d be a legend…
Leona has her own myriad of vocal problems, she shouldn’t be throwing shade on anyone…
Pitch problems, breathe support issues that cause her voice to wobble out of control (specially in the middle-low and low register), thin-ass mix, disconnected falsetto sound that has nothing to do with her middle, low notes that are usually sharp and wobbly with her larynx shoved so far down it seems she might as well swallow it…
Child, please…learn to sing and then we talk.
And yet, she still sings a whole lot better than most people. Her fans couldn’t care less about that, since she still sounds AMAZING. And she’s right. You can’t argue with the fact that half the artists that are incredibly famous today wouldn’t get very far on a show like X Factor. Btw, you sound like you’re a master vocalist. “learn to sing and then we talk.” Maybe you should sell over 20 million records worldwide too, and THEN she’ll talk.
She is correct in that notion BUT unfortunately,Talent Show winners have a very SHORT shelf life.
Unless you pull a Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood, many a time it isn’t gonna work that well
Anyway,we’re in an age where the image can be just important as the music.In this day in age,you have to have a voice like Adele/Xtina/Beyonce/Mimi if you even THINK about selling yourself off your singing talent.Otherwise,the public wouldn’t be here for it.
People confuse things in stage presence that are not singing for “gimmicks” BUT in mainstream music,the goal is not only to sing,but to entertain (emphasis on this word) as well.If you can’t dance,have personality,or be known for creating your art,people are going to assume you as boring,and they’re just not going to be here for it.
What are any of you people trying to do? give advice to Leona Lewis or something? Lol You guys are probably like 15 yrs old and don’t even know what the words talent or career mean. Lol and if your older, it’s sad that ur wasting time commenting on blogs but anyway… leona is saying nothing but the damn truth! Even if she just sh**ed on ur fav, or u think she did, it’s true! Point blank period!
You mad? Stay mad!! Dassiiiiiiiiittt!!! LMAO
If it was just about a being a good singer Jazmine Sullivan would be a superstar but it’s not. Rihanna is a bold entertainer while Leona is just a boring, pretty girl that can sing. Rihanna gives you trendsetting fashion with edge that women dream about while Leona leaves you yawning. All of the reality stars including Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood fall short and leave you with the thought that something is missing from them. It’s the grind of getting a record deal that prepares a person for stardom that reality stars lack, they all seem to constantly be playing catch up.
She is so right,this generation is not about talent,artistry or musicality
..it’s fashion,gimmick,hair change,personnality,twitter beef,monthly single release 😕
“Rihanna gives you trendsetting fashion with edge that women dream about”
I didn’t know that going out in public looking like Sideshow Bob was a fashion statement that women dream about.
Anyway…
The bottom line is that despite her ridiculous “looks,” she can’t sing. That’s WHY she puts so much effort into frivolous BS like that. Take away her “fashion” and put her on a stool in front of a live mic, and she fails. How dare someone call themselves a singer when they can’t. If you wanna model so bad, then go pose for a Sears catalog, don’t mock the art of singing.
Leona Lewis is correct in that most people on the radio wouldn’t be there if not for a hookup from someone who they were lucky enough to meet. Besides Adele, I can’t think of a chart topper in recent memory who had any shred of real talent.
funny @DMNW
i remember watching rihanna on american idol singing california king bed and all she did was walk around and sing on stage! no gimmicks there!
and i saw her loud tour and when she sang both take a bow and ckb she just stood on stage and sang to the crowd i love it and the stadium raved. again no gimmicks
hmmm something is off here!!!!!! so she didnt use gimmicks and people still loved it so it has to be her VOICE. see what the problem is!
oh god I didn’t hink i could dislike this b**** anymore. There are 100’s of undiscovered talent that majority of them will go un-noticed because they didn’t have the opportunity to AUDITION FOR A F****** TV SHOW.
LEONA – stop calling yourself an ARTIST?! Do you know what that is? An artist is someone who creates… you sing other peoples songs that are created.. YOURE WACK!! Majority of these reality stars have a short career span of like what 5-10 years? NO REALITY SHOW SINGER WILL GO DOWN AS A LEGEND.
Legends before us didn’t need a dumb reality show to make it.
Leona – you also sing like a girl at a church brothel, your voice is annoying and there’s nothing amazing or exciting about your sound.. which is WHY ADELE and AMY WINEHOUSE Didn’t need a TV show because they were TRUE ARTISTS. You’re just a pretty face with a nice voice but NOT AN ARTIST.
Leona makes a good point. But you dont have to have the full package to be successful, it depends on the publics mood. Beyonce has the full package & the publice love her, Adele just has the voice but doesn’t dance & the public love her, Rihanna cant sing or dance but shes pretty and has catchy songs & the public love her. Its all down to promotion & the audience.
rihanna is famous and can sell records because she sings about s** and gets her kit off, leona doesnt which is why she will not sell as much, end off. LEONA AND ADELE FTW,
She is wrong its so easy to jump on tv n sing and get a record deal. You don’t even have to win these shows to get a record deal. Then these artist from the show drop singles that aren’t even that good but because of the show the song does well. Rihanna may not be that great of a singer but at least she worked hard to get her record deal not just jump on a show and became famous over night. I mean come on if its wasnt for these shows no one would care about her, Alexandra Burke, Cher Lloyd, JLS, that scottie guy n the list goes on
Say what you want about Rihanna she’s a factor but Leona isn’t. People talk a lot of smack about Rihanna but her record sales don’t lie and neither do all the magazine covers and other attention she gets. I see a lot of females tryna mimic RiRi’s swag. She’s not that good vocally or with the moves but she’s the sexiest chic in the game right now hands down. This is the entertainment industry and Rihanna entertains apparently.
Leona is abolutely correct. However, personality,stage presence and the “It” factor play a huge role also. Now alot of music consumers want catchy cotton candy music. As for Carrie & Kelly, they keep doing so well, which they deserve to because they are genuinely very good artists, both are also great singers.
Good for Leona for speaking out. She is 1000% right thou!
& as for ppl saying shes boring #WTF. Less is more darlings #FACT
But shes has an amazing personality!!
Adele has had a great start to her career with a lot of backing but im sorry i havnt seen any charisma , she openely admits she loves leona’s voice.
Leona can sing and nobody can take that away from her no matter how stupid you want to make your comments, she doesnt want to be known as a stripper like some mentioned rh (magazines do lie, they take comments out of context just like this column about leona) above,
If you new leonas background at all you would know that she as not just entered a show and won it, she as always be into music and arts. she knows her music, it may not ne your style but so what. When i listen to the radio in my car rh’s a*** doesnt appear to me but good singing does.
s** sells records not talent, the charts show that. Leona is answering a question and you dont like the answer so what.
She has no X factor, her winning that show is the biggest irony of all time. And now she has sour grapes over her s***** career. Her quote basically said, “Im more talented than everyone, so it’s okay that I flopped harder than a fat kid off the high dive”…
Instead of being jealous of them she should take notes before she becomes completely irrelevant. She’ll be lucky to even go down as a one hit wonder at this point.