The truest test of Simon Cowell's power within the music industry circa 2008 was not whether American Idol could produce a star in its seventh season or if its U.K.
cousin, The X Factor, would have another success in its fifth season -- it was whether he could turn Leona Lewis into the international superstar he so clearly believed she is.
Lewis was the third winner of The X Factor -- the Cowell-driven replacement to Pop Idol in Britain, a replacement that came to be because he wanted to own a significant piece of the show -- and one of the key differences between Factor and Idol is that the judges can mentor the contestants and therefore have a stake in the outcome of the show, more than they do on Idol, where the judges merely comment.
Rightly impressed by Lewis' multi-octave voice -- reminiscent of a warmer, earthbound Mariah Carey -- Cowell continued his mentorship after the conclusion of the show, making her the first contestant in the whole Idol/Factor enterprise that he personally shepherded through the major-label process.
He struck a deal with Clive Davis -- the executive producer behind all the American Idol projects, the producer who publicly bristled when Kelly Clarkson tried to take control of her career through her original compositions -- and the two launched a grand plan to break Lewis in her native U.K.
first, then slowly roll her out in the U.S.
a few months later, via an appearance on Oprah and a slightly re-sequenced and remixed version of her debut, Spirit.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whatever It TakesLeona Lewis, Tony Reyes, Alonzo "Novel" Stevenson | Leona Lewis | Play | 03:27 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Better in TimeAndrea Martin, J.R. Rotem | Leona Lewis | Play | 03:54 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | YesterdayLouis Biancaniello, Michael Mani, Jordan Omley, Sam Watters, Nina Woodford | Leona Lewis | Play | 03:54 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Take a BowLouis Biancaniello, The Runaways, Ryan Tedder, Sam Watters, Wayne Wilkins | Leona Lewis | Play | 03:54 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | I Will BeLukasz Gottwald, Max Martin | Leona Lewis | Play | 03:58 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | AngelMikkel Storleer Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen | Leona Lewis | Play | 04:14 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | Here I AmWalter Afanasieff, Brett James, Leona Lewis | Leona Lewis | Play | 04:52 | 11 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | I'm YouEric Hudson, Shaffer Smith | Leona Lewis | Play | 03:47 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | The First Time Ever I Saw Your FaceEwan MacColl | Leona Lewis | Play | 04:26 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | Footprints in the SandSimon Cowell, David Krueger, Per Magnusson, Richard Page | Leona Lewis | Play | 04:07 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 11 | Forgive Me | Leona Lewis | Play | 03:40 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 12 | Bleeding Love (From "No Strings Attached") | Leona Lewis | Play | 04:24 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 13 | Misses Glass | Leona Lewis | Play | 03:40 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 52 mins | 120 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Adams | Assistant |
| 2 | Walter Afanasieff | Arranger, Composer, Keyboards, Producer, Programming |
| 3 | Tawatha Agee | Choir/Chorus |
| 4 | Josh Alexander | Composer, Digital Editing, Engineer, Guitar, Keyboards, Producer, Programming |
| 5 | Dave Arch | Organ, Piano, String Arrangements |
| 6 | Dallas Austin | Producer |
| 7 | Matt Beckley | Producer |
| 8 | Haydn Bendall | String Engineer |
| 9 | Tom Bender | Assistant, Mixing Assistant |
| 10 | Louis Biancaniello | Composer, Engineer, Keyboards, Mixing, Producer, Programming |
| 11 | Tim Blacksmith | Management |
| 12 | Chris Brooke | Vocal Engineer |
| 13 | RaVaughn Brown | Vocals (Background) |
| 14 | Amy Chang | Violin |
| 15 | David Channing | Engineer |
| 16 | Robin Clark | Choir/Chorus |
| 17 | Michelle Cobbs | Choir/Chorus |
| 18 | Lloyd Cooper | Assistant |
| 19 | Simon Cowell | Composer, Producer |
| 20 | Jack Daley | Bass |
| 21 | Clive Davis | Producer |
| 22 | Rich Davis | Production Coordination |
| 23 | Benny Diggs | Choir/Chorus |
| 24 | Craig Durrance | Engineer |
| 25 | Jörgen Elofsson | Composer |
| 26 | Mikkel Storleer Eriksen | Composer, Engineer, Instrumentation |
| 27 | Stephen Ferrera | A&R, Drums |
| 28 | Geoff Foster | String Arrangements |
| 29 | Karen Freer | Celli, Cello |
| 30 | Chris Garcia | Digital Editing, Engineer |
| 31 | Serban Ghenea | Mixing |
| 32 | Tyler Gordon | Digital Editing, Programming |
| 33 | Aniela Gottwald | Assistant |
| 34 | Lukasz Gottwald | Composer |
| 35 | Tatiana Gottwald | Engineer |
| 36 | Keith Gretlein | Engineer |
| 37 | Mick Guzauski | Mixing |
| 38 | Janne Hansson | Engineer |
| 39 | Tor Erik Hermansen | Composer |
| 40 | Nate Hertweck | Assistant |
| 41 | Chris Holmes | Engineer |
| 42 | Eddie Horst | String Arrangements |
| 43 | Josh Houghkirk | Assistant |
| 44 | Eric Hudson | Composer, Instrumentation, Producer |
| 45 | James Ingram | Assistant |
| 46 | Tavia Ivey | Vocals (Background) |
| 47 | Larry Eaglin Jackson | A&R |
| 48 | Brett James | Composer |
| 49 | Jaycen Joshua | Mixing |
| 50 | Rouble Kapoor | Engineer |
| 51 | Nik Karpen | Assistant |
| 52 | David Krueger | Composer |
| 53 | Daniel Laufer | Celli, Cello |
| 54 | Chris Laws | Digital Editing, Drums, Editing, Engineer |
| 55 | Leona Lewis | Composer, Primary Artist, Vocals (Background) |
| 56 | Espen Lind | Guitar |
| 57 | Chris Lord-Alge | Mixing |
| 58 | Phillip Lowman | Drums |
| 59 | Tammy Lucas | Choir/Chorus |
| 60 | Carlton Lynn | Engineer, Mixing |
| 61 | Steve Mac | Arranger, Keyboards, Producer, Synthesizer |
| 62 | Ewan MacColl | Composer |
| 63 | Harry Magee | Management |
| 64 | Per Magnusson | Composer |
| 65 | Michael Mani | Composer |
| 66 | Andrea Martin | Composer |
| 67 | Max Martin | Composer, Piano |
| 68 | Jesse McCartney | Composer |
| 69 | Doug McKean | Engineer |
| 70 | Vlado Meller | Mastering |
| 71 | Cindy Mizelle | Choir/Chorus |
| 72 | Ne-Yo | Producer |
| 73 | Greg Ogan | Engineer |
| 74 | Jordan Omley | Composer |
| 75 | Richard Page | Composer |
| 76 | John Parricelli | Guitar |
| 77 | Steve Pearce | Bass |
| 78 | Leon Pendarvis | String Arrangements, String Conductor |
| 79 | Dave Pensado | Mixing |
| 80 | Billy Porter | Choir/Chorus |
| 81 | Trent Privat | Assistant |
| 82 | William Pu | Violin |
| 83 | Daniel Pursey | Engineer |
| 84 | Tony Reyes | Composer, Guitar |
| 85 | Tim Roberts | Assistant |
| 86 | Scott Roewe | Digital Editing |
| 87 | J.R. Rotem | Arranger, Composer, Instrumentation, Producer |
| 88 | The Runaways | Composer |
| 89 | Wesley Seidman | Engineer |
| 90 | Olga Shpitko | Violin |
| 91 | Robert Smith | Engineer |
| 92 | Shaffer Smith | Composer |
| 93 | Chris Soper | Engineer |
| 94 | Billy Steinberg | Composer, Producer |
| 95 | Alonzo "Novel" Stevenson | Composer, Keyboards, Producer, Programming |
| 96 | Tim Sturges | Assistant, Assistant Engineer |
| 97 | Ren Swan | Engineer, Mixing |
| 98 | Tom Syrowski | Engineer |
| 99 | Phil Tan | Mixing |
| 100 | Ryan Tedder | Composer |
| 101 | Aliaume Thiam | Producer |
| 102 | Ian Thomas | Drums |
| 103 | Vaneese Thomas | Choir/Chorus |
| 104 | Vanessa Thomas | Choir/Chorus |
| 105 | Fonzi Thornton | Choir/Chorus, Vocal Contractor |
| 106 | Giorgio Tuinfort | Producer |
| 107 | Seth Waldmann | Engineer |
| 108 | Sam Watters | Composer, Engineer, Mixing, Producer, Vocal Producer |
| 109 | Josh Wilbur | Engineer |
| 110 | Wayne Wilkins | Composer, Engineer, Keyboards, Mixing, Producer, Programming |
| 111 | Steven Wolf | Drums, Percussion, Producer |
| 112 | Nina Woodford | Composer |
| 113 | Emily Wright | Engineer, Production Coordination |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |