Leona Lewis, the emerging British pop diva, dazzled the audience with her performance of “Bleeding Love” and “Better in Time” on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on April 11, 2008. The 2006 winner of “The X-Factor” has become an international music superstar.

For a 23-year-old, Leona Lewis is quite good at waiting for what she wants.

After winning “X-Factor,” the British equivalent of “American Idol,” she holed up in studios around the world for more than a year, plugging away at her debut album out of the spotlight. Instead of trying to conquer the world all at once, she started with England last year and slowly worked her way through Europe.

Even with the arrival of “Spirit” in the United States last week on the heels of her No. 1 single “Bleeding Love,” Lewis is taking her time.

“My family is coming,” she says, when asked how she was celebrating her No. 1 hit - the first No. 1 hit for a British female solo artist since Kim Wilde’s version of “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” in 1987. “We’ll celebrate when they get here.”

And now, all that waiting is about to pay off. Lewis, like her incredibly accomplished debut, is a rarity in the struggling music industry. She sounds like a sure thing. (More.)

Leona Lewis performing “Bleeding Love”



Leona Lewis interview with Jimmy Kimmel



Leona Lewis Sings “Bleeding Love” on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (Video)