Here is part of Leona’s interview from Blender 
Leona Lewis Wants a Cuddle ... But Not The Way You Want To
She’s a worldwide phenom who travels the globe with her teddy bear. Can a nice girl from East London save the record industry?
Click to see more photos of Leona
The studio of Tokyo FM sits inside what may be the world’s cleanest Starbucks, where matcha-cake doughnuts can accompany your caramel macchiato. “Ooh, greatest radio show ever,†gasps one of Leona Lewis’s entourage, delighted to find an oasis of caffeine familiarity.Lewis is hugging a bouquet of roses—pink, her favorite color. She’s in the midst of a visit to Tokyo, and everyone who interviews her brings an offering, ranging from flowers to a package of tofu.
The DJ for “Cosmo Pops Best 10,†a Saturday-afternoon chart show, announces a Madonna song at No. 3, Mariah Carey at No. 2 and then Lewis’s first single, “Bleeding Love,†at No. 1. This is no big deal. If there are countries where “Bleeding Love†isn’t at No. 1 this May afternoon, they are not countries you could find on a map. Like Starbucks, Lewis is everywhere around the globe.
She tells the DJ that her trip to Tokyo has been lovely. Outside a picture window, in the concrete courtyard of a newly constructed shopping pavilion, fans—overwhelmingly female—press six deep to watch her, waving signs. LEONA U ARE BEAUTIFUL. LUV.
Lewis is an ample 23-year-old, taller than most Tokyo women, especially when she’s wearing five-inch heels, which she does often. Her lightened hair is kept at a statuesque volume, tended by a Âstylist in her traveling party. Her nails are a glossy pink, like the finish on a vintage Cadillac; her bronzer and mascara are generously deployed. She looks like someone who expects, at any moment, to be summoned to a royal palace.
The DJ, switching to English, says, “In Japan, people don’t understand the language, and your song is still getting to No. 1.†Lewis offers humble thanks in awkward Japanese, and the fans outside demonstrate their delight by wriggling. The DJ says to Lewis, “You really look like a fairy to me.â€
“A fairy?†Lewis asks warily. “I’m taller than most of your men, I’m a glamorous international superstar, I’ve got an armful of flowers and some tofu back in my hotel room, and I remind you of a [gosh] fairy? Are you daft?â€
Well, not really. What Lewis actually says is, “Ooh, lovely.â€
Remember that scene in Titanic where the ship has hit an iceberg and the captain is struggling to right the behemoth, but it’s clearly about to capsize? That’s the music business in 2008.
The executives who launched Leona Lewis’s career likened her to cannon-voiced superstars such as Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey; those comparisons, being reported, gained credence and a self-propelled momentum, leading to headlines like “Leona Lewis: The Next Mariah Carey?†The music business has always relied on a few blockbusters to carry profits against the bulk of records that don’t sell; Houston and Carey each have recorded two albums that sold more than 10 million copies in the U.S. But they debuted in 1985 and 1990, respectively. Leona Lewis is an experiment: If all the right elements align, can a label still turn a nobody into a household name? Can a blockbuster still be constructed in the P2P era? How long before the ship deck dips below water?
***
“Where are you from?†kids asked Leona louise Lewis. “Are you black? Are you Italian? Are you Turkish? Are you Brazilian?â€
This was in East London, a tough immigrant community often described as the worst part of Britain. Many of her friends were Turkish or African. Her boyfriend, a neighbor she’s known since they were 10, is half-Syrian.
Her father, Joe, a black man, is Guyanese; her blond mother, Maria Lewis, is a white Welshwoman. On The X Factor, it appeared as though money had been the family’s one minor obstacle. “I don’t think my story is all happy and la la la,†Lewis says.
She grew up with a younger brother, Kyle; an older half-brother, Bradley, lived with the family on and off. Her mom did social work and taught dance. Her dad had multiple jobs: working with troubled kids, driving trains, playing semi-pro soccer and DJing.
Maria and Joe were driving one day with baby Leona when the Gap Band’s “Oops Upside Your Head†came on the radio. “When I turned down the music,†Joe recalls, “Leona was still singing. I said, ‘That’s kind of amazing.’ Leona could sing before she could talk.â€
At age 6, she was admitted to the Sylvia Young Theatre School. At 9, she began to study opera, fascinated by story lines that seemed like fairy tales. But by 10, her parents could no longer afford the tuition. “That was her lowest point in her life,†says her dad. “We was on our knees financially.†They found a less expensive option, the BRIT School, and both parents put in longer hours: “It was round the clock, nose to the grindstone, basically.†As a teen, Leona won a signing competition by performing Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.†(Joe Lewis: “She had grown men crying, believe it or not.â€)
Then four family members passed away within six years. When she was 14, a 17-year-old cousin died; the cousin’s mother also died a short time later. Her cousin Billie, six years younger and a surrogate little sister, fell to cancer shortly before Lewis began The X Factor. At the funeral, Lewis sang one of her cousin’s favorite songs, “Over the Rainbow.†She sang it again, seven years later, to make the final round of The X Factor, twice nearly breaking into tears.
“When Billie died,†she recalls, “I was quite angry. Then I was just very, very upset and sad. I found it hard to socialize and go out.†Soon after Lewis won The X Factor, her grandmother died, as well.
To read the rest of this article pick up Blender magazine on newsstands now, or subscribe today.
Source:
http://www.blender.com/LeonaLewisWantsACuddle/articles/25855.aspx
