Leona Lewis is blowing up bigger and bigger by the second. In a good way, a very, very good way. The U.K. songstress is already being hailed as a young Mariah. Her first single, Bleeding Loveù went to the top of the Billboard 100 and the man behind her is none other than American Idol' judge Simon Cowell -- he partnered with her during Britain's X-Factor,' which she won. Good Morning America called her pop music's next big voice.ù She's even been on Oprah! But Leona has been working most of her life to achieve such breakout success. She started singing at a very early age, showing enough skill to attend the prestigious Sylvia Young Theatre School at just six years old -- taking private voice lesions by 9 and enrolling in the arts-intensive BRITS school at 14. By 17, she was recording demos and playing local shows -- all the while working at part-time jobs like Pizza Hut. Now the 26-year-old has the attention of top music hit makers like Clive Davis, who asked her to perform at his annual Grammy party. Such a distinction has gone to the likes of Alicia Keys and Carrie Underwood in years past to introduce new stars to the music industry's biggest performers, songwriters and producers. It's clear Leona has the right loft behind her, and she's worked hard to arrive. I'm betting this English rose joins the ranks of other ladies from across the pond -- like Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse -- to break big stateside. Her debut album, Spirit, has already sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide. The U.S. version, which includes a couple new tracks, arrived April 8.† Leona's album took the number one spot selling over 205,000 copies in just one week to set a new record for being the first UK solo artiest to debut at the top of the U.S. charts.

--Wes

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