Leona Lewis - America

[CazGirl]

Maybe Mika should do it then. But it doesn't seem his style somehow?

 

I know that past record labels said his music wasn't marketable and shizz, but Mika has proved that it is. America is bloody massive and therefore he has a larger audience to try and get their attention. Like he said, if he fails but is still himself, he can walk away happy, but if he wants to try and succeed in the USA then he needs to push his music more. I know there was very little promo for Big Girl and Happy Ending here in the UK, but the UK is different to the US. It may not be his style, but if he wants to try and break the US audience then he needs to try different things. Appearing on Oprah doesn't and won't mean that he went on there because he couldn't do it himself; everyone needs a little help along the way, right?

[LA_fashionista]

I'm actually not a big fan of her voice. I find it to be rather whiney, especially in that "Bleeding" song.

The American public(generally) seems to like whatever they are told to like, so if Simon says(no pun intended) she's good then people will listen. Also everything Oprah touches is gold, so I'd say the girl is pretty much set for a decent career...

[CazGirl]

I'm actually not a big fan of her voice. I find it to be rather whiney, especially in that "Bleeding" song.

The American public(generally) seems to like whatever they are told to like, so if Simon says(no pun intended) she's good then people will listen. Also everything Oprah touches is gold, so I'd say the girl is pretty much set for a decent career...

 

:roftl:

[Christine]

Well from what I heard she was on Oprah Winfreys show last week with Simon Cowell on there too, bigging her up. And she has Clive Davies the top man at BMG backing her, so her marketing over there is full throttle, and with Perez fawning over her too, she's got it all.

 

That's pretty much all it takes.

 

Is it just marketing, or is Leona more suited to American tastes, is my question?

 

I think the marketing is foolproof in this case, especially because of the product. She's a young beautiful R&B singer with an exceptional voice and Americans are already buying young beautiful R&B singers with mediocre voices by the millions.

 

...ella-ella-ella.

 

Leona Lewis is a step up.

 

Maybe Mika should do it then. But it doesn't seem his style somehow?

 

I can totally see Mika on Oprah. He needs to sit on the couch with his Oprah-loving granny, tell a sob story about his childhood, talk about how much he loves big women and throw a little confetti party.

 

Every single soccer mom in the country will eat that sh*t up and Mika will be a household word inside of three months. Seriously.

[CazGirl]

 

I can totally see Mika on Oprah. He needs to sit on the couch with his Oprah-loving granny, tell a sob story about his childhood, talk about how much he loves big women and throw a little confetti party.

 

Every single soccer mom in the country will eat that sh*t up and Mika will be a household word inside of three months. Seriously.

 

I like it. Let's write a petition!

 

Christine, because you love and adore me, could you please step into my "Undiscovered" thread please?

[Suzy]

I like it. Let's write a petition!

 

 

Did that. Remember that thread suggesting we write to Oprah? I did that already some time last year. Now if only 10,000 MFC members all did that....(well, subtract all the multiple accounts and no longer active accounts...and then the 73 of us can write again.)

[suzie]

I can totally see Mika on Oprah. He needs to sit on the couch with his Oprah-loving granny, tell a sob story about his childhood, talk about how much he loves big women and throw a little confetti party.

Every single soccer mom in the country will eat that sh*t up and Mika will be a household word inside of three months. Seriously.

 

I like it. Let's write a petition!

 

I think it is a cheque that needs to be written not a petition....

That's now it works..

[AKateisaKate]

I see her video on TV quite often, but she's certainly not a household name yet. I think she could be. She has something very old school Mariah Carey about her.

 

There's a difference between sales and coverage. Leona is more likely to, and can attain more of both of those more easily than Mika can, that's all.

[Sarah_loves_mika]

i heard simon cowell was obsessively buying it

 

haha no im kidding. ive seen/heard her talk to interviewers ans stuff but her personality seems very bland to me. like, there's no life in her, just another manufactured pop artist. dont get me wrong, i agree with you Bab, she has a great voice and she performs well, but in person she seems positively dull.

 

I was literally just going to type the same thing!

 

Great voice, but when i look at her on stage/in interviews, she's just blank... completely vanilla.

Manufactured... who esentially is just the pretty face selling the song - she has no input into the writing/composing of the song (i know that as a fact also).

 

But, she's got a pretty ace voice, ill give her that.

 

 

 

What I tried to write is that we only get extreme mainstream music form the US. X Factor and co. also only gives us mainstream factory music. I didn't say that.

 

Edit: Now with a happy smiley

 

Whoop!! EnFa is back!!!!!

[sariflor]

Is this right that Leona Lewis is in the top 10 singles in America?

Who's buying it? I mean, she's the darling of X Factor here and does have a good voice, but......

Is it marketing, or American taste?

 

Is Mika destined to be cult only?

 

But she has now got a top ten hit in America, something Mika has failed to do while having four in the UK last year and goodness knows how many in other European countries as well as a million selling album which hasn't been out of the top 20 for more than a year.

 

Is it just marketing, or is Leona more suited to American tastes, is my question?

Not sure how to answer your questions Bab, but surely it´s a bit of both? Marketing only works so much, and after the initial exposure, people have to actually like the stuff in order to buy it...or one would think so?

 

Personally, I admit that Leona has a fantastic voice and has the "image" (she´s pretty, glossy, etc..) BUT I find her stuff boring as hell.

And I mean AS HELL.

That Bleeding Love song sends me to sleep! IMO she has no character coming out in her songs, and she just sounds like anyone else, so I can´t count myself as a fan, or even as someone who´d buy her record.

Give me artists who exude personality, charisma, talent, and not her blandness...

So really, I don´t understand why she´s getting there, when IMO Mika is far better (if one is to compare).

[PurpleMonkey]

I truely think that the reason that Mika isn't played in America is because apparently if we don't have something shoved in our faces in commercials or on repeat constantly on the radio we don't know what to buy. Look at how it seems to work here, when someone has an album coming out, they have their music playing in 100 commercials that month(Janet Jackson,Sara Bareilles,Mariah,etc.)then they always end up having very succesful albums here, and honestly I think thats pathetic on our part that they have to tell us what to buy. But sadly at the same time, I also believe that during that time they used his album cover in all of those IPOD ads, if they would have used one of his songs it probably would have worked, but I guess we'll never know. So, I guess all of this rambling comes down to the reason we all sit around here everyday asking "Why doesn't he get airplay in America??' it probably just sadly comes down to the fact that the majority of Americans can't like something that they don't even know exists. Now when it comes to Leona, well the fact that she was just on The Tonight Show a couple nights ago and I hear her MANY times a day on the radio here and I emailed the same radio station everyday asking them to play Mika but they never did:thumbdown: And then you have the BIG advantage ..OPRAH! The power of Oprah*sigh*. It's not so much that I hope that Leona completely fails here, it's just that everytime I hear her or see her I automatically think about who should have gotten all of this attention for being a recordbreaker in the FIRST PLACE! I mean c'mon let's face it, if we knew that Mika had an opportunity to be on that show, we would be thrilled with the publicity, but we are just going to have to wait and have faith that in the end TRUE PURE AMAZING BEAUTIFUL TALENT will prevail.

[sparkly1]

I know, almost too sweet. I feel bad if I say anything bad about her, she is so sweet. I mean I have liked her last 2 singles, but got sick to death of Bleeding Love and she does sound just like everyone else. Mika is different and refreshing - why can't some people see this?

 

 

I agree Babs, although I can't be bothered to like her music as it's sooo samey and boring, even though it cant be denied she has a good voice I just don't like how she uses it as so many others sound the same to me...all that excessive wailing and trembling (vibrato isn't it):naughty:

So I get annoyed too that the main reason she is doing so well is cos she has got behind her (Simon cowell, don't think I would fancy him behind me ).

[sparkly1]

Definitely not my taste. VH1 is playing her music video once an hour in the mornings, so she's getting a lot of promotion and exposure.

 

She does have a very nice voice, but I just have so much more appreciation for artists who write their own music... otherwise it kinda seems like they're only puppets with a voice. That's only how I feel though:thumb_yello:

yep your not alone and all she seems to have is a well trained voice, lots of wailing (vibrato that annoys me), a pretty face and Simon stuck to the back of her frock yelling "ooooo look here's one I made earlier":sneaky2:

[Gatagordinha]

It makes me feel physically sick when I see Cowell fawning over her..but then Cowell has that effect generally .

 

I'm not surprised she has gone to #1 in the US though. The amount of promotion that is behind her is absolutely unbelievable, scary even.

 

She has a technically nice voice..I don't think anyone can really disagree with that, but sorry, she is so dull!!!!

[Mika_Addiction]

It makes me feel physically sick when I see Cowell fawning over her..but then Cowell has that effect generally .

 

I'm not surprised she has gone to #1 in the US though. The amount of promotion that is behind her is absolutely unbelievable, scary even.

 

She has a technically nice voice..I don't think anyone can really disagree with that, but sorry, she is so dull!!!!

I totally agree with you. Here in Holland she's also everywhere just because she's too promoted I think. I hear her annoying song everyday 3 times on the radio or something. For 1 time it's ok, it's kinda a good song. But it's sooo nothing special.

[sienna]

I had to do a little resource because I thought I didn’t know who you where talking about.

Sad thing, I immediate recognized Bleeding Love, I have heard it a lot of times but as one of those songs you hear but not really listen to, some kind of back ground music.

No different from all the other music streaming from the radio.

Good voice though.

Oh what a difference from the first time I heard Mika!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can totally see Mika on Oprah. He needs to sit on the couch with his Oprah-loving granny, tell a sob story about his childhood, talk about how much he loves big women and throw a little confetti party.

 

Every single soccer mom in the country will eat that sh*t up and Mika will be a household word inside of three months. Seriously.

 

:roftl:

Yeah that's my Oprah!

 

Did that. Remember that thread suggesting we write to Oprah? I did that already some time last year. Now if only 10,000 MFC members all did that....(well, subtract all the multiple accounts and no longer active accounts...and then the 73 of us can write again.)

 

Yes I wrote to Oprah and I will happily do it again!

[sparkly1]

pfft just gave her a special mention on my daily dose of "Loose Women" to announce her being the only UK female to be #1 in USA since Kim Wilde 20 years or so ago.... pft like that is some BIG news (arrrgh its on the bleeding news about her being #1 in USA ), I am soo pee'd off about it being HER and not Mika I mean I'm sure he could wear a frock (he is pretty enough to get away with it) and have Cowell :mf_boff:behind him like so if that is what it takes...naaah 2nd thoughts Mr.M has got more class (so nurr nurr).

[sparkly1]

Ha it's official the news ppl just said "she does seem to have the sound Americans like"... seems it takes guts to step out of the norm over there then maybe.

[sienna]

Ha it's official the news ppl just said "she does seem to have the sound Americans like"... seems it takes guts to step out of the norm over there then maybe.

 

Maybe , but let’s look 10 years into the future, who do you think will last?

[PurpleMonkey]

Well I'm definately not one of those Americans contributing to this manufactured Simon Cowell product of the month. So don't blame me!! lol You know what really makes me mad about the whole thing? When they talk about her and promote her over here they always say RECORDBREAKING artist and that automatically makes me say "well if that is such an amazing accomplishment, why didn't you give the one that broke the record first a chance!!" Americas taste in music never ceases to amaze me(in the worst way possible) But, this is also something that we need to learn from and remember when Mika's album (estimated release date: 20ohgodisithereyet)comes out because we have to request him and promote him constantly THE WEEK of the album release because thats sadly how it works here, shove it continuously down americans throats, tell them they need to buy it, and tada! #1 .

[*daring*to*be*different*]

Leon Lewis? Sounds like all the other pieces of faeces we get from America. Im sure he majority of people are gonna loooove her. Do I have to say that I hate everything Idol, Popstarzzzz and X-Factor. Factory music

 

I agree completely, but Leona is from England originally. Ugh, she drives me insane. She'll release a couple of singles, be in the Top 10 a couple of times, but by summer 2008, I predict she'll have disappeared. The type of songs she's singing are a bit too predictable and moany, if you ask me.

[Lucy]

Is this right that Leona Lewis is in the top 10 singles in America?

Who's buying it? I mean, she's the darling of X Factor here and does have a good voice, but......

Is it marketing, or American taste?

 

Is Mika destined to be cult only?

 

She was in a major radio station this morning!!! She sounds lovely no doubt about it. She has more of the American sound. I called the station last week and requested MIKA. They told me that they could not play him beacuse he was not requested as much as the rest of the artists. :thumbdown: I have a friend who works in the music industry and he told me that the managment and the record company are in charge of making sure the artist gets play and invited to shows and radio stations!!! I wonder if the record company and the management are doing it for MIKA.

 

The good thing about Mika's management is that they make sure MIKA has some time for the fans. I really appreciate that!!!!!

 

But like Perez Hilton said, MIKA already conquered the US. He does not need the air play!!

[guylainem123]

her song "bleeding love" is on the radio allllllllll the time... at least every 3 hours. that's a little too much for me. i like her, but i really think her simon connection is helping her alot.

 

[iadoremika]

Just a random bit of randomness...

 

In Media Studies class yesterday, I overheard people talking about a song called "Bleeding Love" and they forgot the name of the artist. And I'm like, "It's Leona Lewis". Then someone said that she puts a light makeup on her face and it looks white...I was thinking to myself, "I don't think so. I've seen her on screen maybe three times and I don't think her face looks white at all". That same person said that she had blonde hair. Again, I was thinking, "I don't think so." Me and a few other people were like her hair is not blonde...it's light brown.

 

I think that she has a great voice and is pretty as well.

[babspanky]

Just a random bit of randomness...

 

In Media Studies class yesterday, I overheard people talking about a song called "Bleeding Love" and they forgot the name of the artist. And I'm like, "It's Leona Lewis". Then someone said that she puts a light makeup on her face and it looks white...I was thinking to myself, "I don't think so. I've seen her on screen maybe three times and I don't think her face looks white at all". That same person said that she had blonde hair. Again, I was thinking, "I don't think so." Me and a few other people were like her hair is not blonde...it's light brown.

 

I think that she has a great voice and is pretty as well.

 

She was the winner of the X Factor in the UK at the end of 2006. Her father is black and her mother white, I believe. Her mother has blonde hair, and thinking about the auditions, before anyone had time to give her a makeover, she is light skinned, but her hair is kind of light brownish with goldeny bits (may be highlights).

She looks more polished and glamorous now, but essentially, her looks haven't changed.