Every New Zealand #1 single…
8
Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis
Topped the NZ chart: from 17 December 2007 for 5 non-consecutive weeks
Leona Lewis was born in London. She attended BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology, the same school as Adele, FKA Twigs, and Amy Winehouse.
Lewis left school at 17. She secured the lead role in a stage production of The Lion King, but pulled out after she injured her back ice-skating. She won the third series of the reality TV show X-Factor. Lewis performed songs by Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Celine Dion – like them, she’s a big-voiced diva.
Lewis proved a popular winner. Take That’s Gary Barlow told Simon Cowell “This girl is probably fifty times better than any other contestant you have ever had, so you have a big responsibility to make the right record with her.”
Bleeding Love
Ryan Tedder, the lead singer for OneRepublic, wrote ‘Bleeding Love’ with Jesse McCartney. McCartney’s record company rejected the song, and Tedder shopped it around. Cowell proclaimed that ‘Bleeding Love’ was “the one”, and it became Lewis’ first international single.
Whenever I don’t know what to write, I ask myself: “What would Prince do?” I was in my apartment and started playing organ chords. Even the song’s distorted drums are Prince-like. I soon had the verse, the melody and the opening lyrics: “Closed off from love, I didn’t need the pain / Once or twice was enough, and it was all in vain / Time starts to pass, before you know it you’re frozen.” I’d been thinking about ‘When Doves Cry’ or ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’. I wanted to write a song that was about love but devastating, so thought about breakups that had crushed me in college.
Ryan Tedder, The Guardian
‘Bleeding Love’ topped the singles charts in 36 countries, and was even successful in America. It’s a strong song. The arrangement is effective – the distorted drums drive the song, while the organ is atmospheric. The gentle buildup in the opening verse is alluring, while Lewis’ vocal performance is effective. She’s acrobatic without overwhelming the song – the high notes at the end of the bridge are especially impressive.
The Real Christmas #1
‘Bleeding Love’ occupied the #1 spot on the charts for five weeks during December 2007 and January 2008. But it wasn’t the 2007 Christmas #1. ‘A Very Silent Night’ took the #1 spot, a charity single that raised money for the SPCA. ‘A Very Silent Night’ was promoted as audible for dogs but not for humans, a dubious claim as audio equipment is designed for human ears.
Subsequent career
Lewis was primed for success after ‘Bleeding Love’ was a worldwide hit. But ‘Happy’, the lead single from her second album, peaked at #31 in the USA. Lewis hasn’t recorded an album since 2015’s I Am but has dabbled in acting and modelling.
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This was such a huge song at the time. Like most talent show winners, though, she’s sort of slipped away.
Yeah, I was just saying to Christian that it feels like you’re destined to be big for one album, then get replaced by the next year’s crop.
At first I wasn’t sure I knew the song. Once I listened to the chorus, it all came to me – catchy if a bit generic pop song. Lewis definitely seems to have good pipes. It’s remarkable how many talented singing contestants slip into oblivion once the contest is over.
I think the most generic part of the package is the music video. The song is kind of routine, but there’s enough happening in the vocal performance and arrangement to make it interesting for me.
Talent shows are kind of weird for launching a career – it seems like you’re setting yourself up to be replaced by the next hot thing in a year’s time. A few have stuck around and built lasting careers – Kelly Clarkson, One Direction, and Carly Rae Jepsen are some example.
What an ominous intro…not my style but she does have a great voice.