Leon Jackson
Leon Jackson |
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Leon Jackson (born 30 December 1988) is a Scottish singer who won the fourth series of the British television talent show The X Factor in 2007. His debut single, "When You Believe", was released in December 2007, and was the UK Christmas number-one single that year. Following a ten-month hiatus, his debut album Right Now was released in October 2008.
Biography
Early life
Leon Jackson was born in Scotland, and has lived there with his mother Wendy all his life.[1] He formerly worked as a retail sales assistant.[2] Jackson only started singing in 2007 when his friends entered him into a karaoke competition, which he won.[3][2], Jackson said that singing was the only thing that made him happy. He was a huge fan of contemporary jazz, his hero being Michael Bublé.[3] Before he made it through to the finals of The X Factor, Jackson had been planning to start an architectural technology course at Napier University.[3] Leon had not lived with his father Phillip since the age of two: Philip died on the 14th of October 2007 from a severe case of influenza.
The X Factor
In 2007, Leon Jackson auditioned for the fourth series of The X Factor in Glasgow. He made it through to the final stages and was announced the winner on 15 December 2007, winning a £1 million recording contract with Syco Music/Sony BMG.[4] He was mentored by Dannii Minogue.[4] In the final, he performed a duet with Kylie Minogue of "Better the Devil You Know".[4] Jackson was an outsider to win the competition, and his victory was described as "the biggest shock in the history of reality TV betting."[5] ITV have confirmed that Jackson won on the night of the final by around 10% of the popular vote.[6] A number of viewers complained to watchdog Ofcom that they were unable to get through to vote for Jackson's rival Rhydian Roberts, but an Ofcom investigation found that Roberts had not been unfairly disadvantaged.[7][8]
2007 Performance with Michael Bublé
In December 2007, Leon Jackson performed with Michael Bublé at Wembley Arena, singing Bublé's "Home". Jackson said this was the highlight of his life as Bublé is his idol.[9]
X Factor Live Tour
On 11 February 2008, Jackson began the X Factor Live tour in the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland with other acts from the 2007 show. He continued the tour in other venues around the UK until 21 March where the tour finished at London's Wembley Arena, thus concluding The X Factor 2007.
X Factor 2008
In September 2008, whilst attending the London premiere of Guy Ritchie film RocknRolla, Jackson revealed he is hooked on the 2008 series of The X Factor, saying: "It's like a trip down memory lane and I sit there in my pyjamas watching it."[10]
Debut album
Simon Cowell has stated that Jackson's debut album will not be rushed out, following the world-wide success of previous X Factor winner Leona Lewis's debut album Spirit, which was released 11 months after Lewis won series 3 of the show. Jackson revealed on his official website that the album will be called Right Now and will be released on October 20, 2008.
Don't Call This Love & When You Believe
The follow up single to When You Believe will be "Don't Call This Love". The song is a brand new song written by Chris Braide and Carl Falk for Leon just like Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" was on her return to the pop world.[11] He peformed his new single "Don't Call This Love" on 11th October 2008 on an X Factor Live Show. It charted at number 3 in the UK singles chart having being outsold by Peter Kay with The Winner's Song which entered the charts at number 2, and P!nk with "So What" at number 1.
Albums
Year | Name | Sales and certifications | Charts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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UK |
IE |
AU | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2008 | Right Now
|
|
TBA | TBA | TBA |
Singles
Year | Single | Chart positions | Album | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK | IE | UWC | |||
2007 | "When You Believe" | 1 | 1 | 13 | Right Now |
2008 | "Don't Call This Love" | 3 | 8 | 106 |
References
- ^ "X-Factor Leon has singing in his genes". The Scotsman. 2007-10-15. Retrieved 2007-12-15.
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(help) - ^ a b "Karaoke Changed X Factor Leon's Life". Sunday Mail. 2007-11-25. Retrieved 2007-12-15.
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(help) - ^ a b c "Student life goes pop for X Factor favourite". The Scotsman. 2007-10-19. Retrieved 2007-12-15.
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(help) - ^ a b c "Leon Jackson wins X Factor final". Daily Telegraph. 2007-12-15. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
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(help) - ^ "Leon Jackson takes X Factor crown". BBC News. 2007-12-16. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
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(help) - ^ "Walsh defends The X Factor result". The Guardian. 2007-12-18. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
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(help) - ^ "Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin, Issue number 108, 8 May 2008" (PDF).
- ^ "Digital Spy: Leon's 'X Factor' win was genuine".
- ^ "Dream for Leon as he sings with hero". Edinburgh Evening News. 2007-12-06. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
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(help) - ^ Leon Jackson's X Factor pyjama party - Tellyzone
- ^ Jackson, Leon (August 29, 2008). "Single and album news!!". Leon Jackson Official Site. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
External links
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