In the week that Echo is released, The X Factor, the immensely popular British talent show that Leona Lewis managed to write to her name in 2006, is again in the spotlight. None other than Sting criticized the program that he called 'cynical' and 'absurd': 'I am sorry but none of those kids is going to go anywhere, and I say that sadly.' Leona Lewis is the exception to the rule that we never hear
… from the winner of talent shows on TV again. Her first album, 2008's Spirit, went down in history as the best-selling debut of all time. Nevertheless, the question must also be asked of Lewis whether she really adds anything to her examples. The vocal strains in the style of Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, with which she managed to impress jury and television viewers, also predominate on her second album Echo. At the same time, she doesn't come anywhere near her own sound. And that is a precondition for a career with a somewhat longer breath. Just ask Sting. (MS)more
