...In which Leona Lewis DANCES

So we've just returned from the very first date of Leona Lewis' first ever tour. Expectations on the way there were not high for two reasons.

1. It was taking place in Sheffield.
2. There was a genuine fear that the entire night would involve Leona talking about everything being "amazing" and how she's "just pleased to be here."

And, to be fair, there was a fair bit of the latter.

THAT SAID, any doubts about this girl's ability to perform and put on a show were completely and utterly smashed on that stage last night, which bodes well for the upcoming dates.

Firstly, the whole thing was themed (loosely) to the movie Labyrinth. Calm down, calm down, Leona never came out wearing trousers like this:

Truth be told, the Labyrinth thing was basically an excuse to have some plastic looking trees and a swing involved but the whole concept worked genuinely brilliantly. It lent the whole show a real atmosphere which from the very opening gave the whole thing an energy and a darkness which worked fantastically with Leona's voice, the staging and the choreography.

Yes, readers, Leona Lewis danced.

Without wanting to give away the entire setlist for those who are planning to attend the future dates, we'll point out some of the real highlights.

Firstly, there was a definite "horse" theme but at no point did Leona ride an actual horse. Health and safety were probably involved.

Secondly, Better In Time was majorly ramped up and was guitar rather than piano driven. It definitely worked and injected a real energy into the song. Leona looked absolutely commanding up there during this and the darker and rockier tone to the song was a sublime choice. To this end, can we please advise SyCo that this girl is more than comfortable singing up-tempo songs. Indeed, she can more than keep up with a guitar or three. Please, please, don't make the next thing she releases a mid-tempo ballad. If we left with one impression of Leona after this concert, is that she is incredibly versatile when she's given the chance.

Thirdly, there was nothing "safe" about these performances. Forgive Me, one of her few naturally up-tempo numbers, was chuched out in the first half and massively re-jigged, again to lend the whole thing a darker sound. Remember Cheryl's Brits performance with Loretta Holloway mixed in to the second verse. Think that type of effect. It was VERY good

Fourthly, the costume changes were hidden with some amazing work by the dancers (she's borrowed the aerialists which P!nk used on her last tour performing "Glitter In The Air"). Usually, this was accompanied by some properly amazing VTs. One featured Leona looking demented while riding a swan. Another featured a mash-up of Daft Punk's "Harder Better Faster Stronger" and Michael Jackson's "They Don't Care About Us" this was properly amazing. And frankly, was good enought to be released as a single. It would certainly stop her being seen as a one trick pony.

Fifthly, there were some cover versions. Run of course was there and was the climax to the pre-encore show. It was suitably epic and elicited a genuine standing ovation. Also, The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face was a choice we really questioned at first, but she delivered an absolutely blistering vocal which slowed the tempo down without killing the momentum. She completely won us over. What was truly special, however, were the decisions to cover Could It Be Magic and Sweet Dreams. The latter was full-on mental with strobes, amazing choreography and got the whole place finally on their feet. It was an excellent choice, a very competent cover which did something new with the song not only by its choreography but also by the very fact that Leona's vocals were involved. She also did a very acoustic version of Cry Me A River which was brilliant as well.

Sixthly, there were some very interesting omissions to this setlist. There was no Stop Crying Your Heart Out, no My Hands and, amazingly, no Footprints in the Sand. This was not a concert for playing it safe. And my God it worked.

Seventhly, we've mentioned elsewhere how we felt that Outta My Head should have been released as a single. She did it last night and the place went mental. For the first time in the night, people were on their feet which, given that this is just an album track, is no mean feat. There was strobe lighting, laser shows, and Leona danced and didn't look terrified about the prospect of moving. Why this hasn't been released as a single is just beyond us as it's one of the strongest showcases for Leona's evolution as an artist and a performer. The video below really doesn't do justice to how well this was put together. Think about 50x more stuff going on with the lighting and you'll be there.



Finally, the encore was, predictably Bleeding Love. Watch the video below and just witness how much improved a performer this girl has become.



It was an absolutely stunning concert, which certainly reminded us of why we thought she was such a special talent from the start. Crucially, it proved that this girl is not just "a big voice for hire". She's an accomplished, polished performer who clearly isn't afraid to take risks with her live showcases. We just hope that Syco learn from this and allow her to take risks with her recorded output.

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Also, Gabriella Cilmi was there. On A Mission was alright (is it supposed to sound like Van Halen's jump, or is that just us being mental?). On the other hand we're so over Sweet About Me it's ridiculous. Also, the whole thing would have been better if she'd done the song from the Co-Op ad at Christmas.

Spot the difference #4: Cindi's gonna be pissed

Compare, if you will, the new Leona Lewis single featuring Jennifer Hudson, "Love Is Your Colour" with thanks to our friends at My Fizzy Pop for giving us the heads-up.



This is the song which will be featured on the upcoming Sex and the City 2 soundtrack. Now take a listen to the Cyndi Lauper classic "True Colours"



Now, far be it from us to get all litigous, but surely Cyndi has the grounds for a lawsuit here? The two songs are pretty much exactly the same. There is little to no perceptible difference!

Litigation aside, this adds to the cumulative case which is building up against Leona. For Christ's sake, this had the potential to be the power ballad of the 21st century. Instead, Leona and Jennifer chuck out what is tantamount to a lazy cover version but try and skip out on paying the royalties on it by shifting some lyrics about. Leona simply cannot get away with putting out these lazy efforts at the moment. Not when it is abundantly clear that the novelty of her astounding voice is clearly wearing off with at least the British public at present.

In other news, we're going to see Leona at the o2 in two weeks. We'll obviously be reporting back and letting you know how she got on. We're hoping for something amazing which reminds us exactly why we've been such big supporters of her career from the start. Hopefully she leaves this out of the set list.

This new Leona single *awkward pause*

It may have taken me a whole two months to get over this debacle, but ultimately, there is far more in the tangled world of pop to get angry about. 2010 has seen, thus far, "Little Joe" finally get that bloody number 1 everyone realise yet again how bloody amazing Bad Romance is. Jedward were mercifully kept off the number 1 spot by Owl City and everyone piled in to Abbey Road studios to try and raise some money for Haiti. So far, so good.

2010 has also seen the aftermath of Leona Lewis "crucial second album" campaign. This week, Leona's second single, "I Got You" from said second album campaign got its full release and reached the dizzying heights of...

Number 14

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

On the face of it, this should have been staring the top ten in the face, at least. I mean, in a week where the "Sugababes" release a load of utter tosh (MASSIVE shoe in the video aside) and manage to eke a number 7 out of it, it's hard to believe that a decent Leona-by-the-numbers release isn't even going to trouble the top 10.

But that, right there, is the problem. To be honest, I could quite happily listen to Leona warble out the menu from the local Chinese takeaway (if and only if accompanied with a video centred upon Leona looking into the middle distance nursing a bowl of wanton soup) but, in this fickle and fragmented post-Spotify, post-iTunes world that we live in, another mid-tempo ballad chucked out in the early springtime with vague ambitious of catching that all important Mother's Day/Valentine's day market sadly won't cut it.

Let me reiterate. "I Got You" is NOT a bad song. Hell, the aforementioned "Sugababes" could probably have warbled it out and been pretty much assured a similar or even better chart position. But, if we believe the rhetoric (and we probably bloody well should) Leona is a cut above that. She is "The Voice". And whilst "I Got You" is a very good song (seriously, compare it to "Better In Time" and you'll begin to see my point with this), it's frankly just not up to the standard that's needed to justify the hype of Leona as being this globally important vocalist. The video, if we're being honest about the whole thing, is pretty much just "Bleeding Love" with a few location shots. The song, as the BBC's Chart Blog have perceptively noted, has some very underwhelming "Echoes" (see what we did there?) of something Snow Patrol would bang out and hope to get picked up on by Gray's Anatomy. It's frankly just not up to scratch. All releasing "I've Got You" has done for Leona and SyCo is to fail to provide a renewed vigour around the album campaign; it has landed them a mediocre chart position which they're going to have to airbrush out from the rest of the campaign (if they're even going to bother with another single).

But worst of all, it's fed into this pernicious but pervasive feeling that Leona is a one trick pony who can only be relied upon to give a decent X Factor performance to hype another safe and yet somehow divisive ballad into the Winter singles market.

This, readers, is a ridiculous state of affairs. For a start Echo is, if we're being honest, a far better and more interesting album than Spirit was. It truly showcases Leona's potential as a modern pop vocalist and not just "the new Whitney Houston" (which, lest we forget, is a pretty bloody impressive recommendation in its own right). Crucially, it gave Leona and SyCo a much more diverse choice in follow-up single to showcase the album.

Really, readers, the question comes down to this. Faced with a somewhat lukewarm public/sales reaction to this second album campaign and the regrettable fact of the album's lead single losing the number one race to what can only be described as a "fairly crap" offering from the Black Eyed Peas (who, at this time, were really at the very arse end of their album campaign) WHY did SyCo not decide to have a punt, aim to subvert some opinions, and give this a whirl (spotify link)?

It really begs belief, doesn't it?

Doesn't it?