OlderKelly Clarkson vs. Leona Lewis
Have you ever heard of Leona Lewis? Probably not unless you live in England. Leona, 21, was this past season’s winner on X-Factor (England’s version of American Idol) and was the series’ first female winner. Leona apparently covered Idol’s Season One winner Kelly Clarkson’s “A Moment Like This” back in December and I just discovered it now.
Leona’s cover of “A Moment Like This” broke a world record by being downloaded 50,000 times within 30 minutes of being available online. Pretty impressive, eh? She’s also rumored to meet with Clive Davis, founder of Arista Records, to secure a record contract. Leona’s headed for the big leagues!
Check out Leona performing her cover of “A Moment Like This” below and compare it to Kelly’s original rendition of it below that. How do the two measure up?
Leona Lewis - “A Moment Like This” (Dec. 2006)
Kelly Clarkson - “A Moment Like This” (Sept. 2002)
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161 Comments
I think they have two different styles.
but I think kelly sang it better. and stronger. i felt like leona was a feather. kellys is soulful.
JR Rider- so you are saying that every person in England knows exactly what is on American TV and where it derived from? I thought it was nice of Jared to post about Leona. I knew American Idol came from a show in England, but I couldn’t tell you the name of it to save my life.
SJ- Leona definently can sing, but if she wants real fame and fortune she’s gonna have to come over here to silly America to get it.
As far as the girls go, I like both of their voices. Leona doesn’t seem to be as loud and dramatic as Kelly, which I kinda like.
Really there is no comparisson when looking at this single song, Kelly sings it better. Leona is flat during the beginning of the song and also a couple times in the middle. Kelly’s voice us much better supported where as Leona sounded best when there were the background vocals backing her up. Leona is more comparable to a Katharine Mcphee than a Kelly Clarkson or Jennifer Hudson. Leona you might be the X-Factor in England but you would not make it to the final 10 in American Idol.
Leona sucks kelly rocks
Kelly’s so much better and also LOOKS better, muc more natural. Leona Lewis looks a doll…in negative way.
For this particular song Kelly made a much better choice than Leona, she was kinda off pitch, more than once, Kelly wasn’t. But Leona has a very beautiful voice too! And the example of Somewhere over the Rainbow shows that! :)
So…I like them both…
ryt im 4rm england, and watched x factror dis yr. i mus say all u ppl out deyre dat say leona aint got no talent or is not betta dan ur kelly, u need ur waxed, cos i tell u summat leaon is da next whiteny/mariah- partly cos shes wif whiteneys record label! ive ceen her preform n shes outstandin, n if u no nefing bout music u’ll ave the guts 2 say kelly sounded flat, whilst our leona jus hit the notes 2 perfection. if i were u i’d chek out her prefoimnace of “bridge over troubled water ” on youtube, or jus type her name in2 youtube, n u’ll c she much betta dan kelly clarkson. dont get me wrong, i like kelly n all, but she not as talented as leona. even simon sed she will challenge whitney/mariah at da top, n correct me if im wrong, he never said such 2 kelly. cheers 4 dat !!!
I totally agree with Jen. While listening to Leona’s version of the song, I was thinking that Kelly did it better. This song just needs more power and emotions… Leona’s vioce was just too soft to convey the right emotions behind it.
I liked Leona’s versions of “Over the rainbow” and “I will always love you”… She really reminded me of the young Whitney.
They both have talent, but they need different songs to express it. Kelly found herself in rock/pop - Leona is the more soul/pop type.
I have to admit that Kelly looked awesome at that time. She needs to find back to her cool style.
okay this is just wrong. there is no comparison. leona is DEF not pre bobby whitney!! omg, listen to whitney’s songs……….you are totally foolign yourself and i can’t believe you thought that.
leona looks like simon’s gf so i’m pretty sure he loves her flavor. and she was off key a couple of times (LISTEN with your eyes closed, please! stop looking at her pretty face) and she had ’special musical effects’ and a chorus and etc. Kelly pulled it off with her confidence and the strength in her voice. they both sang the songs in their own style but i much prefer kelly’s. this song was made for her.
if you were to ask me who was a better overall singer before they were ‘winners’, my answer would be kelly. i agree that Leona is more like a Katherine mcphee type o’ girl. i doubt she would win in our american idol but she’s pretty? i mean, looks are one of the main driving force in the music industry so she comes out as an okay package.
Gee, Kelly’s fans are so rude! They bash Leona’s looks and say her voice is weak and flat. What a laugh. Leona is humble and beautiful and her voice is pure. Kelly screams, her idea of stage presence is to jump up and down and she’s ugly. Her days are over, step aside for a real superstar.
Im from the Uk and I watched the final. I must admit I do like kelly’s version better she has a strong voice. But in Leonas defence she is a shy person and given time will get better and get more confidence. Let her bring her own material out then judge her on that. Kelly Clarkson has done quite good over here maybe Leona should be given a chance. Nobody said she was the next Mariah or Whitney that is a lot of pressure and maybe something she can aspire to.
I was expecting Leona to blow kelly out of the water because of all this hype surrounding her. I think kelly is a better singer. **** i prefer tamyra gray over both of them anyway
Leona all the way!!!!
I think Leona has a nice quality to her voice, but honestly, it was pitchy. Kelly has more control over her voice and hits those notes time after time. I find it hypocritical that one of Simon never misses an opportunity to point out when an Idol contestant is off-key, yet I never heard him say anything about Leona missing those notes (watch her other performances - she does it there, too and he just praises her). I guess he’s more lenient when he’s the one who “discovered” her…
this is a joke right? There is no comparison. Leona sounded awful in some parts, and her voice was so quiet. Kelly is much more confident and has a much, much better voice. I can’t believe people are even comparing them. They are not even close to on the same level. No one does it like Kelly Clarkson. :-)
both talented…but kelly! leona was shaky but i think she has a tremendous voice.
Kelly was SOOOOO much better. Leona sounded like her voice just wasn’t strong enough for the song.
I think they’re about equal. I like the tone of Leona’s voice much better, but Kelly sang it better as far as staying on key. And, for the record, I’m not bowled over by either of them. I know alot of people think Kelly Clarkson is the next coming of Christ, but I think she has a great voice and not much else. Not alot of charisma there.
hey Siobhan,
yeah, Kelly must be awful. Shes only sold what, millions and millions of records? Wow, shes just too terrible. I can’t even handle it.
You say kelly fans are mean, then you go insult kelly’s looks and says that she screams? Do youself a favor, and look up the work hypocrite in the dictionary.
are you living underground? moron.
Guys, even before Pop Idol and any other Idol show in the UK or America, there was a show called “Operación Triunfo” (”Operation Triumph”) in Spain. That was the show that started it all back in 2001. The winner of that show was Rosa Lopez, who after the show lost a lot of weight and ended up winning another reality show called “¡Mira Quien Baila!” (”Look Who’s Dancing!”), the original version of “Dancing with the Stars”. She is not THAT well known outside of Spain, but the guy that got the second place (think he was the second) is now widely known in the Spanish speaking community. His name is David Bisbal. They both have awesome voices. If you happen to know Spanish, you can do a search for “Operacion Triunfo” or “OT 1″ on YouTube and you’ll find some of the best songs of the season. My all time favorite is second season winner, Ainhoa. That girl has PIPES!!!! This are the Spanish versions websites of both shows:
http://www.portalmix.com/triunfo/
http://www.rtve.es/tve/b/miraquienbaila/
And a link to Ainhoa in her two best presentations: (Quality is not that good, but just listen to her voice!!!)
Sobreviviré: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ11oNq9ID8
Caruso: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_sW8bNe0Fk
I couldn’t understand the first two bars of Leona. Kelly is much better and also sang the orginal which is much harder.
Leona.
Shes got more of everything.
You put the wrong Leona video up you moron. This was 1 minute after she won, she blows kelly off the stage on the first performance.
what’s up JustJared! I love that your website has all the cool pixs… BUT… Perez has been talking about Leona since she was on X-Factor… I love her and she is 100 times better than any of our Idol winners…. sorry but true…
WHAT is up with ya’ll saying that Kelly is better? Whatever… Leona’s voice sounds like a a clear pure mountain stream… flawless… I ain’t dissin Kelly, I think she is great too… BUT Leona is in a league of her own, can’t wait for her album to come out…
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