Customer Reviews

When You Believe

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4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This kid is great. There is something very special about his voice. Unlike the other reviewer, I actually own and have listened to the CD. It is super. He has a voice reminiscent of a very young Sinatra. If you like Michael Buble or Elliott Yamin I think you will like him. He is only eighteen so his voice doesn't have quite as much richness and depth as Buble, but his rendition of When You Believe is something really special. I If he continues to develop like he has in the last year, he's going to be a real superstar.

This young man has an excellent voice - the tone, clarity, versatility, emotionality and the strength. He has the greatest potential to be a great pop vocalist or jazz vocalist.
He was voted by the people because of his voice, his likeability, charisma and emotional connection with the audience but most of all, they saw in him the X-Factor that one has to have to be a great vocalist.
I have his single, so I know. I have seen his videos on YouTube and he has definitely the personality that comes with the great voice - HE IS ONLY 18!

It's easy to say that these reality pop contests have created some genuinely horrific acts. I don't know about the US, but in the UK the likes of Pop Idol and X Factor and their relative knock-offs have unleashed the likes of David Sneddon, Michelle McManus, Journey South, Chico, The McDonald Brothers, Steve Brookstein and a whole assortment of bargain bin bound karaoke no-marks onto an unsuspecting chart, all doing well in their first releases but then dropping like a stone when the sheep have moved onto greener pastures. These acts are all utterly banal, boring and awful.

Well guess what, readers? Your 2007 X-Factor winner - Leon Jackson - is easily the worst of them all.

So, another year, another pub singer turned "superstar" and this one is almost comically appalling. Dances like a Thunderbird puppet that's just dropped a load into its trousers, and sings like every half-decent drunk student at a karaoke bar; can hold a tune - barely at times - but not enough that you would even look up from your pint. And THIS was the winner of the biggest talent show in Britain. Weep for us, won't you?

So he was hopeless, that much we know, but easily the most galling, hateful thing about Leon, and indeed, the X-Factor in general, was his sob story. It seems you can't take part in these diabolical contests without something to make you blub in front of the cameras. People have come in wheelchairs, with tales of dead parents/brothers/husbands, of being bullied at school.. every tragedy under the sun has plagued these wretched people. So what was Leon's tale of woe and heartache?

His mother brought him up alone.

Yes, obviously to tap into that never-ending UK resource - the single mum, which was a shrewd move, given that about 90% of the X-Factor audience is 14 with two kids under their belts. So we were supposed to care that this boring, monosyllabic runt deserved a million pound deal and number one records - because his mummy and daddy didn't live together. Never mind talent or charisma or, hell, a singing voice - who needs that? He's got a single mum. Phone that premium rate number now!

Sigh. It's all too depressing. So I suppose we should talk about the actual song he's releasing? Must we? Go on then; well, it's a cover of the doomed Mariah Carey/Whitney Houston song from a few years ago that absolutely no one liked. But it has "believe" in the title, see, so they can pretend it makes some weak reference to the "believe in yourself" attitude of the show.

All in all - the absolute worst winner of any TV talent show show - EVER - with easily one of the worst singles. Simon Cowell's credibility and the X-Factor brand will suffer greatly with this one, and I wouldn't be surprised if Leon is erased from X-Factor continuity the same way Steve Brookstein was.

That this record is even being released is staggering. That it will no doubt sell millions is not only depressing, it's also a jaw-dropping example of the stupidity and easily lead mentality of this program's lower-class audience. Leon Jackson is a monumental embarrassment for all concerned and a 100% guaranteed failure.