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Leon Jackson (born 30 December 1988) is a Scottish singer who won the fourth series of the popular British television talent show The X Factor in 2007. His debut single, a cover of "When You Believe" was digitally released on 16 December 2007 and was available in shops from 19 December 2007.

Early life

Leon Jackson was born in Whitburn, West Lothian, Scotland, and currently lives there with his mother Wendy, who brought him up as a single parent. He formerly worked as a retail sales assistant. Jackson only started singing properly in 2007 when his friends entered him into a karaoke competition, which he won. Apart from his hobby of karate, in which he is a black belt, Jackson says that singing is the only thing that makes him happy. He is a huge fan of contemporary jazz, his hero being Michael Bublé. 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.

The X Factor

In 2007, 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. He was mentored by Dannii Minogue. In the final, he performed a duet with Kylie Minogue of "Better the Devil You Know". Jackson was an outsider to win the competition, and his win was described as "the biggest shock in the history of reality TV betting." ITV have confirmed that Jackson won on the night of the final by around 10% of the popular vote.

In December 2007, 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.

X Factor Controversy

It has been reported that Ofcom have received at least 1,100 complaints from would-be voters for Rhydian Roberts, the runner-up of the series, saying that despite calling numerous times, where unable to get through to vote for Roberts, which was a dramatic error by ITV (unless found otherwise) and as Jackson won by 1% of the vote, the result could so easily have swayed the other way if all voters for Rhydian has been accounted for. The 24-year-old Welsh favourite was beaten to the title in Saturday's ITV live show by Scotland's Leon Jackson. The programme said the high number of calls meant some people were greeted by engaged tones. Ofcom said earlier on Tuesday it had had 700 complaints, and that later jumped dramatically to 1,100.

Post-X Factor career

Jackson's debut single, a cover of the Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey duet "When You Believe" went on sale as a download from midnight on Sunday 16 December 2007 and as a CD on Wednesday 19 December 2007. The debut single is set to be the fastest-selling single of 2007, with sales predicted to reach 300,000 by Sunday. At Woolworths the single at its peak was selling 40 copies per minute. Bookmakers reportedly stopped taking bets on who would get the 2007 Christmas number-one single, as "Leon practically guaranteed top spot". "When You Believe" indeed reached number one in the UK on 23 December 2007. Thus making Jackson the first Scottish artist to achieve a Christmas number one (though it could be argued that Midge Ure holds this distinction through his work on the Band Aid singles)

Simon Cowell has said a debut album will not be rushed out, following the 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.

Discography

Singles

References

1. ^ "Student life goes pop for X Factor favourite". The Scotsman. 2007-10-19. Retrieved 2007-12-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
2. "X-Factor Leon has singing in his genes". The Scotsman. 2007-10-15. Retrieved 2007-12-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
3. ^ "Karaoke Changed X Factor Leon's Life". Sunday Mail. 2007-11-25. Retrieved 2007-12-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
4. ^ "Leon Jackson wins X Factor final". Daily Telegraph. 2007-12-15. Retrieved 2007-12-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
5. "Leon Jackson takes X Factor crown". BBC News. 2007-12-16. Retrieved 2007-12-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
6. "Walsh defends The X Factor result". The Guardian. 2007-12-18. Retrieved 2007-12-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
7. "Dream for Leon as he sings with hero". Edinburgh Evening News. 2007-12-06. Retrieved 2007-12-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
8. "Leon Jackson Heading For Christmas No1 Spot". Daily Record. 2007-12-20. Retrieved 2007-12-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
9. "Leon set for Christmas number one". BBC News. 2007-12-19. Retrieved 2007-12-22. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
10. "Leon "guaranteed" Xmas No 1, say bookies". Digital Spy. 2007-12-17. Retrieved 2007-12-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
11. "Cowell: Leon's album won't be rushed". Digital Spy. 2007-12-17. Retrieved 2007-12-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

• Official website
• Official MySpace

• Scottish male singers
• British crooners
• Participants in British reality television series
• Reality show winners
• Sony BMG artists
• The X Factor contestants
• People from West Lothian
• Living people
• 1988 births