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Leon Jackson (born 30 December 1988) is a Scottish singer and winner of the fourth series of the British television talent show The X Factor in 2007. The song which had contributed to his win, "When You Believe", was released as a single in December 2007 and reached #1 on both the UK and Ireland singles charts.

Jackson's second single, "Don't Call This Love", from an upcoming album Right Now, was released on 12 October 2008, peaking at #3 in the United Kingdom and #8 in Ireland. The album was released on 21 October 2008, and reached #4 in the UK and #7 in Ireland.

Two further download-only singles were released from the album: "Creative" (November 2008), which charted at #94 on the UK Singles Download chart, and "Stargazing", (January 2009).

In March 2009, Jackson was dropped from the Sony BMG label. Jackson stated that he was going forward with a previously-scheduled concert tour..

Early life

Leon Jackson was born in Whitburn, West Lothian, Scotland. Before pursuing his singing career, he worked as a retail sales assistant with Gap. He was a fan of contemporary jazz, his hero being Michael Bublé, and has stated that during his early years, karate and singing was the only thing that made him happy. He got his black belt at the age of 10. Before he appeared on The X Factor, Jackson was planning to attend Napier University, studying architectural technology.

The X Factor

In 2007, Leon Jackson auditioned for the fourth series of The X Factor in Glasgow. During the show, he was mentored by Dannii Minogue. After progressing through the rounds, he reached the final on 15 December 2007, in which he performed a duet with Kylie Minogue of "Better the Devil You Know", as well as three other songs. After the public vote, he was declared winner, receiving a £1 million recording contract with Simon Cowell's company Syco, a division of Sony BMG. Jackson was an outsider to win the competition, and his victory was described as "the biggest shock in the history of reality TV betting." X Factor judge Louis Walsh later said that Jackson had won the vote by about 10%. A number of viewers complained to watchdog Ofcom that they were unable to get through to vote for Jackson's rival Rhydian Roberts, but an Ofcom investigation found that Roberts had not been unfairly disadvantaged.

"X Factor Live" tour

On 11 February 2008, Jackson began the "X Factor Live" tour in the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland with Rhydian Roberts, Same Difference and five other finalists from the 2007 show. They continued the tour in other venues around the UK until 21 March when the tour finished at London's Wembley Arena, thus concluding The X Factor 2007.

Appearances with Michael Bublé

In December 2007, Jackson performed with Canadian performer Michael Bublé at Wembley Arena, singing Bublé's "Home". Jackson later said this had been the highlight of his life, because Bublé is his idol. In July 2008, Michael Bublé again invited Jackson to join him on stage at the Glasgow SECC for a duet of "Lost".

Young Scot award

In April 2008, Leon Jackson was awarded the "Young Scot" award, at Glasgow City Hall. He was given this award for being a positive role model to young people.

The X Factor, When You Believe & Right Now (2007 - 2008)

Jackson appeared as a celebrity guest on the first live episode of series five of The X Factor on 11 October 2008, to perform the first single, "Don't Call This Love", from his upcoming album Right Now. The song was released the next day, and peaked at #3 on the UK singles chart and #8 in Ireland. Right Now was released on October 20, 2008. It debuted at #4 on the UK Top 40 Albums chart the week of October 26, 2008. It remained in the Top 40 for three weeks total, before slipping out of the Top 40 but remaining in the Top 75 for an additional six weeks. The album debuted on the Ireland Top 75 Albums chart at #7 for the week of October 23, 2008, staying on that chart for a total of five weeks.

The second single from the album, "Creative", was released as a download-only purchase in late 2008. It peaked at #94 on 29 November 2008 on the UK Singles Download chart. The third and final single, "Stargazing", was released to radio stations in January 2009. It was also made available for purchase as a download-only single.

2009 - present

As of March 19, 2009, Jackson has been released from the Sony BMG label.

Jackson told The Sun newspaper that he was focusing on preparing for an upcoming concert tour of the UK, which will take place in May and June 2009. Due to poor sales, he had to merge tours and will be co-headlining this tour with fellow former X Factor contestants Same Difference.

As of April 2009 half of the concert dates had been cancelled. All but two of the joint tour days from England and Wales remain (with Same Difference playing a solo tour gig in Portsmouth), while 7 of the 9 tour dates still on are in Scotland.

He also announced he would change genre from Old-fashioned Jazz to more guitar-led music. He is working with other musicians including Scottish singer Paolo Nutini's co-writer Jim Duguid as well as writers who have worked with James Morrison.

Tours

• The X Factor 2008 Tour
• Right Now UK 2009 Tour (With Same Difference)

Discography

Albums

Singles

See also

• List of artists who reached number one in Ireland
• List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
• The X Factor

References

1. "Leon Jackson - When You Believe". acharts.
2. ^ "Leon Jackson - Don't Call This Love". acharts.
3. ^ "Leon's album's out now!". Leon Jackson's Official Website.
4. ^ "Leon Jackson - Right Now". acharts.
5. "Chart Stats - About". Data from the site has been obtained from various sources....
6. "Chart Stats - UK Singles & Albums Chart Archive". chartstats.
7. ^ "Chart Stats - Leon Jackson - Creative". chartstats.
8. ^ "Stargazing on the Airwaves". Leon Jackson's website.
9. ^ Pete Samson (2009-03-19). "Label gives flop Leon the chop". The Sun.
10. "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)
11. "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)
12. ^ "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)
13. "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)
14. "Leon Jackson takes X Factor crown". BBC News. 2007-12-16. Retrieved 2007-12-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
15. "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)
16. "Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin, Issue number 108, 8 May 2008" (PDF).
17. "Digital Spy: Leon's 'X Factor' win was genuine".
18. "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)
19. "Michael Buble and Leon Jackson Sing Lost in Glasgow". Hollywood Grind. 2008-12-05.
20. "Leon Jackson has X Factor for Award Win". Edinburgh Evening News. 2008-04-01.
21. "Top 40 Albums Archive: Week 50 : 26/10/2008 - 01/11/2008". The Official UK Charts Company.
22. "Top 40 Albums Archive: Week 51 : 02/11/2008 - 08/11/2008". The Official UK Charts Company.
23. "Top 40 Albums Archive: Week 52 : 09/11/2008 - 15/11/2008". The Official UK Charts Company.
24. "Top 40 Albums Archive: Week 01 : 16/11/2008 - 22/11/2008". The Official UK Charts Company.
25. Same Difference cancel their tour, Digital Spy, 23 January 23
26. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5j1BAy0STWKUAWXZL3Yzk0aLsM8Qg
27. http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/entertainment/Same-Difference-cancel-tour-dates.5196403.jp
28. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a153680/leon-jackson-cancels-live-shows.html
31. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7954964.stm
32. http://uk.reuters.com/article/billboardCharts/idUKN2849804220071229
33. http://acharts.us/performer/leon_jackson

External links

• Official Website
• LeonJacksonTV

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• Scottish male singers
• Participants in British reality television series
• Reality show winners
• Sony BMG artists
• The X Factor contestants
• Living people
• People from Whitburn, West Lothian
• Scottish pop singers
• Jazz singers
• LIVING deaths