HOWZAT

Self-management would appear to be something Lewis has always excelled at, for beneath the slightly fluffy exterior, there runs a steel core of commitment and drive. When her singing and dancing talents showed themselves at an early age, her parents scrimped to send her to, first, the Sylvia Young Theatre School, and later, the Italia Conti Academy. “It’s not cheap to go there, and I feel very lucky that they facilitated it for me. I owe them so much for that. But they were always like, ‘OK, if it’s what you really want then we’ll support you in it,’ even though it was hard on them financially. Only at one point did it get too much for them [between the ages of 12 and 14 Lewis attended a local comprehensive instead], but then I got into the Brit School, which obviously was fantastic for me ’cos it teaches you all about the business and technology side of music, too.”

Indicative of her dedication is the journey that Lewis was prepared to make back and forth across London each day between Hackney in the east and Selhurst, near Croydon, to the south. “It took nearly two hours door-to-door, but was so worth it ’cos it’s such a great education there. [The school’s famous alumni include Amy Winehouse, Adele, Kate Nash and Katie Melua.] There’s no other place like it and it gave me so much.” On graduating at 17, she supported herself first by waitressing at a pizza restaurant, then by working part-time as secretary to a mortgage adviser, while recording demo tracks with a variety of small-time producers, looking for her big break. That came in a way she had not anticipated, after her boyfriend persuaded her to fill in an X Factor application form (to overcome her initial reservations, he also completed one for himself and attended his own audition).

“Lou was like, ‘It’s another opportunity; you should try it,’ and I knew he was right. I never thought I’d get through, though. Even if you get picked to audition, the whole process takes so long with you being called in and in and in again until finally you meet the judges.” Yet once she began to appear on TV each Saturday evening in the autumn and early winter of 2006, word began to spread that the show had finally turned up someone head and shoulders above the usual ranks of derivative, uninspiring wannabes. Lewis was finally declared the winner in the public vote on the night that Take That appeared as guest performers. Gary Barlow well remembers meeting her (she had a teenage crush on the band in its first incarnation as a five-piece with Robbie Williams) and duetting with her on a version of one of their old hits.

“I’m not crazy about all that reality-show stuff,” he says, “but various people had said to me, ‘Watch her, watch her!’ So I’d checked her out and was impressed [Lewis was beguiling the public with bravura performances of such breast-beating favourites as Over the Rainbow, I Will Always Love You and All By Myself]. Then I took a tape of the backing track to A Million Love Songs to her dressing room and said, ‘Try this,’ and she opened her mouth and began to sing. Well, I’m getting the shivers now all over again just thinking about it. She was fantastic to the point that I thought, ‘What are you doing on this show?’ I was worried she might not get taken seriously because of it.” And Barlow made that view publicly known that night, saying on camera to chief judge Simon Cowell from the stage (Lewis now records for Cowell’s record label but, appropriately enough, is handled by a management company called Modest!) that he had a personal responsibility to serve her talent well.

“By which I meant that I didn’t want him to do his pre-set thing of just rushing out an I Believe I Can Fly-type single with her and then leaving it at that. I wanted them to take their time and do a proper artist’s album with her.” And, whatever you feel about the high-gloss tone of Spirit (the singer herself is insistent that she was actively involved in the song selection process, so it must be assumed that they represent her own tastes), that’s what they did. It is a measure of what is seen as Lewis’s worldwide potential that American music industry legend Clive Davis personally oversaw the recording of it, a role he previously carried out for one of her stylistic inspirations, Whitney Houston. Audibly, no expense was spared.

“I feel so incredibly lucky to be where I am at this point,” says Lewis now. “It’s not like you can just wake up one morning and think, ‘OK, I’ll be a recording artist.’ You need to put in so much hard work and you also need luck. I know many singers, writers and producers who are trying to make it in the industry, but are getting nowhere. I wouldn’t want anyone to think I’m not thankful. I’m so very thankful, ’cos I really don’t know what I would be doing with myself otherwise.” Here, she gives a self-deprecating little laugh, having singularly failed to mention the one additional element which has got her this far and which will make her further ascent inevitable: that exceptional talent. “I just want to be healthy and happy and to keep on doing my music,” her speaking voice is saying, but it’s the singing voice that really talks.

Platinum and platinum deluxe versions of Spirit (the latter comes with a DVD) are released on November 3, featuring four new songs including the single Forgive Me and a version of Snow Patrol’s Run

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