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British singing sensation Leona Lewis, winner of popular UK talent show The X-Factor will open the 23rd Bahrain International Music Festival at the National Theatre on October 9.
The festival, by the Ministry of Culture, has lined up a variety of musical acts for the occasion to represent diverse cultures and genres.
A spokesman for the ministry said: “We are really excited about this year’s festival at the National Theatre and the quality international artists being brought over for the occasion.
“We are sure that guests will enjoy the performance from British singer Leona Lewis and all the other musical talent that will be on display at the festival.”
Lewis achieved national recognition when she won the third series of The X Factor in 2006, winning a £1 million recording contract.
Her single, a cover of Kelly Clarkson’s A Moment Like This, peaked at number one for four weeks on the UK Singles Chart and it broke a world record for being digitally downloaded more than 50,000 times in 30 minutes.
Lewis’s success continued with the release of her debut album, Spirit, in 2007; it went 10x platinum in the UK, while the lead single, Bleeding Love, spent seven weeks at number one.
She achieved international recognition with the album in 2008, when she became the first British female to top the US Billboard 200 album chart in more than 20 years.
Lewis released her second UK number one album Echo and recorded the theme song for the film Avatar in 2009, while embarking on her first UK arena tour, The Labyrinth, in 2010.
In 2011, Lewis released the non-album single Collide, a collaboration with Swedish DJ Avicii. Her third album, Glassheart, was released in 2012. It marked a new creative direction for Lewis, drawing inspiration from dubstep and electronic music.
With a career spanning eight years, Lewis is the best-selling act to have emerged from The X Factor, with over 20 million albums sold worldwide, as well as being the British female solo artist with most weeks at number one in the UK.
Lewis has won two MOBO Awards, an MTV Europe Music Award, an MTV Video Music Award and two World Music Awards.
Tickets for Leona Lewis range from BD40 for Zone A, BD35 for Zone B, BD30 for Zone C and BD20 for Zone D and are sold at Virgin Mega Store. The show starts at 8pm.
For more details visit www.moc.gov.bh
