Leona Lewis and X Factor

Lewis audition for the third series of The X Factor in 2006, singing "Over the Rainbow". She was mentored by Simon Cowell and was proclaimed the victor on 16 December 2006, charming a £1 million recording contract.

Lewis's debut single, a cover of Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This", was launched on CD on 20 December 2006, and was available as a digital download from midnight on 17 December. It broke a world record after it was downloaded 50,000 times in thirty minutes. On 24 December, "A Moment Like This" was crowned the 2006 UK Christmas number-one single, having sold 571,253 copies, outselling the rest of the Top 40's sales combined. The single became the most downloaded song in 2006; it stayed at number one for four weeks and stayed at the top spot in the Irish Singles Chart for six weeks. It went on to sell in the region of 830,000 copies.