03. One More Sleep | 9.24

 

Highest: 10 (HurtMyHands, Scene, Alfonso LeLe, Mike, Cameron, Lukuzz, Billy, SamJudd, Feel The Fever) 9.5 (Love Leona, Jonjo, troylovesmusic)

Lowest: 7 (…ready for it) 8 (sorryislayed, Riser)

 

 

 

At Number 3 we have the new Christmas Classic ‘One More Sleep’. Inspired by the Motown sound with nods to 60s girl-groups, ‘One More Sleep’ was cooked up by Leona and Biff Stannard in the summer of 2013. When it was announced that Leona would be bringing out a festive album I – and a large chunk of the fandom – was apprehensive about (a) the lack of originality in a Christmas album (b) Syco’s intentions for Leona as an artist and © the album’s success. Thankfully, we needn’t have worried about (a) and ©; Leona recorded three original tracks for the album and, for once, the perfect lead single was chosen! It has to be one of Leona’s most instant tracks without ever sacrificing quality for the sake of catchiness. It is one of the rare occasions (or only occasion?) where Leona has shown the wider public a happier, more joyful side to her through her music. It’s rather ironic that at the beginning of her career she was plagued with criticisms about her “lack of personality” and “boring” music yet one of her lasting legacies is this bouncy, up-tempo yuletide BOP. The song’s success was never a foregone conclusion. In actuality, the track was stalling at first and it was her X Factor performance which pushed it to the top of the iTunes chart and saw it peak officially at #3 for two consecutive weeks! Frustratingly, ‘One More Sleep’ was ridiculously close to charting at #2 on one of those weeks – being a small amount of copies behind Avicii of all people. :lol: Leona could have joined the long list of Christmas Classics that peaked at #2. :drama: Although Leona has not seen chart success with new material since this song’s release in 2013, it is a blessing to have her re-enter the chart every year with it. :wub: The power of an amazing pop song! It re-entered the top 10 officially a couple of years ago so fingers crossed Leona can do it again soon! You guys have shown this song an overwhelming amount of love – with nine 10’s! and not a single score below 7. :cheer: It did however fail to receive a single 11! Maybe because it’s a seasonal track that isn’t appropriate to listen to 10 11 months of the year, it isn’t considered anyone’s absolute Leona fave? But who cares about 11s – everyone loves it!

One More Sleep is too high.

one more sleep did well, im supporting run now.

And the winner is....
































02. Run | 9.62

Highest: 11 (Mike, …ready for it) 10 (Bitch, Nick F1, Scene, Alfonso LeLe, Billy, SamJudd, Feel The Fever, Winter Freeze, Love Leona, Jordan Lee, Julian Nial, Jonjo, troylovesmusic)
Lowest: 7 (Dean) 8 (HurtMyHands, sorryislayed)




Narrowly missing out on the top spot is one of Leona’s most enduring and unforgettable hits. The story of how this cover came to life is incredible. Leona went into the Radio 1 Live Lounge in early 2007 and performed a cover of Snow Patrol’s ‘Run’. Her live cover had such an EPIC impact on Radio 1 listeners it became the most requested live lounge cover in history: the following morning, it was requested over 8,000 times in the first two minutes of Chris Moyles’ Breakfast Show!! Due to the overwhelming response, Syco (very smartly) decided to include a studio version of ‘Run’ on the Spirit Deluxe Edition. Leona performed the track on The X Factor that year to rave reviews and, after overwhelming public demand, the label FINALLY chose to release it as a single! (to think they didn’t even plan on doing this originally!!) Anyway, commercially the song SMASHED. It became the first ever download-only release to top the UK Singles Chart and spent 2 weeks at the summit. Inexplicably, it was not pushed internationally BUT in 2010 it became a top 3 hit in Germany and Switzerland – and a #1 in Austria – after a contestant performed it on a talent show! The song is stunning and Leona’s vocal delivery is flawless – starting off light and not giving too much until the 3 minute mark. SCALPED. ‘Run’ picked up a remarkable 13 tens on top of its 2 elevens!





01. Bleeding Love | 9.74

Highest: 11 (SamJudd, Winter Freeze, Jordan Lee, JulianNial, troylovesmusic) 10 (Scene, Alfonso LeLe, Mike, Lukuzz, Billy, Love Leona, sorryislayed, Jonjo)
Lowest: 7.5 (Dean, Feel The Fever)




And the song that comes out on top is the modern classic, ‘Bleeding Love’. The song transformed Leona from an X Factor graduate into an international multi-platinum-selling superstar and ensured she left her place in the history books! ‘Bleeding Love’ topped the charts in over 30 countries – including 7 weeks at the top in the UK and 4 non-consecutive weeks at number one in the US. By achieving that prestigious number one, Leona became the first British solo female to top the US Billboard Hot 100 in over 21 years! It’s fair to say ‘Bleeding Love’ exceeded everyone’s expectations even though Leona was being hyped up as the new Whitney or Mariah even before the song’s release. Despite the UK release clashing with Take That’s ‘Rule the World’, ‘Bleeding Love’ sold over 218,000 copies in its opening week to land at #1 and continued to sell upwards of 100,000 for the following two weeks also! Its sales were simply incredible in 2007’s climate and it became one of the rare million-sellers of that period. Furthermore, it became the biggest-selling song of 2008 worldwide!!! Not only did it launch Leona’s career in the most perfect way possible, it elevated Ryan Tedder’s profile as a songwriter and paved the way for future hits such as Beyonce’s ‘Halo’ and Ella Henderson’s ‘Ghost’. While I’ve always enjoyed the song, I don’t think I used to appreciate it as much as I should have. Everything about it is just timelessly beautiful; the organ intro, the percussion, lyrics about yearning for someone even if by doing so it causes you pain… With five 11’s and eight 10’s you voters have really shown it the love it deserves! Undoubtedly one of the defining songs of the noughties! :wub:

Thank you to everyone who has voted and contributed to the discussion in this thread. :heart: This is the first ever rate I’ve hosted and it’s been great fun! Hopefully some of you have either discovered or rediscovered some of Leona’s discography through this rate. :kink:

Nooooooo :( I wanted OMS to win so badlyyyyy.

 

Thanks so much for this Scene! It’s been so much fun, hopefully we’ll be doing this again soon with new singles ❤️

i had a feeling bleeding love would do it but i would have preferred run to have topped it.

Bleeding Love is still an absolute classic tbf, and Run is one of the best cover versions of all time. One More Sleep is a classic too. So many amazing songs in just an absolute Leona Stan ❤️

Bleeding Love is the correct winner!!!!

 

Amazing results though so happy Take A Bow managed to really slay too.

 

One More Sleep is high up for me in terms of Xmas releases but bc of its nature it’s not something I revisit a lot (maybe between 15-26 December or so :lol: ) but I wouldn’t have put in top 3.

 

I will say One More Sleep is a rare time where she’s had the perfect lead single though only Bleeding Love can really relate to that.

It’s lovely to see it re enter each year too, if did manage to show the public Leona can do upbeat numbers.

'Run' is breath taking. I adore the original but Leona's sends shivers down my spine. Stunning.

 

'Bleeding Love' is a classic! WHAT a song and what a debut single. :wub:

 

Thank you for this Scene! Was lovely revisiting them all :heart:

That kinda feels right! :)

You're welcome guys. :heart: It makes me really crave new Leona music though. :cheeseblock: Serve up another Spirit or Echo queen.

Just give us an album full of 'Can't Breathe' tbh. That sound would smash now tbh.

Meh. I wanted Run to win.

I like 'Run' a lot, but that feels too high for it.

Bleeding Love was the right winner will never forget the first time I heard it . Run was also stunning though !