Inside Music: Consumer Guide

Leona Lewis
"Spirit"
(J/Syco)

Simon Cowell's British Idol possesses an exceptionally delicate version of the sock-it-to-'em karaoke-champ voice Cowell has made the gold standard of '00s pop. The subtle flutter of her finest melismatics could give an open-minded person goose bumps. Her coarser melismatics, however, are the usual showoff BS and probably also a commercial prerequisite, like not having a harelip. And because she doesn't write, this is karaoke where nobody knows the originals. Of course, when OneRepublic provided your lead single and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is your literary highlight, it's just as well you don't write. "Forgive Me" would be a tolerable follow-up. Somehow I doubt Cowell cares.