[Arneldo]

Simon Cowell has defended X Factor's Leona Lewis after she was pictured with two professional voice coaches.

The contestant - and favourite to win the show - has recently appeared in newspapers with coaches named as CeCe Sammy and John Modi. She has been accused of twisting the show's rules by taking professional lessons.

However, her mentor Cowell claims she was doing nothing wrong by having lessons and is questioning the source of the photographs.

"These are innocent photos of a girl who wants to be successful," he told the Daily Star. "Over half of the contestants will have practised with vocal coaches before coming on the show, of course."

He also responded to allegations he had worked with the coaches himself in the past, commenting: "They were vocal coaches on previous shows I’ve worked on, but they are not the vocal coaches on this series."

Cowell added: "I don’t know who’s behind it, but these pictures keep appearing. It’s not fair. It’s jealousy. There has been innuendo and rumour and speculation around her since day one."

"Someone out there doesn’t want Leona to win. Simple as that," he continued. "Someone’s out to get her."

DS

[Bells]

There's always going to be something standing in the way of success, and it's obviously no different for Leona.
But I really don't see the problem with her having had lessons or whatever. OMG so she had a few vocal coaching lessons for her (already amazing) voice to train it a bit before following her dream. It's not that terrible!

I really do hope now that even if she doesn't win, she ends up being successful, and to be honest I am quite confident that will happen.

[GlitterEyes]

The X factor is about discovering a new talent and something different. The X factor is not build upon just about voice, it is also about personality, sparks, and charisma...just look at how the MacDonalds stayed in so long. Leona is getting far to hyped up in the media and on the show.

There is no issue with her having lessons because many have done its the fact that her teachers were top coachers and the fact that they hidden that fact from the public. She has a fantastic voice nobody says she doesn't but her stories in the media are all very well placed if you ask me. Always happens each year on various shows and does get tiresome.