Name	Leon Jackson
Height	5' 8"
Naionality	British
Date of Birth	30 December 1988
Place of Birth	Whitburn, West Lothian, Scotland, UK
Famous for

Until recently a unknown young man be from Scotland who had no aspiration to become a singing star until his mother presented him with an Ipod for Christmas 2006. At that point his need to express his musical talent took shape.

Leon Jackson was born in Whitburn, West Lothian, Scotland on December 30th 1988 as the only child of a single parent mother.

Until Christmas 2006 Leon had never shown any potential as a singer never mind a $1 million recording artist but after his mother gave him an iPod for his Christmas present he suddenly developed an otherwise innate skill.

Leon decide to enter himself for the 2007 series of the UK reality television show, X-Factor, the follow on show from Simon Cowell’s Pop Idol, which saw him being judged by Sharon Osbourne, Dannii Minogue and introduced by host Dermot O’Leary.

Another skill held by Leon is his black belt in karate and his talent as an architect which he planned to expand on with a course at university in September 2007. Having secured a place in the finals Leon opted out of his course for a year to follow his musical dream.

Leon sites Jamie Cullum, the English piano virtuoso and Michael Duble as his influences and reveals that he has a particular passion for contemporary jazz.

Following his win on X-Factor, Jackson was seen storming towards the Christmas No 1 spot 2007 with his debut single When You Believe which was officially released on Wednesday December 19th 2007, despite the controversy surrounding his victory which arose from a suspected fault in the ‘phone in’ voting system used by the show.

Leon’s single was originally released by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston but that didn’t stop his version from being favorably received by the UK public.

With Leon’s roots being in Scotland, the West Lothian Council agreed to organize a civic reception in his home town of Whitburn.

The final result of the X Factor meant that Dannii Minogue was automatically the winning judge and Leon performed a duet which saw the Minogues keeping it in the family, with Kylie Minogue taking to the stage with her sister and Leon.