PETALING JAYA : It’s hard to keep a secret and for its Malaysian debut, the MTV Asia Awards 2008 is poised to feature live appearances by some of the most popular acts in the music scene today.

Hosted by Jared Leto, the MTV Asia Awards 2008 will take place at the Arena of Stars, Genting on Aug 2nd.

According to sources, the acts scheduled to perform at the awards ceremony will include Leona Lewis, OneRepublic, Panic at the Disco and The Click Five.

British singer-songwriter Lewis is among the big names for the awards ceremony.

The 22-year-old London native and winner of hit British reality talent show, X Factor, has broken all-time sales records with her debut Spirit entering the album chart at No1 in Britain and the United States.

For the latest updates on the MTV Asia Awards 2008, visit www.mtvasiaawards.com.

Source: Star-Ecentral.com

While Leona Lewis was one of the artists invited to perform at Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday concert in London’s Hyde Park, she was ‘caught’ by Rap Up who had an exclusive interview with the LeLe for the new issue of Rap-Up, hitting newsstands soon!

- Rap-Up.com

Leona Lewis! Leona Lewis!
City Weekend writer Michael Engstrom recently bumped into British singing sensation Leona Lewis whilst on the other side of the East China Sea. Having come over to Tokyo for a small showcase, the 2006 winner of “The X Factorâ€� (Britain’s version of “American Idol”) was magnanimous enough to dedicate some minutes of her precious time to friendly conversation. Sitting quietly on the 49th floor of the Tokyo Ritz Carlton, they sipped Evian and discussed the finer points of divadom.

City Weekend’s Michael Engstrom: As many of your international fans may not understand English, where do you think your appeal lies for them?

Leona Lewis: It’s kinda surreal to me that the music is transcending that language barrier. I just think it’s amazing, and for me, I studied classical music, doing a lot of opera, and there’d be a lot of artists singing in French, Spanish, and Italian, and I wouldn’t understand exactly what they were saying. But I got the feeling from their voice and the musical elements, and I think that’s what’s happening with my music.

CWME: Let’s say you were given an opportunity to sing at the Beijing Olympics. Would you accept? What about singing in London in 2012?

LL: That would be amazing, an amazing honor, you know it’s just such a big ceremony, viewed by so many people. So that’d be an amazing honor to do that, if I had the chance. Being from the U.K., I’d love to sing in London 2012.

CWME: Are you familiar with the Idol phenomenon taking place in China?

LL: You mean like the American Idol?

CWME: Yeah, but it’s Chinese. It’s called “Super Girl.� Would you be willing to collaborate with the Chinese Idols?

LL: Yeah, I am always looking to do collaborations; I think it just makes for more interesting listening! But I’ve never seen the show, though I’d love to see it. Don’t really know how I would fare…

Click here to read the whole City Weekend Magazine interview. Thanks to Aidan from the official Leona Board for the info.

Check out Leona in this month’s American Cosmo Girl magazine. Featured in a profile about her favourite make-up and what makes her feel beautiful, Leona looks stunning as ever as you can see here! The article also promotes the US release of Spirit which comes out across the pond in April. Click the pic below to view the full set!

Cosmo Girl US - April 2008 (x1)

Credit: LeonaLewisMusic.co.uk