Nineteen years after capturing hearts to win the third season of the United Kingdom's "X Factor," Leona Lewis says now is the perfect time for a Las Vegas residency.

"I'm 20 years deep into my career now. I have enough of a breadth of work to actually present, and songs that I love, songs that people over the years have cultivated their own memories to," the "Bleeding Love" singer says, adding she has performed in the United States before, but nothing at this scale.

Lewis says she will mix in her hits along with holiday songs for a Christmas themed residency at the "stunning" Voltaire at The Venetian Resort, starting Nov. 1.

Leona Lewis takes inspiration from Celine Dion, Adele for Las Vegas residency

The Grammy-nominated singer remembers visiting Vegas for the first time to see Celine Dion perform and being "blown away" by the "massive theaters and the big lights" of Sin City. "It definitely planted a little seed in me as to think, what would that be like?" Lewis says.

To "have your life's work and share it in that way" is "very special," especially given that her time with American audiences has been limited. And with British stars like Adele, Rod Stewart and Elton John, who have had historic residencies, Lewis is "proud" to be among them.

"Especially like Adele," Lewis says. "We're from quite close – she's from Tottenham, I'm from Hackney. We're both like working class girls. We actually both went to the BRITs [school for performing arts], so seeing her journey has just been incredible to witness."

But the "Better in Time" songstress assures her show will be unique, especially given its holiday theme. Her setlist will include tracks from her 2013 album, "Christmas, With Love," plus her chart-topping records and fan favorites.

Aside from the 2021 reissue of her hit Christmas album, Lewis hasn't released an album in 10 years. She gave birth to her daughter in 2022 and says she has been in her "own world." It took her 2023 U.K. Christmas with Love Tour, her first in seven years, to renew her desire to connect with fans.

"One guy had lost his mum, and one of my songs just was their song, and stories like that that just kind of reignited something again in me," Lewis says. "As soon as I opened my heart up again to being out there and connecting through my music again, these opportunities just kind of came in."

That reinvorgoration, and the joys and uncertainties of motherhood, have also inspired her to "open myself up again" and get back into the studio. She didn't specify timing, but says fans can expect a "personal" album with a "very different" sound given she's producing, playing more of the instruments and writing songs herself.

Why 'old school' holiday music is a 'joyful' spot to be in for Leona Lewis

Gearing up for her residency, Lewis will be following in the footsteps of the queen of Christmas, Mariah Carey, who also has a holiday residency at Park MGM Las Vegas from Nov. 28-Dec. 13.

Lewis says she caught Carey's "electric" residency several years ago. Carey's 1994 holiday album was a mainstay in Lewis' home as a child, when her mom "would play Mariah Carey's album in the summertime."

Lewis has her own Christmas hits, especially "One More Sleep," a perennial favorite on U.K. and U.S. airwaves.

The song has been so well-received that she released it twice, on 2013's "Christmas, With Love" and 2021's "Christmas, With Love Always."

Looking back at recording the 2013 album, Lewis remembers feeling down. She felt the holiday music genre was a "dead" space that people didn't seem to be "connecting" with.

"I remember thinking back to the Christmas songs I used to listen to, like Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Nat King Cole, Darlene Love – these insane songs born of the Motown era, with that Motown soul, but just with Christmas lyrics," Lewis says.

Her team recorded the "old school way" using "that Phil Spector wall of sound" to inject songs with the kind of sound that actually "moved" her. "It just gave it this warmth and depth that I hadn't heard in a long time with Christmas songs," she says.

Spreading the "love" and "soul" put into her holiday music inspired her to now spread the joy to Las Vegas.

Lewis and her family relocated to Vegas for the residency and will spend the holidays there. Though the Brit grew up with rainy and snowy Christmases, she's also no stranger to a hot Christmas after living on and off in Los Angeles. But she assures, Vegas will still fill her with the holiday spirit and their traditions like a British roast dinner will continue.

"It's not the place, it's who you're surrounded by. It will feel like Christmas because we're all together," she says.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Leona Lewis on how fellow 'working-class girl' Adele inspired her new Vegas residency

Reporting by Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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