the young people's professor

You are right Frank.
Leona is the best contestant to ever win a reality tv show anywhere in the world.
Her album is to be release in the very near future and she is going to become a major superstar.

Sorry but I disagree. Fantasia's rendition was HOT. Leona's was good.

Leona has a wonderful voice but Fantasia really connected with the song emotionally which allowed her to give a better performance. Like Simon said after Fantasia's performance, "There was something magical about that performance".

Personally I prefer Leona's rendition.

The differences are quite distinct Leona's performance is highly operatic, Fantasia's is gospel based.

Probably reflects the backgrounds of the two singers.

Well, Charolette Church slays both of them when it comes to this aria!

Leona is cool, but Fanny gives me what i need in terms of depth and conviction.

Hey Wassup? It's your boy, Shaun. I think Leona's version was good but Fantasia's was better. She connecting with the song. The song was meant to be sung as a lullaby from a mother to her child, therefore Fantasia captured that with the emotion and tenderness she used when she performed this classic song. She is the real deal....

Listen to Leona's version: It's straight up POP and she didn't sound convincing in the context of the song. I agree that she has a good voice, but am I too believe she put her heart and soul into a lullaby song that supposes to evoke feeling and emotion? Besides, Leona's mainstream vocals is no match for Fantasia's powerful gospel/jazz background vocals - period.

Fantasia has this hands down! Leona is like a fake Mariah Carey and I'm not just talking about her looks. There was no kind of emotion in her voice. She just has a higer range. Range doesn't equal a better singer. I really felt it when Fantasia sung it; I got chills. By the way my opinions are unbiased because I'm not a fan of Ms. Fantasia I'm just telling it like it is but to each is thir own. Music is subjective.

Leona's voice is good but her performance was out of keeping with the song. It is a lullaby to a CHILD, not a nightclub performance. She also copied a lot of Fantasia's arrangement. Fantasia was original, her intelligent interpretation and performance connected powerfully with the song and left us all in awe.

I would have to agree with most of the comments posted here.While they both were very good performances,I just feel as if Fantasia connected more with the song. She gave it that jazzy,bluesy as well as gospel edge that made her perofrmance so outstanding.It's almost like comparing Mariah Carey to the early singing of Aretha Frankin.One just had so much soul, raw emotion and feeling while the other had that high vocal range that is very pop star quality-like.

Yeah, i would have to agree with most of the comments on here. I think Leona tone is beautiful, but Fantasia is a beast and her rendention of Summertime was crazy. There is alot of honesty in Fantasia voice and I don't get that from Leona....

Let me ask you this: Would "look-at-me-I'm-so-great" Simon Cowell have ever told Leona to sing this song if he hadn't heard it FIRST from Fantasia back in 2004?

I think NOT!

Frank, you are a friend in my head and I have a lot of respect for you, but you need to have your ears wax out (smile). Fantasia's performance was on a whole'nother level. Leona has talent but Fantasia was meant to sang that song. I still love ya Bro.

Leona's was by far better! Fantasia has nothing on Leona's vocals.

Leona, by a country mile.

Awesome.

Fantisia my arse! I agree that Fantasia gave the more convincing rendition but her southern country/gospel vocals are 2 a penny mate.. You get a Fantasia on every episode of every idol show, though usually better tan Fantasia because her vocal tone has got to be the most annoying one to come from a show like idol.. Seriously, Donald Duck experimenting with helium and beatboxing at that!

If you think that this girls is the next pop queen, please give me what you all are smoking and drinking. I'll save it for the weekend..Fantasia bought something new and different to pop/jazz/R&B music. Especially in a day and age when these girls have the looks, but not the talent. This is apples and oranges, not comparison. Fantasia wins hands down.

Leona is too nasal/upper respiratory. Fantasia sings from the lung bases. Simply put, Fantasia's version did it for me. Leona is cute but her vocal ability isn't on par with Fantasia's.

I like Fantasia's Summertime more because it was heart felt! I felt like she was singing it to her daughter when I saw it on the show! Yes Leona is a big voice when it comes to the upper register but she couldn't do a Free Yourself or When I See You better PERIOD!But Fantasia can take any song genre and make it hers! Thats why she is in a class all her own! Take that to the bank!

I have to say Miss Fantasia Moniquie Barrino! I heard the opening part of Leonas and she has nothing on Tasia,and Simon knows this too because he himself was blown away with Tasia's version,and for the idiot that called Tasia D.D. she is blowing the box office up on Broadway so she must not be to annoying and she is te 3rd AI winner so get over it,then again go ahead talk you are just her stepping stone you are just makng her stronger.

This was big band night on the X-Factor. She couldnt do the lullaby version because she had to sing with a live band. She needed to own the stage over them..if she sang it as a lullaby then she would have been overpowered

secondly. Leona being from the UK, the song isnt going to mean the same thing to her as it would a black or biracial American. She did her own thing with it instead.

Fantasia's is slightly better because of the soul she puts into it. Leona is going to be a big star there really is no denying that she is the total package. Get into her singing I Will Always Love You and you'll see what I am talking about.

on this song it is very close, but as an artist leona is way better, she has really improved her vocal range and conveying her emotion, plus i think leona is more likely to have worldwide success, as i know fantasia has never made it in the UK, she is still amazing but the whole gospel thing just isnt popular in england in comparison to US, both fab but very different talents, and i think leona is much mor attractive!

I know Fantasia might have alot of fans in America but in all honesty Leona is in a whole diffrent leauge! I can't believe anyone could think fantasia's was even as good as Leona's verison never mind better! Leona's vocal range is much bigger than Fantasia's. Clive Davis Has already said Leona is the best contestant he has ever seen on any talent show so that comming from him of all people should mean something! I think Fantasia did a great job and it makes no diffrence if she sang it first....Leona did a diffrent version and went way higher with her voice! Seriously Leona is much better than Fantasia! Leona is gonna be a huge superstar worldwide...she already has alot of fans in America. Fantastia has never made it in england and I don't think she ever will...People in Ireland and England don't get singers like Fantasia! Leona is much more marketable!

This is a joke... right? Are people being sarcastic? Fantasia's performance was very good indeed but Leona just totally and utterly nailed the song. Whatever if Fantasia sang with more emotion. Leona sang with better technique and better use of dynamics. Her performance was absolutely spectacular. Let's just wait and see in a couple of years who will be more successful and sell more records... Btw, la bouche, Simon did say there was something magical about Fantasias performance but I'm sure he also said that LEONAS THE BEST CONTESTANT he's EVER HAD accros ANY of these talent shows base on THIS PERFORMANCE!

Leona Lewis' performance of this song was nailed. She has the most beautifully controlled, toned, range driven voice i've heard since mariah's prime back in the 90's. Fantasia's performance had a lot of emotion but lacked her vocal skill. Simon was correct in mentioning the following quote after her performance of this song "Leona, you are absolutely the best contestant i've ever had across any of these shows and that was an amazing performance."... A professional opionion, what more could one ask?

They're so different it's hardly worth comparing them... I liked both as different songs.
I agree that Leona has better technique, range and tone but the genre and meaning of the song were better suited to the gospel/jazz rendition based in Fantasia's performance. Leona's was brilliant but sounded more like a Bond track than a lullaby to a baby from a mother, which was because it was Big Band week on The X Factor.
I don't know why successful female singers have to be compared all the time... can't both be fantastic but different?
I would also like to add that The X Factor is not a British version of American Idol. American Idol is a version of Pop Idol, the predecessor to The X Factor.