Leona Lewis hires Jacko's dance guru for world tour

Leona Lewis has a handful of live shows in her kitty, but that's all about to change -- she is teaming up with Travis Payne, the dance guru behind Michael Jackson's ill-fated comeback gigs, for a spectacular 14-month world tour.

"It's a case of hiring the best talent in the business at any cost to make sure the concerts will be one of the talking points of next year," thesun.co.uk quoted an insider as saying.
Leona has been finalising the details of the elaborate gigs in between recording sessions for her second album in Los Angeles. Her record label SyCo's boss Simon Cowell has taken a special interest in the arrangements for the shows that will have a Garden of Eden theme.

"Everyone at SyCo is determined to transform Leona into a global touring powerhouse. She has proved she can sell millions of records, so the next logical step is for her to pack out arenas.

"The Garden of Eden theme will allow Leona to showcase two sides to her character: The angelic songbird, and the less well-behaved R&B vixen," said the source.

The shows will be staged from next summer onwards and will be stylised.

But before the jaunt begins, Leona is going to undertake some serious training with Payne.