A Moment Like This

Infobox single
Name = A Moment Like This


Artist = Kelly Clarkson
from Album = Thankful
A-side = "Before Your Love"
B-side =
Released = start date|2002|9|17
Format = CD single, DVD single
Recorded = 2002
Genre = Pop
Length = 3:49
Label = RCA Records
Writer = Jörgen Elofsson, John Reid
Producer = Stephen Ferrera, Steve Mac
Certification = PlatinumExtra album cover
Upper caption = Alternative cover
Background = khaki

---

Lower caption = Video Single
Last single =
This single = "Before Your Love"/"A Moment Like This"
(2002)
Next single = "Miss Independent"
(2003)

"A Moment Like This" is a song by American singer Kelly Clarkson, released from her multi-platinum debut album, "Thankful". It has been covered by Leona Lewis, the third winner of the British television programme "The X Factor".

The song was co-written by Jörgen Elofsson and John Reid (of dance act Nightcrawlers) and produced by Stephen Ferrera and Steve Mac. It was written to be the first single for the winner of the first season of "American Idol". As a result, the four remaining finalists, Kelly Clarkson, Justin Guarini, Nikki McKibbin, and Tamyra Gray each recorded a version of the song in case they won. The song was first revealed to the public when Guarini and Clarkson competed in a final showdown while singing this song, along with another track, "Before Your Love". After the American public had voted, Guarini performed the song (and Clarkson performed "Before Your Love") at the final show before the results were revealed. When Clarkson was announced as the winner, she became emotional, and sang the song as her final performance.

"Before Your Love", was also given to radio and had a video shot, which debuted on MTV's "TRL" before "A Moment like This" did; however, it failed to achieve the level of success of "A Moment like This". The single, to date, has sold approximately 1,000,200 copies.

The song is also used in television commercials for Sandals Resorts in the UK and United States.

Music video

The music video for "A Moment like This" is relatively simple, and has Clarkson exploring an abandoned theatre. She can be seen taking the stage to sing, and clips of her singing on "American Idol" and getting emotional when she won are also shown.

Track listing

#Before Your Love
#A Moment Like This

Chart performance

As the first single ever from "American Idol", much pressure was put on "A Moment Like This" to perform well. The debut single from Will Young, the winner of Britain's "Pop Idol" (the forerunner to "American Idol"), sold 1.2 million copies in its first week, becoming the fastest-selling British debut single of all time; however, critics argued that the American singles market was different from the British market. The single became a hit in the U.S., reaching number one on the "Billboard" Hot 100 for two weeks. Sales of the commercial single also helped the song (as evidenced by its number-one peak on the Hot 100 Singles Sales) break records. With the release of the single, the song broke The Beatles' record for the biggest leap ever to number one, from 52, in the history of the Hot 100 Chart, a record that would stand for five years, until Maroon 5's "Makes Me Wonder" jumped from 64 to 1 in May 2007.

Other versions

There is a cover version of "A Moment Like This" by Dutch singer Glennis Grace, a Swedish version called "Ett kort Ögonblick" released by Swedish duo Fame, and a cover version by Sandra Oxenryd. All three have performed in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005 , 2003 and 2006 respectively. Another version of "A Moment like This" is featured in the "Drawn Together" episode "A Tale of Two Cows", where Toot Braunstein sings a shrill, off-key version while having sex with Xandir. Kidz Bop Kids covered "A Moment like This" on their album "Kidz Bop 3". The song was also covered by "Idol Sweden" 2005 finalist Cindy Lamreus on the "Idol" compilation, "My Own Idol".

Most recently, on October 1, 2008, the top ten finalists of "America's Got Talent" season three performed the song together live on the season's finale episode.

References