A Moment Like This is a song originally recorded by American singer Kelly Clarkson, the first winner of American Idol. It was released as a single from her multi-platinum debut album, Thankful. It has been sung by Leona Lewis, the third winner of the British television program 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 he or she 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 over one million copies.
The song is also used in television commercials for Sandals Resorts in the UK and United States.
On 18 October 2002, the single was certified gold by RIAA and had sold over five hundred thousand copies in all formats in the US.
Music Video[]
The music video for "A Moment Like This" is relatively simple, and has Clarkson exploring an abandoned theater. She takes the stage to sing, and clips of her singing in American Idol and getting emotional when she won are 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. She would break the record again when her new song "My Life Would Suck Without You" jumped 96 spots from 97 to 1 in 2009.
| Chart (2002) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Singles Chart | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks | 4 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles|Hot Country Singles & Tracks | 58 |
Cover Versions[]
There have been many cover versions of this song. The most notable has been by British singer Leona Lewis, who had released "A Moment Like This" as her first single after she had won the third season of The X Factor in the UK in December 2006. It went to number one on the UK Singles Chart and sold 895,000 copies as of December 2012. Season 12 contestant Amber Holcomb took on this song in the Top 10 performance show on March 13, 2013.