Reuters reports that the "A Moment Like This," first single from Kelly Clarkson, the bubbly 20-year-old who wowed a national TV audience on the Fox's "American Iodl" series, has shot to No. 1 on the latest Hot 100 singles chart from Nielsen SoundScan.
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The single, paired with the song "Before Your Love" on a double-A-side record, rose from the No. 52 spot after going on sale in stores last week, marking the biggest leap to No. 1 in the history of the Hot 100, her label, RCA Records, said on Wednesday. Clarkson's debut, selling 236,000 copies its first week in stores, grabbed the top spot away from the song "Dilemma" from hip-hop star Nelly. That song, which also featured vocals from Kelly Rowland of Destiny's Child, spent seven weeks at No. 1.
Because relatively few songs are released commercially as singles anymore, most hits depend on broadcast exposure to achieve a place on the singles charts, whose rankings are based on a combination of radio airplay and retail sales. "We're in uncharted territory," said Geoff Mayfield of Billboard magazine, which publishes the charts. "It's unusual to have a retail single to begin with, and it's even more unusual to have one sell decent numbers." Mayfield said Clarkson's single was the first to sell more than 200,000 copies since 1999.