This Is the Night (Clay Aiken song)
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"This Is the Night" is the debut single of ''
American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...
'' contestant
Clay Aiken Clayton Holmes Aiken (''né'' Grissom; born November 30, 1978) is an American singer, television personality, actor, politician, and activist. Aiken finished second place on the second season of ''American Idol'' in 2003, and his debut album, ' ...
, written by
Chris Braide Christopher Braide (born 1973) is an English songwriter, record producer and singer, formerly based in Malibu, Los Angeles, California, United States. Braide is known for being a pianist. First signed as a solo artist by David A. Stewart in t ...
,
Aldo Nova Aldo Nova (born Aldo Caporuscio on November 13, 1956) is a Canadian guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist, and producer. He initially gained fame and popularity with the release of his 1982 debut album '' Aldo Nova'' which peaked to ''Billboards ...
, and
Gary Burr Gary Burr, born in Meriden, Connecticut, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, primarily in the country music genre. Many of the songs he has written have become Top-10 hits, the first of which was " Love's Been A Little B ...
. It was released on June 10, 2003, on the
RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
label, simultaneously with " Flying Without Wings" by rival contestant (and idol winner)
Ruben Studdard Ruben Studdard (born September 12, 1978) is an American singer and actor. He rose to fame as winner of the second season of ''American Idol'' and received a Grammy Award nomination in 2003 for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his recording of ...
. It became the 11th song in the history of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 (and the first by a debut act) to debut at number one on that chart, restricting "Flying Without Wings" to the number-two position. Internationally, "This Is the Night" was issued as a double A-side with Aiken's cover of Simon & Garfunkel's " Bridge over Troubled Water" in Canada and New Zealand, reaching number one in both countries. In both nations, the double A-side also kept "Flying Without Wings" from reaching the top spot.


Writing and inspiration

Although the song seems tailor-made as a potential show-winning song, it was not written specifically for ''American Idol''. Co-writer Braide said in an interview with HitQuarters: "'This Is The Night' was written from the heart ... It was written after 9/11, and there's a line in it, 'Every kiss is a kiss/you can never get back', and it's about saying, to whoever you love out there, just appreciate them." ''American Idol'' creator
Simon Fuller Simon Fuller (born 17 May 1960) is a British entrepreneur, artist manager, and film and television producer renowned for nurturing and inspiring world class entertainment talent. He is the creator of the ''Idols'' TV format, including the UK s ...
heard the song and said it was perfect for the show.


Release and chart performance

"Bridge over Trouble Water" / "This Is the Night" was released as a
CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...
and 7-inch single in the United States on June 10, 2003. Because of '' Billboard''s chart rules, only "This Is the Night" was listed on the Hot 100 chart since it received the highest cumulative airplay audience, appearing on the ''Billboard''
Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
chart at number 30 and climbing to a peak of number 13 in August 2003. On June 28, 2003, "This Is the Night" debuted at number one on the Hot 100 with sales of 393,000, becoming the fastest-selling physical single since Elton John's "
Candle in the Wind 1997 "Candle in the Wind 1997", also known as "Goodbye England's Rose" and "Candle in the Wind '97", is a song by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, a re-written and re-recorded version of their 1973 song "Candle in the Wind". ...
" and the best-selling physical single of 2003, with 948,000 copies sold. It was also the first song by a debut act to top the Hot 100 during its first week on the chart. On July 15, 2003, the double A-side single was certified
platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...
by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), becoming the first CD single to go platinum since 2002, when
Lee Ann Womack Lee Ann Womack Liddell (; born August 19, 1966) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Her 2000 single, " I Hope You Dance" was a major crossover music hit, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Country Chart and the Top 15 ...
's "
I Hope You Dance "I Hope You Dance" is a crossover country pop song written by Mark D. Sanders and Tia Sillers and recorded by American country music singer Lee Ann Womack with Sons of the Desert. (Drew and Tim Womack of Sons of the Desert are not related to L ...
" sold a million copies after being released for over a year. The double A-side also topped the charts in New Zealand, where it is certified platinum, and in Canada, going six-times platinum. "This Is the Night" was included as a bonus track on
Clay Aiken Clayton Holmes Aiken (''né'' Grissom; born November 30, 1978) is an American singer, television personality, actor, politician, and activist. Aiken finished second place on the second season of ''American Idol'' in 2003, and his debut album, ' ...
's '' Measure of a Man'' album.


Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the US CD single liner notes. Studios * Recorded at Rokstone Studios (London, England) and
Westlake Audio Westlake Recording Studios is a music recording studio in West Hollywood, California. History Westlake Recording Studios was founded in the early 1970s by the American audio engineer Tom Hidley under the name Westlake Audio. Hidley was experi ...
(Los Angeles) * Mixed at Mix This! ( Pacific Palisades, California) * Mastered at Sterling Sound (
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
, New York City) Personnel *
Aldo Nova Aldo Nova (born Aldo Caporuscio on November 13, 1956) is a Canadian guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist, and producer. He initially gained fame and popularity with the release of his 1982 debut album '' Aldo Nova'' which peaked to ''Billboards ...
– writing *
Gary Burr Gary Burr, born in Meriden, Connecticut, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, primarily in the country music genre. Many of the songs he has written have become Top-10 hits, the first of which was " Love's Been A Little B ...
– writing *
Chris Braide Christopher Braide (born 1973) is an English songwriter, record producer and singer, formerly based in Malibu, Los Angeles, California, United States. Braide is known for being a pianist. First signed as a solo artist by David A. Stewart in t ...
– writing * Friðrik "Frizzy" Karlsson – guitars * Steve Pearce – bass * Steve Mac – keyboards, production *
Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the '' Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2014. Cola ...
– drums *
Frank Ricotti Frank Ricotti (born 31 January 1949) is an English jazz vibraphonist and percussionist. Early life and education Ricotti was born in London, England. His father was a drummer. Bill Ashton, founder of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NY ...
– percussion * Dave Arch – production * Chris Laws – recording (Rokstone) * Robin Sellars – recording (Westlake Audio) *
Bob Clearmountain Bob Clearmountain (born January 15, 1953) is an American recording engineer, mixer and record producer. He has worked with many major acts, including Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Toto (band), Toto, Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams, with whom he ...
– mixing * Kevin Harp – assistant mix engineering * Daniel Pursey – assistant engineering * Jason Rankins – assistant engineering * Clive Davis – executive production *
Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography T ...
– mastering


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


See also

* List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2003 (U.S.)


References

{{Authority control 2003 debut singles 2003 songs American Idol songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Canadian Singles Chart number-one singles Clay Aiken songs Number-one singles in New Zealand RCA Records singles Song recordings produced by Steve Mac Songs written by Aldo Nova Songs written by Chris Braide Songs written by Gary Burr