FinishMySong Blog

Over the last week I've been working with some girls from NAPA who wanted to be able to confidently sing the Christmas number 1 of 2006, Leona Lewis' A Moment Like This. Naturally, I downloaded the score from one of the main UK based sheet music providers and set about looking at the vocal part. Very quickly it became obvious that I was going to run into difficulties for one main reason: the performance of this song that Leona is best known for is the one she did in the final episode of X-Factor (that she went on to win). But, the vocal on that version is entirely different to that on the single that was released the day after.

To see what I mean, compare these two videos, kindly (and probably illegally) posted by some YouTubers:

The CD Single Version-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyUVY58ke5Y&mode=related&search=

The Live TV Version-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eIGQVNQHlk


Actually, the opening of the song with verse one and the chorus are fairly similar on each of these but once we get to verse two and the middle 8 we find that they're wildly different to the degree that it sounds to me like Leona simply made most of the end of the song up when it came to doing it on the show. Certainly, there is little similarity in melodic content from the beginning of verse two onwards, the live version being massively over-ornamented.

The general mood of both versions is the same and the climax points are intact, but the manner with which Leona switches between head and chest voices is more pronounced on the tv recording (she also sings quite sharp throughout the song and the timing is out on a number of critical entrances with the band, making Louis' comment that the performance was "world class" quite a dubious one!). Generally, I think, perhaps not surprisingly, that the studio recording is considerably better both with regard to vocal technique and overall balance, although because of the atmosphere on the final night of the X-Factor series (due in part to clever lighting and camera techniques) I think that performance comes across as more dramatic.

In any case, it is the studio recorded version that is outlined in the score that I downloaded so that's the one I'll be working to with the students from the Northern Academy of Performing Arts. It just makes my life that bit more difficult that they will probably know the live version better!