first two verses are in the key of E flat minor, and the chorus after each verse transitions to A flat major. The final chorus transposes to B flat major. Clarkson's vocals span from A3 to F5. Critical reception This song received moderately positive reviews. Entertainment Weekly editor Henry Goldblatt wrote about Clarkson's performance of the song on American Idol: "the woman whose tears during her winning rendition of A Moment Like This were so heartfelt, grown men cried along with her." David Browne, also of Entertainment Weekly, wrote: "A choir at the end of "A Moment Like This" is meant to indicate earthiness." Arion Berger of Rolling Stone wrote that this song "signaled that Kelly might be headed toward the Mariah-Whitney-Celine radio-ballad sausage mill." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine wrote that this song is "Adult Contemporary goo. AllMusic senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that the song "may have been a number one hit, but it was such a staid adult contemporary tune that it suggested that her career was over before it really began, since it was not a work that played to her age or audience, and it gave her no room to grow." He also marked this song as a standout on album Thankful. The Huffington Post ranked the song at number 11 on "The 33 Greatest Pop Divas' Debut Singles" list. 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 the United Kingdom'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., debuting at number 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 21, 2002, and reaching number one on its third week on the chart. It sold 236,000 in its first week. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two consecutive weeks and remained on the chart for 20 consecutive 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. On the Billboard issue dated October 5, 2002, the song topped the Hot 100 chart with a single-week jump of 51