 Directed by Dave Meyers , the accompanying music video for " Breakaway " portrays Clarkson as a young girl from a small town who follows her dream and becomes an international star . It also contained scenes interspersed from The Princess Diaries 2 : Royal Engagement . Clarkson acted out most of the lyrics in the music video because she felt that the song was autobiographical . Critics responded positively to the music video for being faithful to the central theme shared by the song , the film , and Clarkson 's personal biography . Clarkson performed the song in a series of live appearances such as television shows Saturday Night Live , The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno . She has performed the song in her concert tours , including the Stronger Tour . " Breakaway " has also been covered by many contestants from reality television singing competitions , notably Katie Stevens , a contestant in the ninth season of American Idol , as well as an English pop duo , Belle Amie who finished eleventh in the seventh season of The X Factor . It was also used in Brazilian soap opera Malhação . 
