When You Believe
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| “When You Believe” | |||||
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| Single by Mariah Carey & Whitney Houston from the album The Prince of Egypt: Original Soundtrack, #1's and My Love Is Your Love |
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| Released | November 2, 1998 (UK) | ||||
| Format | CD single, cassette single, 7" single | ||||
| Genre | Pop, R&B | ||||
| Length | 5:01 (Album Version) 4:34 (Single Version) |
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| Label | DreamWorks | ||||
| Writer(s) | Stephen Schwartz, Babyface | ||||
| Producer | Babyface | ||||
| Mariah Carey singles chronology | |||||
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| Whitney Houston singles chronology | |||||
| "My Heart Is Calling" (1997) |
"When You Believe" (1998) |
"Heartbreak Hotel" (1998) |
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| The Prince of Egypt (OST) track listing | |||||
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| #1's track listing | |||||
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| My Love Is Your Love track listing | |||||
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| Greatest Hits (CD #2) track listing | |||||
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| Alternate cover | |||||
Alternate cover for "When You Believe"
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"When You Believe" is an Academy Award-winning song composed by Stephen Schwartz for the DreamWork's animated feature The Prince of Egypt, and produced as a single with additional music by writer-producer Babyface. It was the main theme of the film and was released as a single by American divas Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey as the soundtrack's first single in 1998 (see 1998 in music); it was also the first single from Houston's album My Love Is Your Love and the second from Carey's compilation album #1's. A 're-worked' version of "When You Believe" was the debut single by the winner of the fourth series of The X Factor, Leon Jackson, and the British Christmas Number One of 2007.
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[edit] Production and recording
In the film, this song of inspiration is performed by the characters Tzipporah (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Miriam (sung by Sally Dworsky). The protagonists of this ballad recall tough times that have them questioning their faith: they have prayed for many nights to God but those prayers seem to remain unanswered, and they wonder if they are wasting their time. Nevertheless, they realize that although times may be difficult, "there can be miracles when you believe" in God.
For the commercial pop single, Babyface was enlisted as the song's producer to make it more friendly to pop markets. The major change was that the section of the song featuring a children's Hebrew choir was removed and replaced with a new bridge.
"When You Believe" won the 1999 Academy Award for "Best Original Song" and was nominated for a Golden Globes for "Best Original Song". It also received a Golden Satellite Award nomination for "Best Original Song in a Motion Picture". It was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals", losing to "I Still Have That Other Girl" by Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello. As Carey is part Latin, Houston and Carey were also nominated for "Outstanding Performance of a Song for a Feature Film" at the ALMA Awards.
The single's video was filmed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music[1] and shows Houston and Carey in a dark studio accented by Egyptian settings, backdrops, and scenes inspired by The Prince of Egypt. An audience is on hand to emulate a concert like setting. Occasionally, home video clips of Mariah and Whitney appear throughout the video. The video ends as the room is illuminated, and the two singers are joined by a large choir. A few variations of the song exist, including an extended version with a longer intro and bridge which can be found on The Prince of Egypt soundtrack, a television track, and an instrumental version.
One of the features of the song is when Carey and Houston sing a section of the song in thirds; they have done this live, and still kept in tune.
[edit] Controversy
Carey had been in disagreement with the producers of The Prince of Egypt as she wanted to be involved in the writing and production of the song, but the producers did not want her to.
Conflict also arose between Stephen Schwartz and Babyface after Schwartz left Babyface's name off the submission sheet for the Academy Awards when the song had been nominated for "Best Original Song". Schwartz had argued that Babyface should not receive Oscar credit as his version of the song (with Carey and Houston) contained additional musical elements (such as the new bridge) which had not been part of the original as heard in the film. Carey and Houston performed Babyface's version of the song live at the Academy Awards ceremony in 1999; however, only Schwartz was awarded the Oscar.
[edit] Chart performance
Years of media speculation of a feud between Houston and Carey led to expectations that a duet would be a great hit and break many chart records, especially as they were successive record-holders for a single with the most weeks at number one, but "When You Believe" peaked at fifteen on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. It fitted a trend of Carey singles during this period of high sales and low airplay, and most of Houston's singles before and after the release of "When You Believe" were far more successful. It remained on the Hot 100 for nineteen weeks and reached the top five on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, and it was both Houston and Carey's first single to appear on the new Top 40 Tracks chart. It was certified gold by the RIAA, and was ranked ninety-ninth on the Hot 100 1999 year-end charts.
The single was more successful outside the U.S. It reached #1 in Spain, the top five in the United Kingdom and most of continental Europe, and was also a top twenty success in Australia, but only reached the top forty in Canada.
[edit] Charts
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This section does not cite any references or sources. (March 2008) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
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[edit] Covers
[edit] Leon Jackson version
| “When You Believe” | |||||
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.jpg/200px-When_You_Believe_(Leon_Jackson).jpg) |
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| Single by Leon Jackson | |||||
| B-side | "Home", "Fly Me to the Moon" | ||||
| Released | December 16, 2007 (Digital download) December 19, 2007 (CD single) |
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| Format | CD single, digital download | ||||
| Recorded | 2007 | ||||
| Genre | Pop, Ballad | ||||
| Length | 4:16 | ||||
| Label | Syco, Sony BMG | ||||
| Writer(s) | Stephen Schwartz | ||||
| Leon Jackson singles chronology | |||||
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In December 2007, a version of this song, re-written by Stephen Schwartz, was recorded by the winner of the fourth series of The X Factor, Leon Jackson. The single was available to download from midnight after the result of the show on 15 December 2007, and a CD was rush-released mid-week, on 19 December 2007. This is unusual as most new singles are released on a Monday to gain maximum sales for the UK Singles Chart the following Sunday, although the previous two X Factor winners have had their singles released in this fashion, in order for them to compete to be the Christmas number-one single, which they all duly became. A video for the single was made by the final four of the series; Jackson, Rhydian Roberts, Same Difference and Niki Evans. However, only the winner's version of the song and video was released.
The song ended 2007 as the year's 4th biggest-selling single in the UK[2] and remained number one into 2008.[3]. However, this version of the song only managed to stay in the top 40 for 7 weeks, despite being the fastest selling of 2007. It also soon disappeared from the top 100, and was gone by late February at the earliest. [4]
[edit] Track listing
- CD 1
- "When You Believe"
- "Home"
- "Fly Me to the Moon"
- Digital download
- "When You Believe"
[edit] Music video
The music video, like previous X Factor winners singles, is very simple, with Jackson singing the song in front of a large projection, with swooping shots of various landscapes behind him. It also features several clips from his time in The X Factor, from his first audition to the moment he was announced the winner and performed his single to close the series. Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne, Dannii Minogue, Louis Walsh, Dermot O'Leary and runner-up Rhydian Roberts all feature within the clips.
[edit] Release history
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
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| United Kingdom | December 16, 2007 | Syco Music | Digital download | – |
| December 19, 2007 | Syco | CD single | - |
[edit] Chart performance
The single got the iTunes UK number-one spot on the day of release, although a system error prevented most people from downloading the song in its first few days of release. On December 23, 2007 it debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, making it the coveted Christmas number one with sales of over 275,000 copies,[5] and stayed at number one for three weeks until it fell down to number 5 on it's 4th week and then fell another 10 places to #15 on week 5. It then dropped to 29 on week 6. It also spent three weeks at the top of the Irish Singles Chart (which, at the time, had been topped by the two previous X Factor winners in correct succession - Shayne Ward and Leona Lewis).
In Muzic Hitlist Hot 40 Singles, the song debuted at #1 in January 6, 2008's issue of the countdown. It is the fourth song to debut at number-one spot after "Obvious" by Westlife, "Day You Said Goodnight" by Hale and "This Is My Now" version of Blake Lewis debuted on top. "When You Believe" maintained its position in five straight weeks at #1.
| Chart (2007) | Peak position |
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| UK Singles Charts[6] | 1 |
| Irish Singles Charts[6] | 1 |
| United World Chart | 13 |
| UK Singles Year End Chart 2007 | 4 |
[edit] American Idol Season 7
On American Idol's Season 7, David Archuleta performed his version on the show on 15 April 2008. A studio-recorded version is available.
[edit] I'd Do Anything
In Week 9 of I'd Do Anything, the song was performed by Manx entrant Samantha Barks.
[edit] References
- ^ News - Articles - 1426944 - 19981029
- ^ BBC Music
- ^ "Top 40 Singles of the Year 2007 "
- ^ BBC Music; retrieved 2007-12-27
- ^ "Leon clinches Christmas number one spot", Digital Spy, 2007-12-23. Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
- ^ a b "Leon Jackson - When You Believe worldwide chart positions and trajectories". aCharts.us. Retrieved December 24, 2007.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic |
Academy Award for Best Original Song 1998 |
Succeeded by "You'll Be in My Heart" from Tarzan |
| Preceded by "What A Wonderful World" by Eva Cassidy & Katie Melua |
UK Singles Chart number-one single (Leon Jackson version) December 23, 2007 - January 13, 2008 |
Succeeded by "Now You're Gone" by BassHunter |
| Preceded by "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis |
Ireland number one single (Leon Jackson version) December 20, 2007 - January 3, 2008 |
Succeeded by "Piece of Me" by Britney Spears |
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