"Wait for You" is a song by former ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'' contestant

Elliott Yamin Ephraim Elliott Yamin (born July 20, 1978) is an American singer known for his hit single " Wait for You" and for placing third on the fifth season of ''American Idol''. His self-titled album, released March 20, 2007, debuted at number one on ...

. It is the first official single from his self-titled album ''

'' (following the retail-only promotional hit " Movin' On").

Song information

"Wait for You" is a slow-tempo

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

C major C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...

. He mentions in the song waiting indefinitely for the one he loves to come back to him. Despite the fact she has left him, he insists he knows she still loves him.

Charts

The song debuted on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 67. After two weeks the song dropped off the chart, but was resurrected by airplay which improved the song's digital sales. The song experienced an increase in popularity after Yamin's performance on ''

'', and went on to become a hit single on multiple charts in the U.S. It rose to #14 in the iTunes Store and #13 on the Hot 100, giving Yamin his first top 20 hit on the chart. It also became a top five hit for Yamin on the Pop 100, Pop 100 Airplay, and on the Hot Adult Contemporary chart. The song enjoyed great radio longevity, staying in the top ten of Mediabase's Mainstream Top 40 chart for four months before finally falling out of the top ten in early October 2007. The song was the 6th most played song of 2007 on Top 40 radio and it was certified Platinum in digital sales on October 16, 2008. U.S. sales as of April 30, 2010 are 1,113,000. In February 2014, the song was retroactively certified Platinum by the

RIAJ The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include prom ...

for 250,000 downloads.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Reception

The song received a positive review from Chuck Taylor of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', complimenting the "rapid-fire, R. Kelly-esque verses

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

adeptly mesh dwith amin'smuscular, emotive vocal."

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the song (directed by Nick Spanos) shows Yamin in a variety of locations reminiscing about his girlfriend who has left him. The video shows Yamin on the beach, in his bedroom, and simply walking on a sidewalk picturing his ex-girlfriend's smiling face, and pleading for her to come back, just like in the lyrics of the song. The video features a recurring close up face shot of Yamin, in a black and white tone. Yamin is also shown in the studio recording the song throughout the video. In the end, his ex-girlfriend finally approaches him on the beach. The video debuted at number one on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

's VSpot Top 20 Countdown, and was number one for four consecutive weeks until July 28, 2007, when it went down to #2 with "

Hey There Delilah "Hey There Delilah" is a song by American pop rock band Plain White T's, for whom it remains their signature song. It was released on May 9, 2006, as an EP from their third studio album, '' All That We Needed'' (2005). The song was later release ...

" by

Plain White T's The Plain White T's are an American pop rock band from Lombard, Illinois, formed in 1997 by high school friends Tom Higgenson, Dave Tirio, and Ken Fletcher, and joined a short time later by Steve Mast. The group had a mostly underground followin ...

in the top spot, but the following week it returned to number one. The video spent 17 weeks on the countdown, which included eight weeks at number one, and was number 19 on VH1's countdown of the Top 40 Videos of 2007.

Covers, remixes, and compilations

Filipino R&B singer

Kyla Kyla may refer to: *Kyla (given name) Kyla is a female given name. It is a derivative of the originally Irish and Scottish Gaels, Gaelic Kyle (given name), ''Kyle''. Kyla may refer to: Music * Kyla (Filipino singer), Filipino R&B singer Melani ...

covered the song on her sixth album entitled '' Heartfelt''. In

Super Eurobeat is a CD compilation series of Eurobeat music in Japan. The series itself is one of the longest-running music compilations. It has been running for over thirty years and the current list consists of 250 volumes (not counting the many "''Super Eur ...

Volume 192, a cover version of "Wait for You" was performed by eurobeat artist, Ace. This cover was later featured in

Initial D is a Japanese street racing manga series written and illustrated by Shuichi Shigeno. It was serialized in Kodansha's manga magazine ''Weekly Young Magazine'' from 1995 to 2013, with the chapters collected into 48 volumes. The ...

Fifth Stage. Japanese singer Yusaku Kiyama covered this song in 2008, while Yamin covered Kiyama's song, "Home," in exchange. The

Midi Mafia The MIDI Mafia is a music production duo consisting of American Bruce Waynne (born Waynne Nugent) from Brooklyn, New York and Canadian Dirty Swift (born Kevin Risto) from Ottawa, Ontario. Together as Midi Mafia since 2003, they are most notable ...

featuring Bruce Waynne remix of "Wait for You" is available on iTunes. The Jason Nevins GTR Mix of the song has been included on '' Ultra.2008'', a collection of dance club remixes. Another remix features the duo

Nina Sky Nina Sky is a Puerto Rican-born musical duo based in the United States, consisting of identical twins Nicole and Natalie Albino. Their debut single "Move Ya Body", released from their Nina Sky (album), self-titled debut album in 2004, was a succ ...

. "Wait For You" has been included in the ''Now That's What I Call Music! 25'' collection and the '' Radio Disney Jams, Vol. 10'' compilation. "Wait For You" is featured on the soundtrack, ' Wangan Midnight The Movie - Special Driving Style.' (湾岸ミッドナイト THE MOVIE - Special Driving Style) The movie itself is a film adaption of the popular

Manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

and

Anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

series, ''

Wangan Midnight is a Japanese racing manga series written and illustrated by Michiharu Kusunoki. It was first serialized in Shogakukan's '' Big Comic Spirits'' in 1990, but was later serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Young Magazine'' from 1992 to 2008. ...

'' which was released in theaters across Japan in September 2009. The song appears as the twelfth track on the album. It is also played in one part when Tatsuya and Eriko go to the gas station.湾岸ミッドナイト THE MOVIE -Special Driving Style
January 10th 2010.

References

{{Authority control 2007 singles Pop ballads Elliott Yamin songs Song recordings produced by Stargate (record producers) Contemporary R&B ballads Songs written by Tor Erik Hermansen Songs written by Mikkel Storleer Eriksen 2007 songs