"Amazing" is a song by British singer-songwriter Matt Cardle, released as the third single from his debut studio album, Letters, on 19 February 2012. The song was co-written by Tom Leonard, Martin Harrington, Ash Howes, Richard Stannard and Cardle himself. The single was backed with an all-new track, "All Is Said", as well as a live version of "Slowly", and a studio version of his cover of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face".
Critical reception
Robert Copsey of Digital Spy gave the song a positive review, stating: "Co-written by the man himself and produced by Richard Stannard – Ellie Goulding, Will Young – 'Amazing' will do little to deter his detractors who claim he is nothing more than mushy MOR guitar-pop, but it should easily please his larger-than-you'd-think fanbase. Yes, it's another Keane-esque guitar-strumming number, the lyrics are clichéd – "Look inside this fragile heart of mine" – and he belts out his trademark ad-libs at the end, but – whisper it – sometimes you just can't beat a bit of no-frills pop." .[1]
On 9 June 2016, it was reported that Ed Sheeran and Johnny McDaid, were being sued by "Amazing" songwriters Harrington and Leonard, for $20 million for copyright infringement with their song "Photograph". The lawsuit says: "Given the striking similarity between the chorus of Amazing and Photograph, (the) defendants knew when writing, publishing, recording, releasing, and distributing Photograph that they were infringing on a pre-existing musical composition."[2] Cardle clarified on Twitter that it was not his lawsuit, adding that he thinks Ed Sheeran is "a genius and 100% deserves all his success".[3] The lawsuit was privately settled in April 2017, with no admission of guilt and an undisclosed sum.[4]
Music video
The music video for "Amazing" premiered on 13 January 2012, at a total length of four minutes and six-seconds.[5] The video shows scenes of Cardle performing the song in a dark room, direct to camera. Certain shots are filmed in a laissez-faire[clarification needed] style, with the camera and boom operators being seen in shot. It also shows scenes of couples in the surrounding studio, either upset or re-uniting.
