“There shouldn’t be much to report on this week’s Chart Feed because Beyoncé had her baby and nothing else would be on the news, right?” Sometimes I feel like my little brother is the only one who gets the way the world should be run.
On this week’s Chart Feed, the festive season’s definitely been canned now with Michael Bublé‘s career-defining Christmas album freefalling out of the Top 20 everywhere. We all knew it would come to this. Meanwhile, Empress Adele returns to top the US and UK album charts and comes closer to breaking more records, Kelly Clarkson discounts her way back up the charts, and I have a fit over the new Will Young, The Saturdays and Rebecca Ferguson single choices.
Reece Mastin‘s ‘Good Night’ has been booted off the #1 spot by previous chart topper LMFAO‘s ‘Sexy and I Know It’. The teen X Factor winner’s been out promoting his mandatory cover’s album so we should see that effortlessly enter our Top 5 next Monday.
Watch them pitch Reece as just a regular rock band front man in the ‘Good Night’ music video:
Pink‘s ‘Bridge of Light’ is the biggest new single in Australia this week, debuting at #26. Just further proof that Aussies will lap up anything Pink these days, however beige and redundant the single may be.
Ricki-Lee‘s ‘Raining Diamonds’ isn’t seeing fortunes turn around after the music video finally dropped. She’s looking flawless as ever but the video has only garnered over 6,200 views in five days. Meanwhile, not that it’s necessarily fair to compare, Reece Mastin‘s video managed over 46,000 views in almost the same amount of time.
‘Raining Diamonds’ picks up to #34 on the ARIA singles chart this week but fails to secure any more radio support. The runaway smash sunk from #25 to #31 on the Aussie airplay charts (between 1 to 7 December).
Listen to ‘Raining Diamonds (Kreap’s Italo Disco Hammer Mix)’ done by Melbourne producer Kreap:
Timomatic‘s ‘Set It Off’ cracks our ARIA Top 50 at #39 this week. The Jason DeRulo-style dance/pop track is also the biggest gainer on our airplay charts (between 1 to 7 December), rising to #35.
Cher Lloyd‘s ‘With Ur Love’ (featuring Mike Posner) finally cracks our ARIA Top 50 at #48 this week. Meanwhile her series mates One Direction‘s ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ holds on at #11 and their album Up All Night drops to #10. I wouldn’t have believed it if y’all told me this time last year that we’d have two UK X Factor contestants in our Top 50.
The Potbelleez‘s new single ‘Feed Off Me’ debuts at #42 on our ARIA club charts. Surely this would have to be it from the album, right? Watch the gang’s video for ‘Feed Off Me’:
Adele‘s 21 has now been certified 10x platinum sales in Australia, so that’s over 700,000 copies for those counting on fingers and toes. Her first tour DVD Live at The Royal Albert Hall is #1 on our ARIA Music DVD chart for the second week running.
Over in the US, Live At The Royal Albert Hall is now the best-selling music DVD of 2011, cancelling all its competitors after just one week on the shelves. Live At The Royal Albert Hall managed to sell 96,000 copies in the last week, making it the biggest one-week sales for a music DVD in four years. Coming in next best in this year’s music DVD race is AC/DC‘s Live at River Plate (73,000 copies) and Beyoncé‘s I Am… World Tour (63,000 copies).
Beyoncé‘s Live at Roseland debuts at #4 on our ARIA music DVD chart this week. Meanwhile, Lady Gaga‘s The Monster Ball Tour holds tight at #2, Kylie‘s Aphrodite Les Folies – Live in London drops from #3 to #7 and Britney‘s Femme Fatale Tour fizzes from #8 to #21.
Over in the US, Live at Roseland remains at #2 on the DVD charts while Gaga‘s The Monster Ball slides to #3 and Britney‘s Femme Fatale business dips to #5. Kylie‘s Aphrodite Les Folies has interestingly debuted at #17 to be one of the biggest new music DVDs out in the week.
Watch Kylie slaying ‘Cupid Boy’ with her pack of gays – this should’ve been a single:
Susan Boyle can probably put in a down payment for a private jet now with her album sales steadily climbing in the Christmas buying period. The new album Someone To Watch Over Me sits tight at #3 on our ARIA charts while her first album I Dreamed A Dream climbs back up to #52 and The Gift to #83.
Over in the US, Someone To Watch Over Me moves back up to #16 on the Billboard 200 while its predecessor The Gift leaps from #45 to #29.
Amy Winehouse‘s first posthumous album Lioness: Hidden Treasures debuts at #8 in Australia this week. Further down, Back to Black re-enters at #89. Over in the UK, Lioness enters at #1 to become the fourth biggest debut this year, with 194,966 opening week sales. The project’s new single ‘Our Day Will Come’ debuts at #29.
Glee‘s Glee: The Music Volume 7 debuts at #18 in Australia this week, making this their lowest charting compilation yet of the seven. I am, of course, excluding their Christmas albums and other supplementary records. Over in the UK, Volume 7 debuts at a disappointing #58.
Meanwhile in the States, the Glee gang sent five new entries into the Billboard Hot 100 and it reads as such: ‘Perfect’ (originally by Pink) at #57, ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ at #59, ‘I Kissed A Girl’ at #66, ‘I’m The Only One’ (originally by Melissa Etheridge) at #86 and ‘Constant Craving’ (originally by k.d. lang) at #89. Glee Cast‘s cover of ‘Perfect’ is the most downloaded new song on the digital charts. Check back next Monday to see where Volume 7 lands on the American album charts.
Check out Glee’s cover of ‘Fuckin’ Perfect’:
Kelly Clarkson‘s Stronger bows out of the ARIA Top 20 after seven weeks. Meanwhile over at the singles bar, ‘What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)’ edges up to #41 while ‘Mr Know It All’ plummets to #35.
Elsewhere, Stan Walker‘s Let The Music Play nosedives from #27 to #61 on our ARIA Top 100 in its third week while Sade‘s The Ultimate Collection re-enters at #85 after playing several dates around the country last week.
Lady Gaga‘s ‘Marry The Night’ finally bounces back into our ARIA charts at, well, #100 this week. *Snortcackles* Her massively successful Born This Way album also made a move back up from #71 to #53 this week while the remix album slumps to #79.
Over in the US, ‘Marry The Night’ manages a mighty leap from #59 to #32 in its fourth week in the Billboard Hot 100. Meanwhile her live Christmas EP – A Very Gaga Holiday – tumbles from #52 to #135 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Born This Way: The Remix sinks to #188.
Listen to ‘Marry The Night (Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike Remix)’:
Rebecca Ferguson‘s Heaven made a formidable debut at #3 on the UK charts with 128,458 first week sales. Amazon has revealed that Rebecca‘s album has garnered more pre-orders than any other contestant from the UK X Factor 2010 cast. Heaven beat advance sales of Matt Cardle‘s Letters by 181%, One Direction‘s Up All Night by 11% and Cher Lloyd‘s Stick + Stones by 571%. Bam! Becca, you better werk.
Beyoncé‘s 4 picks up pace in the UK after ITV aired her amazing pre-recorded special: A Night With Beyoncé, sending the album from #49 to #26 with 24,115 copies sold during the week. Further down, I Am… Sasha Fierce also comes bolting back up at #81.
Watch Bey deliver an emotional rendition of ‘I Care’ and ‘I Miss You’ for A Night withBeyoncé *crying and shaking*:
Kelly Rowland‘s Here I Am has thankfully picked up to a new peak of #43 on the UK charts before the end of her X Factor run. The smash single ‘Down For Whatever’ drops to #13 in its third week.
Olly Murs‘ moment of validation is finally here. His new single ‘Dance With Me Tonight’ finally claims the UK #1 slot after being cock blocked by Rihanna and the X Factor charity single in the last two weeks.
Mariah Carey‘s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ makes its annual appearance on the charts, rising to #12 in the UK this week. Further down there are a tonne of other seasonal numbers showing up too. Highlights include: Coldplay‘s ‘Christmas Lights’ entering at #66, Michael Buble‘s ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’ shooting up to #99 and Kylie‘s old ‘Santa Baby’ debuting at #100.
Meanwhile, I’ve rewatched this like a thousand times in the last 24 hours. That’s Christmas spirit for ya!
Michael Buble‘s unbeatable Christmas album clocks its second week on top of the US Billboard 200, with overall sales now passing the 1 million mark. It’s now the seventh album to sell over a million copies in the US this year.
Mary J. Blige‘s My Life II… The Journey Continues (Act 1) [Editor’s note: what a fucking indulgent album title] slides to #6 in its second week, suffering a 54% sales drop. Meanwhile, Mary‘s new singles move up the US R&B/Hip Hop chart: ’25/8’ rises to #39 and ‘Mr Wrong’ (with Drake) edges to #41.
Rihanna‘s Talk That Talk cops a 66% sales drop in its second week in the US. ‘We Found Love’ may still be the #1 single for six weeks running, but the album has slumped from #3 to #7, registering 68,000 second week sales.
‘We Found Love’ is the first song by any artist to stay at #1 for six or more weeks in both the US and UK since ‘Umbrella’. That’s two massive long-staying chart toppers for RiRi in this century. Could she possibly be the biggest singles artist in the Western world?
Meanwhile, ‘You Da One’ rises to #18 on the US Billboard Hot 100 while title track ‘Talk That Talk’ sinks from #31 to #77.
Listen to ‘You Da One (Liam Keegan Remix)’:
Robin Thicke‘s Love After War album should start charting on the US Billboard 200 later this week but if it’s any indication of interest, both its singles are steady rising up the R&B/Hip Hop charts: ‘Love After War’ making #20 and ‘Pretty Lil’ Heart’ featuring Lil Wayne at #70.
Katy Perry‘s ‘The One That Got Away’ drops to #7 this week after peaking at #5 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Well, show’s over – I guess. Nothing left to see here. But wait, from what I’ve heard, the song has been discounted to 69 cents on the US iTunes store and if you couple this with the increased radio airplay, things should technically improve for ‘The One That Got Away’ in the coming week. Plus, Katy‘s hosting of Saturday Night Live should generate enough publicity to help this single get back its footing.
Listen to ‘The One That Got Away (R3hab Remix)’:
Bruno Mars‘ ‘It Will Rain’ sits at #3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 but goes on to top the digital charts. The ballad, which was featured on The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1, is the first song from a movie soundtrack to go #1 on the US digital charts since Taylor Swift‘s ‘Today Was A Fairytale’ (which was launched from the Valentine’s Day soundtrack).
Jay-Z and Kanye West‘s ‘Ni**as in Paris’ leaps to #8 on the US Billboard Hot 100 after 17 weeks on the charts. Impressively, this is now Jay’s 18th US Top 10 hit. His first appearance was all the way back in 1997 as a feature rapper on Foxy Brown‘s I’ll Be’. Where is she now?
T-Pain featuring Wiz Khalifa and Lily Allen‘s ‘5 O’Clock’ rises to #8 on the US Billboard Hot 100, making this Lily Allen‘s first ever appearance in the American Top 10. I mean, it’s not like they don’t know who she is over there – her first album Alright, Still managed to go #20 and 2009’s It’s Not Me, It’s You made #5 on the US Billboard 200.
Watch the music video for ‘5 O’Clock’:
Nicki Minaj‘s buzz single ‘Roman in Moscow’ may be a muhfuggin’ hot mess but it’s managed to debut at a decent #64 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and #84 in the UK. This is the first a few new material we can expect on Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded – the beefy repackaged edition of her hit album that’s due on 14 Febuary.
Will.i.Am‘s ‘T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)’ nosedives from #36 to #90 in its second week on the US Billboard Hot 100. Here in Australia, it falls out of the Top 100 altogether after just a week. Bye, bitch.
Check out the big budget music video for ‘T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)’:
Enrique Iglesias clocks his fourth US #1 Dance/Club play smash from the Euphoria era with ‘I Like How It Feels’ (featuring Pitbull and The WAV.s) ascending to the top. Past club chart toppers include: ‘Dirty Dancer’, ‘Tonight (I’m Lovin’ You)’ and ‘I Like It’.
Wynter Gordon‘s ‘Buy My Love’ ascends to #4 on the US Dance/Club play chart. This is now mah gurl’s third top five dance smash following ‘Til Death’s placement at #3 and of course, ‘Dirty Talk”s reign at #1.
Deborah Cox is back, bitches, and her new single ‘If It Wasn’t For Love’ is the biggest new entry on the dance/club play charts this week, entering at #27.
Listen to ‘If It Wasn’t For Love (Mixin Marc & Tony Svejda Original Mix)’:
Other notable debuts in this neck of the charts include Ultra Nate and Michelle Williams‘ ‘Waiting On You’ (#41). Fuck yeah, Tenitra! Plus, David Guetta and Sia‘s ‘Titanium’ crashing in at #42 while Britney‘s ‘Criminal’ remixes arrive at a lowly #50.
Ed Sheeran continues to win Aussies over with his smash ‘The A Team’ rising to #2 on our ARIA charts. 1.5 million people tuned in to watch the nail-biting X Factor Australia decider last Tuesday, which featured Ed‘s “live” performance of ‘The A Team’. Truth is, that performance was actually taped the week before when the ginger singer/songwriter was actually in the country. Ed‘s album + shoots from #21 to #8 on our ARIA charts.
Rihanna‘s ‘We Found Love’ continues to rule at #3 on our ARIA charts. The dance/pop single is the most played song on Australian radios (counting from period 10 to 16 November, seeing as the airplay charts get updated every Thursday).
Her new single ‘You Da One’ debuts at #60 on our ARIA charts and becomes the most added new song to Aussie radios this week. Talk That Talk deluxe album is currently #5 on the Australian iTunes and #1 on the UK store.
Over in America, ‘We Found Love’ is still the most downloaded song in the country and the most played song in the clubs. Her next smash ‘You Da One’ debuts at #73 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and becomes the biggest new song on American radios, debuting at #28 on the airplay charts.
Watch Rihanna flog ‘We Found Love’ on US X Factor with a rather overpowering backing track:
Jessica Mauboy‘s ‘Galaxy’ featuring Stan Walker drops out of the ARIA Top 20. It’s probably not a sign of waning interest, just fiercer competition at the top end. The big ballad managed a new peak of #19 on our Australian airplay charts. All this excitement causing J Mally‘s last smash ‘Inescapable’ to almost fall out of the airplay Top 30 altogether.
Stan Walker‘s new single ‘Light It Up’ is not getting much radio love. It plummets to #36 on our local airplay charts, leaving ‘Galaxy’ to be the most current ambassador for his new album. ‘Light It Up’ plummets to #64 on the ARIA charts. Stan‘s album Let The Music Play is currently placed at #55 on our iTunes charts after three days.
Glee‘s spectacular mash up of Adele‘s ‘Rumour Has It/Someone Like You’ debuts at #39 on our ARIA charts, making it the first Glee single of Season 3 to make our Top 40. I’ve clocked it rising as high at #10 on our iTunes chart but could it keep selling this hard? Over in the UK, ‘Rumour Has It/ Someone Like You’ begins charting at #35.
Listen, I don’t normally care for Glee covers but this is evidently the greatest:
Ricki-Lee‘s ‘Raining Diamonds’ breaks higher ground at #19 on our ARIA charts to become her eighth Top 20 smash. Hard to believe but this mega pop single’s actually not getting as much radio rotation as Jess and Stan‘s dated ballad. That baffles me. ‘Raining Diamonds’ is only perched at #26 on the airplay charts.
Katy Perry‘s ‘The One That Got Away’ creeps back up to #35 on our ARIA Top 100, thanks to some decent airplay kicking in at last. The sixth Teenage Dream single took an epic leap from #62 to #37 in the UK this week. Its remixes managed to debut at #31 on the US Billboard Dance/Club charts.
Lady Gaga‘s ‘Marry The Night’ needs all the help it can get. The single is slowly crawling up at #80 on our ARIA charts – the minimal radio rotation’s not doing any favours. ‘Marry The Night’ registered the biggest drop on the Australian airplay charts in the last week, falling from #23 to #32. Over in the UK, ‘Marry The Night’ debuts at #18 – thanks in no small part to her X Factor appearance.
Watch ‘Marry The Night: Prelude Pathetique’, the full-length video is expected out soon:
Guy Sebastian‘s new single ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ is the second most added new song to Aussie radios this week. The feel good song managed to scale up to #76 in the first 24 hours on iTunes. Watch this sky rocket after its debut performance on X Factor‘s grand final extravaganza tomorrow.
Kelly Clarkson‘s next smash ‘What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)’ becomes the fourth most added new song to Aussie radios this week. The track is currently charting at #52 on our iTunes store.
Kelly Rowland‘s down for a major pop comeback. Her flawless dance smash ‘Down For Whatever’ finally arrives on UK store fronts today and it’s already scaling up to #4 on iTunes. You know, if all goes well, ‘Down For Whatever’ could get a US release sooner rather than later. Her last club endeavour ‘Commander’ managed to reign at #1 on the US Billboard Dance/Club charts. How about giving this a go?
Watch Kelendria attack ‘Down For Whatever’ live on Children In Need Rocks Manchester:
One Direction‘s ‘Gotta Be You’ debuts at #3 in the UK this week. I am clutching my pearls in shock to learn that Flo Rida‘s new single ‘Good Feeling’ outsold this to debut at #2.
Over here in Australia, 1D‘s early hit ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ goes Top 10 – thankfully picking up a great deal of radio rotation as the summer kicks in. ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ leaps from #37 to #26 on our Australian airplay charts. Up All Night arrives in Australia this Friday – it’s currently the most pre-ordered album on our iTunes store, charting at #28.
The Saturdays‘ wintery break up ballad ‘My Heart Takes Over’ debuts at #15 in the UK. Not a good look at all. Both The Sats and 1D will now take on the album chart wars together with their respective LPs landing today. Day one and The Saturdays‘ On Your Radar‘s trailing at #20 on iTunes while 1D‘s Up All Night blazes up to #2.
Rebecca Ferguson‘s debut single ‘Nothing’s Real But Love’ is currently placed at #8 on UK iTunes. Further down, her album track ‘Fairytale (Let Me Live My Lie This Way)’ charts at #124. Becca‘s debut LP Heaven will drop on 5 December in the UK.
Watch her heartwarming debut TV performance of ‘Nothing’s Real But Love’:
JLS predictably has the biggest selling new album this week with Jukebox entering the UK charts at #2. Meanwhile, his nearest pop competitor Pixie Lott flops disastrously at #18 with her sophomore Young Foolish Happy. It feels like a lifetime since she had a #1 single with ‘All About Tonight’.
Cher Lloyd‘s album Sticks + Stones sinks from #4 to #12 in its second week. Snaps for success – here in Australia, ‘With Ur Love’ becomes the fifth most added new song to local radio.
Nicole Scherzinger‘s Killer Love album re-enters the UK Top 100 at #65, thanks to a sleek Christmas-ready repackage. The brand new single ‘Try With Me’ flops hard, nosediving from #29 to #64 in its third week.
Justin Bieber‘s Under The Mistletoe plummets from #1 to #6 in the US, registering a 54% drop with 97,000 second week sales. Justin and Mimi‘s new generation duet on her classic ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ is faring well. The video directed by Sanaa Hamri is expected out soon.
Check out this delightful new Mariah interview where she talks about the shoot and another new Xmas duet:
Mariah‘s seasonal smashes are already making their way back up the US Billboard 200. With Christmas being only a month away now, I guess it totally makes sense to start bumping these festive choons. Her classic 90s Merry Christmas album leaps back at #142 while last year’s sequel Merry Christmas II You re-enters at #194. Fans best refrain from purchasing the individual records because Mimi‘s gonna be doing some deluxe package for both albums with new material.
Susan Boyle‘s third album Someone To Watch Over Me drops from #4 to #7 on the US Billboard 200, registering a 46% sales drop with 72,000 second week figures.
Noel Gallagher‘s first solo album High Flying Birds perches at #28 on the US Billboard 200, which isn’t too far off from his estranged brother Liam‘s placement of #31 with his band Beady Eye. That album flopped in the States, managing to only sell 29,000 copies to date.
Watch Noel Gallagher‘s ‘AKA… What A Life!’ music video:
Taylor Swift is assaulting the digital charts now with three previously released tracks appearing on online stores for the first time. ‘If This Was A Movie’, ‘Ours’ and ‘Superman’ were previously only available on the deluxe CD edition of her Speak Now album through Target. In their first week on the digital charts ‘If This Was A Movie’ managed to debut at #3 with 162,000 downloads, ‘Ours’ made #5 with 148,000 downloads, and ‘Superman’ landed at #13 with 91,000 downloads.
Britney Spears‘ ‘Criminal’ continues to struggle, tumbling to #64 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in its fifth week. Despite the excitement of new remixes, the single’s not flying up the typically easy to scale dance/club charts. ‘Criminal’ is also flopping big time on the airplay charts. This is the bleakest, especially following a major radio success like ‘I Wanna Go’.
Beyoncé‘s ‘Countdown’ isn’t moving in the right direction on the overall US Billboard Hot 100, slipping to #75 in its fifth week. It has only just shown up on the US Airplay Top 100 so maybe it’ll be late bloomer? Meanwhile over on the dance/club charts, ‘Countdown’ becomes a blazing success shooting to a new peak of #6. Could this be the third 4 single to top the dance charts?
On the flip side, Queen Bey‘s urban smash ‘Party’ remains at #54 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and stays in the Top 40 radio airplay charts.
‘Countdown’ is not only struggling in America but the UK as well, plummeting from #51 to #80 while ‘Love On Top’ soars from #141 to #87. The latter will be released as Bey’s fourth 4 single in the UK on 5 December.
Watch the exclusive VEVO streaming of Bey‘s Live at Roseland concert. Like for real.
Wynter Gordon‘s ‘Buy My Love’ blitzes to a new peak of #14 on the US Billboard Dance/Club charts. Mah gurl has been in the studio with the likes of MNEK (upcoming British music sensation who has worked with Florrie and co-penned The Saturdays‘ mega ‘All Fired Up’) and Victoria Hansen who co-wrote Aggro Santos/Kimberly Wyatt‘s ‘Candy’.
Ricki-Lee‘s ‘Raining Diamonds’ rockets back up the charts from #96 to #23 this week, thanks to her no-expense-spared X Factor Australia performance and Sunrise jaunt the morning after. The track immediately leapt from #57 to the Top 5 on iTunes right after Tuesday night’s performance and the girl even became a Twitter trending topic worldwide.
The fabulous Idol star is putting the finishing touches on her album now – which is expected to arrive in the first half of 2012 – and word is, her label has already approved a follow up single to ‘Raining Diamonds’. There’s a few good tidbits in her auspop interview – go have a read.
Watch Ricki-Lee turn out ‘Raining Diamonds’ on X Factor Australia.
Jessica Mauboy and Stan Walker‘s ‘Galaxy’ ascends to a new peak of #13 in Australia, making this J. Mally‘s 10th Top 20 smash and Stan‘s fourth. Meanwhile, Jess‘ Get ‘Em Girls album plummets to #100 on our ARIA charts proving that she might just be a more bankable singles seller after all.
Susan Boyle has once again made her annual showing on top of the album charts with her third LP Someone To Watch Over Me reigning at #1 in Australia and the UK. The chairman cash cow of Simon Cowell‘s label made her maiden trip Down Under last week to promote the new album and voila for results. Over in the US, Someone To Watch Over Me debuts at #4 with opening week sales of 132,000 copies. SuBo will probably never recapture the hysterical success of her debut I Dreamed A Dream – which opened at #1 in the US, selling 701,000 copies in its first week. But I reckon she’ll be right.
There are seven new entries in our ARIA Top 20 this week and I reckon it’s only gonna get more competitive over the next few weeks with new releases falling like rain. Triple J‘s Like A Version 7, which was topping the iTunes charts for most of the week, managed to debut at #6. Other debuts include: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 soundtrack (#9), Il Divo‘s Wicked Game (#11), Powderfinger‘s Fingerprints and Footprints (#15), The Getaway Plan‘s Requiem (#17) and Chris Tomlin‘s Glory In The Highest Christian Christmas compilation (#19).
Watch Angus & Julia Stone do folky cover of Nelly Furtado‘s ‘Say It Right’, which is featured on Triple J‘s Like A Version 7:
The Wiggles tribute album is probably the best thing them indie folk types have come up with ever. Making children’s music is serious shit, y’guys. There’s no fooling around with ‘The Hot Potato’. ReWiggled: A Tribute to The Wiggles debuts at #25 this week on our ARIA charts and it features the likes of Washington doing a very straight-faced rendition of ‘The Monkey Dance’, Architecture in Helsinki giving fluorescent realness in ‘Wiggly Party’ and Living End doing a rocking cover of the aforementioned spud song.
Ed Sheeran has himself a little Aussie hit in his hands, thanks to some promo work. The ginger strummy la la artist’s ‘The A Team’ leaps to #5 on our ARIA singles chart while the album + shoots to #21. Ed has so far earned three UK Top 10 smashes with ‘You Need Me, I Don’t Need You’ and ‘Lego House’ both managing to follow the success of ‘A Team’. His album managed to debut on top of the British charts last month, garnering opening week sales of over 102,000 copies.
Jessie J‘s Who You Are album leaps back into the Australian Top 50 this week, placing itself at #35. Interest surrounding the new single ‘Domino’, which is still lingering in our Top 20, has got to help. The Christmas cash-in re-release of Who You Are arrived locally last Friday – that will also help the cause. Over in the UK, Jessie J launches her fifth single ‘Who You Are’ today, so we can expect for the track to break into the Top 20 next week. Over in America, ‘Domino’ rises to #67 on the Billboard Hot 100, thanks in some part to her killer US X Factor performance.
Watch Jessie J wail the house down on ‘Domino’:
Lady Gaga‘s Born This Way is out of the Australian Top 50 for the first time since it dropped in May. The epic top-selling album drops to #63 this week but I reckon it won’t be long before we see the bitch fight back with a vengeance. The project’s next single ‘Marry The Night’ debuts at #88 this week. Y’all better have a ton of popcorn ready too because Gaga has just announced that the forthcoming video for ‘Marry The Night’ will be her longest mini-movie yet.
Darren Hayes‘ Secret Codes and Battleships does a death drop from #15 to #53 in its third week on our ARIA Top 100. I want y’all to stop rocking in the corner because we knew this was bound to happen as soon as all promo activity wraps.
Dazza – although admirable in his plight for a sparkling commercial comeback – will always be one of those pop artists with a cult following. Pick up for his singles ‘Talk Talk Talk’ and ‘Bloodstained Heart’ haven’t improved since the album arrived but then again, he hasn’t had a solo single that really grabbed the Aussie public since 2005’s ‘So Beautiful’. And that was boosted by interest surrounding the Savage Garden best-of compilation.
Listen to Darren Hayes‘ ‘Bloodstained Heart (Monsieur Adi Remix)’:
Kele of Bloc Party‘s new EP The Hunter debuts at #79 in Australia this week. The collection of six new original songs and a cover of Q Lazzarus‘ ‘Goodbye Horses’ arrives a little over a year after Kele‘s first solo album. The Boxer managed to peak at #35 in Australia and #20 in the UK.
Cher Lloyd‘s wigsnatching debut Sticks & Stones shows up at #4 this week, making it the second biggest new album on the UK charts. After the first two days on shelves, the album had already racked up over 26,000 sales – putting the girl roughly 4,000 copies behind SuBo. Over at the singles bar, ‘With Ur Love’ dips a little to #6 in its second week while her fierce chart topping smash ‘Swagger Jagger’ rockets back up to #41.
Here in Australia, they’re actually trying to launch young Cher again after ‘Swagger Jagger’ flopped disastrously. Basically two radio stations in the entire country added that shit. My friend auspop informed me that ‘With Ur Love’ has picked up some local radio love in the last week, getting added to Nova 106.9 (Queensland) and The Edge 96.1 (Sydney) – just to name a few. It’s already on course to fare better than ‘Swagger Jagger’ so we’ll see what comes of it.
Catch a glimpse of Cher Lloyd‘s secret acoustic gig:
The Wanted‘s Battleground becomes the third biggest new release on the UK album charts this week, entering at #5 after selling over 25,000 copies in the first two days. The sophomore album’s a mostly consistent blend of present day boy band fodder. The best showing here is definitely the singles ‘Glad You Came’, ‘Lightning’ (although I prefer the Alias Radio Edit) and future hit ‘Warzone’ (which debuted at #64 this week thanks to interest surrounding the video/album).
JLS‘ big ballad ‘Take A Chance On Me’ debuts at #2 to become the biggest selling new single in the UK this week. The next major impacting new single is Pixie Lott‘s rather dated pop/R&B submission ‘What Do You Take Me For’, which entered at a meagre #10. Both JLS and Pixie launch their respective albums Jukebox and Young Foolish Happy today, so it’ll be interesting to see where they end up next Monday. Right now, JLS‘ album sits at #6 on the UK iTunes charts while Pixie‘s record pulls up at #29.
Watch Pixie Lott‘s sleek ‘What Do You Take Me For’ video:
Next week’s British chart battle would also see two pop groups with two stunning winter ballads go head to head. In one corner, there’s One Direction‘s flawless ‘Gotta Be You’ and the other, The Saturdays‘ ‘My Heart Takes Over’. Day one on the digital shelves and One Direction‘s currently perched at #2 on the iTunes singles chart while The Saturdays trail behind at #17. Both bands will take up battle again on 21 November when their albums drop on the same day.
Looking ahead, 28 November is gonna be a nerve-wracking day at the UK X Factor camp with Kelly Rowland releasing the international edition of Here I Am and fellow judge Tulisa foisting an N-Dubz greatest hits compilation. Xtra Factor host and former show contestant Olly Murs will also drop his sophomore album In Case You Didn’t Know on the same day, while fellow series winner Joe McElderry launches his third album Classic Christmas.
Parade‘s self-titled debut album isn’t about to snatch any trophies, let’s be real about that. But the struggling girl band isn’t doing too badly right now with their record rising to #88 on the UK iTunes album charts. Can they keep it chugging along for the rest of the week?
Melanie C‘s new bruised ballad ‘Weak’ debuts at #29 on the UK indie singles chart. Despite the barrage of TV and radio promo in the last week – performing on Daybreak, This Morning and other places – the Old Spice couldn’t get the track to crack the Top 100.
Watch Mel deliver a knock out live acoustic performance of ‘Weak’:
Nicole Scherzinger‘s ‘Try With Me’ plummets to #29 in its second week on the UK charts. The ex-Pussycat team leader is relaunching her Killer Love album in the UK today with three new tracks, plus the 50 Cent remix of ‘Right There’, which was used to launch her career in the States.
Here’s what you need to know about the new recordings: ‘Try With Me’ – the Nervo co-write – is acceptable but not really on the level of immediate pop excellence like say ‘Killer Love’, ‘Trust Me I Lie’ is an unnecessarily dramatic ballad written by Diane Warren, and ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ is a mid-tempo with a wistful Teenage Dream flavour, probably because it’s a Bonnie McKee co-write.
Little Boots‘ new single ‘Shake’ is currently placed at #105 on the UK iTunes charts after just day on the digital shelves. A feat she said she wasn’t expecting for a “six minute song with no video”. This really is a good Litmus test for Victoria’s fan base because there’s really been no promo prior to this.
Justin Bieber has the #1 album in America with Under The Mistletoe, nabbing first-week sales of 210,000 copies. The teen megastar also made history as the first Christmas album by a male artist to debut at #1 in Billboard’s 55-year chart history. Susan Boyle‘s 2010 The Gift was the only other Christmas album to ever open on top of the US charts.
Coldplay‘s Mylo Xyloto (last week’s big #1 entry) and Kelly Clarkson‘s Stronger (last week’s #2 hot shot debut) falls to #7 and #10 respectively on the US Billboard 200. Mylo Xyloto registered a 76% drop in sales (selling 104,000 copies in its second week) while Stronger slumped with 69% sales drop (selling 51,000 copies in its second week).
Listen to Coldplay‘s ‘Paradise (Fedde Le Grand Remix)’:
Rihanna‘s ‘We Found Love’ clocks its second week on top of the US Billboard Hot 100 and picks up even more airplay to support it. The single is still the most downloaded song in America, racking in 236,000 digital sales in the last week. ‘We Found Love’ also managed to top the US Billboard Dance/Club play charts.
Meanwhile, the Rihanna Navy is already going to work stanning for her next single ‘You Da One’. The album Talk That Talk leaked over the weekend and while I have no interest (at the moment) to hear it in web quality, everyone’s already saying that it’s better than Loud.
Katy Perry‘s ‘The One That Got Away’ finally leaps into the US Top 20, placing itself at #18. This chart upgrade was supported by growing radio rotation, which saw the song rise from #33 to #26 on the US airplay charts. ‘The One That Got Away’ dips to #41 in Australia this week and #62 in the UK. Now that the video’s dropped, expect for the single to really pick up pace.
Listen to ‘The One That Got Away (JRMX Remix)’:
Beyoncé‘s ‘Party’ rises to #3 on the US R&B/Hip Hop song chart while her hubby Jay-Z reigns on top with ‘Niggas in Paris’. Looking on the overall Billboard Hot 100, ‘Party’ rises to #54 and continues to lead the pack of 4 tracks currently littered all over the charts. Further down, we have ‘Countdown’ picking up pace to #71. While ‘Party’ is the stronger performer on the American radio airplay charts, ‘Countdown’ is making waves over on the US dance/club play charts – rising to a new peak of #9 this week.
Britney Spears‘ ‘Criminal’ is still slowly happening in the States, rising to a new peak of #55 on the Billboard Hot 100. I honestly can’t see this song scaling the Top 20 unless radio comes around to playing it more. The song tumbles from #67 to #74 on the American airplay chart – not at all promising. ‘Criminal’ has yet to crack the ARIA Top 100 and as for its fate in the UK, we’ll have to see after it’s formally released on 21 November.
Wynter Gordon‘s ‘Buy My Love’ moves up to #21 on the US Billboard Dance/Club play charts. Almost in the Top 20 league, boo boo. Elsewhere, other exciting new movers in the club sphere include Anjulie‘s ‘Brand New Bitch’ (#18), Eddie Amador and Kimberly Cole‘s ‘Arrow Through My Heart’ (#32) and Chris Willis‘ new piece ‘Too Much In Love’ (debuting at #40).
Glory to God, it’s the first Chart Feed of the year. Man, I’m starved.
Bruno Mars has done it again with another solo #1 single. His latest offering ‘Grenade’ topped the charts in the US and Australia this week, following up nicely to his global smash ‘Just The Way You Are’. If you ask me, ‘Grenade’ is the one to top. This song kills me every time – aching lyrics that attack you with his passionate vocal delivery. Bam!
Taio Cruz‘s ‘Dynamite’ and ‘Higher’ singles both bolted up the charts this week. Did I miss something? Or was it just the NYE celebratory week that spurred demand for these party tracks? ‘Dynamite’ – which made #1 here in its prime – went from #21 to #15 and his new single ‘Higher’ featuring Kylie leapt from #39 to #25. The US-version of ‘Higher’ featuring Travie McCoy rose to a new peak of #41 on the Billboard charts this week.
Wynter Gordon‘s ‘Dirty Talk’ is still edging its way up our charts, going from #18 to a new peak of #14 this week. The fierce dance music commander just shared a new saying with her Twitter folk: “DON’T BE RUDE.” She gives a demonstration of how it’s done here.
Alexis Jordan‘s ‘Happiness’ is still bopping outside our Top 20. Somebody go let the gurl in. After three weeks on our charts, the single is still only at its present peak of #24. This breezy pop track is quickly becoming a summer favourite despite getting little radio support. We’re just gonna rely on word of mouth and music video rotations from here on in, are we? The single bundle featuring two slick remixes (courtesy of Jump Smokers and Wideboys) are going for just $1.69 on our Aussie iTunes now. Do yourselves a favour.
Kanye West‘s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy has moved up the charts again, going from #27 to #17 in Australia this week. I desperately want to do a post about the new ‘Monster’ video that leaked last week but I’m holding off until I get a HQ version. Apparently, the one that surfaced online is not the final cut. Not that it’s every stopped me before. The single re-enters the US Billboard Hot 100 this week.
Pink and Beyonce are the two most popular female pop performers in this country, if their music DVD sales are anything to go by. Pink‘s Funhouse Tour: Live In Australia is still in the Top 10 after 64 weeks and Queen B‘s latest I Am… World Tour sits at #9 after five weeks in.
Despite having experienced her live in concert back in 2009, reliving the I Am… tour on DVD was a whole new trip for me. Who knew Bey was such a capable LOL provider with her candid video diaries? See: “WHY DID GOD GIVE ME MY TALENT?”
Rihanna has finally gone #1 in the UK after seven weeks, dislodging Take That‘s titan Progress album. New year, new reign. Sounds about right to me. Loud is now RiRi‘s second chart topping album in the UK after 2007’s Good Girl Gone Bad. On the flip side, ‘What’s My Name?’ is still #2 to X Factor winner Matt Cardle‘s ‘When We Collide’.
Y’know #2 chart peaks seem to be a common feat for RiRi in the UK – so far she’s clocked up eight of those. Some of her most iconic songs have been #2 singles there like ‘Love The Way You Lie’ with Eminem (the biggest selling non-charity single of 2010 in the UK), ‘Unfaithful’ and ‘SOS’.
We’re witnessing seismic leaps on the UK album charts this week – thanks to end of year sales, perhaps? Plan B‘s new one went from #21 to #3, Tinie Tempah‘s Disc-overy jumped from #26 to #4, The Wanted leapt from #22 to #5, Mumford & Sons made a 30-place jump to #6, Gaga‘s The Fame rose from #39 to #12, Cee-Lo Green‘s new LP went from #34 to #12, The Saturdays‘ Headlines EP shoots from #87 to #42, and Michael Jackson‘s classic Number Ones compilation bulleted from #66 to #16.
Michael Jackson‘s first – and hopefully, Lady LaToya will intervene and make this the fucking last – posthumous studio album Michael drops from #5 to #30 while SuBo‘s The Gift loses its novelty, tumbling from #7 to #34 this week in the UK.
Jessie J‘s breakthrough ‘Do It Like A Dude’ cracked the UK Top 20 this week to perch at #18. The Wanted‘s third single ‘Lose My Mind’ also found its way into the Top 20, rising to #19 this week. Can we put that down to the year-end’s traditionally quiet week for single sales?
Wiz Khalifa‘s ‘Black and Yellow’ has damn well gone mainstream! The track rose to #6 on the US Billboard Hot 100 this week, making Wiz the only newcomer in a Top 10 full of the usual suspects (Ke$ha, Katy Perry, Pink, Bruno, Enrique etc.) Golf claps.
Keri Hilson‘s sophomore album No Boys Allowed sold over 107,000 first week copies to debut at #11 this week. That’s about 8000 copies more than what her first album did in its first week but In A Perfect World… at least managed to chart at #4. Given the strength of record sales these days, Kezza [Editor’s note: her official bogan name. How can you expect to have an Aussie hit if the press don’t give you one?] has done pretty well to come in at #11. No Boys Allowed is already available digitally here in Australia, the physical copies are due 14 January.
Elsewhere, Kez‘s ‘Pretty Girl Rock’ continues on its ace trajectory, rising to a new peak of #31 on the US charts this week. I want so much for Aussie radios to get on top of this. It’s fun, sassy pop that’d go down a treat with all the ladies queens this summer. I’m seriously considering a gay boyz cover of this. Doin’ the pretty gay rawk! Ha.
Guy Sebastian has scored a Christmas week #1 with ‘Who’s That Girl’ creeping to the top while we were getting our stuffin’ on. Kudos for the strategic physical single release during last week’s retail rush. Easiest Kris Kringle solution evah.
Pink‘s Greatest Hits… So Far!!! reigns supreme on top in its sixth week running while her ‘Fuckin’ Perfect’ single debuts at #86 in the US. Next in line, Susan Boyle‘s The Gift stays put at #2 – and rightly so too because the only gift I see this being is a big ol’ two for the port-a-loo. And so, it’s off to hibernation for SuBo now until she pops out again just in time for another Christmas release next year.
Wynter Gordon has cracked the Aussie Top 20 this week with ‘Dirty Talk’ leaping from #32 to #18. Hark! This be the anthem for some of us during the silly season. *Pause* Hurry on up 2011, I’m getting faint for mah gurl’s long-awaited debut album With The Music I Die.
Justice Crew‘s ‘Friday To Sunday’ is the highest charting new single here this week, debuting at #31. In fact, the only other new placement in the Top 50 this week is Neon Tree‘s ‘Animal’ at #48. This single was first launched in the States in March but is only making its way internationally now. A UK release date is set for 7 January.
Taio Cruz and Kylie‘s ‘Higher’ re-enters the Aussie singles chart at #39 this week while the US version featuring Travie McCoy debuts at #80 over in the States. The new video featuring Travie has been uploaded and there’s evidently more chemistry between the lads than whatever the fuck was going on between Taio and Empress MinMin. Like, dude, I still can’t get over those awkwardly-not-touching-Kylie moments. Is this your first time in the presence of a goddess?
Matt Cardle holds onto the UK #1 position during the seasonal week. According the nation’s end of year charts, ‘When We Collide’ is the second biggest selling single – only beaten by the almighty Eminem and Rihanna‘s ‘Love The Way You Lie’. Seeing Matt‘s success now aligning with that of all other X Factor winners’ only makes me rage harder for Future Boo to be validated with a #1 record.
Jessie J‘s ‘Do It Like A Dude’ edges to a new peak of #22 on the UK charts this week. This bitch is definitely one to watch for in 2011 – mark the words of tastemaker pop music bloggeurs everywhere. She has been enlisted to write for Britney‘s forthcoming album and her own debut Who You Are is expected to drop next year as well. You’ve been warned. Keep an eye out for Jessie J on the coveted BBC’s Sound of 2011 shortlist.
The Wanted‘s third single ‘Lose My Mind’ continues its climb, reaching a peak of #29 this week in the UK while the album sells comfortably outside the Top 20. These lads are not buggering off anytime soon, I don’t think. Having said that, I can’t imagine a fourth single being a possibility. Perhaps they’ll buck with the trend and re-release their album with new recordings in six months. Why the hell not? Everyone’s doing it.
Take That – manband extraordinaire – remains unstoppable with Progress still topping the UK charts for six consecutive weeks. There’s still debate over what the album’s second single will be. At the moment it’s looking like a toss up between ‘SOS’ and ‘Kidz’ – two of my favourites on the record. The men were supposed to perform ‘Kidz’ on the X Factor finals this year but the performance was pulled because it contained a riot scene that was deemed “inappropriate”. Elsewhere, Take That have also performed ‘SOS’ on the Royal Variety Performance. Single choice is anybody’s guess at this stage.
Alexandra Burke‘s bombshell Overcome deluxe was all but a bleep on the Christmas week charts. Poor lass. She was packin’ in the value for ya’ll, reupholstering her monster-selling debut with several new recordings and this is the thanks she gets? Overcome languishes outside the UK Top 30 while the new single version of ‘The Silence’ drops from #36 to #65 this week. Yikes.
Usher‘s ‘More’ – easily one of my favourites from this current album – has been charting for nine weeks in the UK and no one told me? The track was issued as single number five this month but the love goes way back. ‘More’ was first issued as a promo single on US iTunes last March and it has already made it’s UK debut at #89 based on downloads alone when the album first dropped. The track sits at #34 this week in the UK and re-enters the US charts at #88. Gonna push it to the limits, gimme MOAR!
Mariah Carey‘s ‘Oh Santa!’ debuts at #100 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in the lead up to Christmas week. The album Merry Christmas II You is still in the US Top 20. [Editor’s note: We’d all be bleeding from the ears if Limmy spins that album one more time this holiday season.]
Keri Hilson‘s ‘Pretty Girl Rock’ climbs to a new peak of #42 in the US. The accomplished songwriter still has loads to prove as a recording artiste but if the swag she’s jackin’ on No Boys Allowed is anything to go by. The world best watch out. I’m earmarking ‘Pretty Girl Rock’, ‘Buyou’ and ‘The Way You Love Me’ as the corkers you need to jump on. No Boys Allowed will drop in Australia on 14 January.
Ciara‘s Basic Instinct flopped at a #44 debut in the States, selling only a meagre 37,000 copies, making this her lowest-selling debut to date. It fared far worse internationally – where it’s traditionally never been CeCe‘s crowd anyway – missing the Top 100 completely in the UK and Top 50 in Australia. What’s been giving me the LOLZ about Princess CeCe is the little feud that’s bubbling over between her and Ms Keri Hilson. Check the sitch over at Toya’s World.
Kandi – see: Real Housewives of Atlanta Cristal-swigging petal – has dropped her long awaited comeback album Kandi Koated. The album creeps in at #91 this week and it’s absolute travesty that her gal pal and diva vocal powerhouse du jour Kim Zolciak wasn’t featured on a track. I mean, gurl, you couldn’t throw her warbles in for a hidden track or some Walmart exclusive bonus track for old time’s sake?
Crystal Bowersox – this year’s American Idol runner up – sees her folky debut Farmer’s Daughter enter at #28 in the States. It was initially reported that the Chad Kroeger co-write (don’t fight the cringe) ‘Hold On’ was gonna be the first single, much to Crystal‘s disapproval. But thankfully, Ms Bowersox got her way and released the title track as the album’s lead single instead.
Pink‘s Greatest Hits… So Far!!! made an effortlessly debut at #1 here this week, selling over 30,600 copies. One of the four new recordings on the package, ‘Fucking Perfect’, debuts at #10 here purely on downloads alone. It is the most added new song on Australian radios this week. The other new track ‘Heartbreak Down’ charts at #40 on our digital charts but, that aside, what does everyone think of her original version of Adam Glambert‘s ‘Whataya Want From Me’?
Take That officially has the fastest selling album of the century. The band – now formally reunited with Robbie – sold over 520,000 copies of their Progress album in its first week, a record unmatched by any UK album sales in the last 10 years. They’ve already made headlines earlier last week for scoring the biggest UK opening day sales. Progress managed to sell over 235,000 copies in its first day, making it the biggest opening sales since Oasis dropped Be Here Now in 1997. Waow. I’m gonna need a lie down.
Rihanna‘s Loud is the second biggest new release here and in the UK. The Barbadian beauty fought the good fight but she’s nothing against Pink in our market and Take That on their home turf. Loud came in at #3 here, managing to move over 11,200 first-week copies and over in the UK, it debuted at #2 reportedly selling over 91,000 copies.
On a side note, nine out of ten most downloaded albums in the country this week are new releases. How’s that for an observation of where new music is most readily acquired?
Ronan Keating‘s Duet compilation made a decent amount of first-week sales [Editor’s note: over 8000 copies, if you wanna get out a yard stick and compare] to debut at #7 this week. Good old RoRo ran for the mic at every given opportunity on X Factor. Good to know his new single with Paulini – ‘Believe Again’ – is picking up a bit of radio support. The song is the ninth most added new track on Aussie airwaves this week. Happy as I am to golf clap to his success, all I can think of is what’s happening with Natalie‘s music career.
Jessica Mauboy‘s Get Em Girls album makes a death drop from a #6 debut last week to #20. BAM! Shit’s about to hit the fan at Sony HQ. On the flip side, her new single ‘Saturday Night’ debuted at #13 this week. A small consolation for what hasn’t been the most receptive start for an album promo.
Mariah Carey‘s Merry Christmas II You makes a quiet tinkle of a debut here at #37 this week. She needs to do some kind of interview on The Circle or the Today Show to let folks know she’s dropped an album for the festive season. You know that demographic would totally lap up this shit.
Willow Smith and her infectious ‘Whip My Hair’ has landed on the Aussie charts, people! The weave-snatching 9-year old saw her single chart at #16 on our digital charts this week after picking up strong radio rotation last week. This song is destined for great things and will become a centrepiece of viral music 2010.
Black Eyed Peas have scored yet another Aussie chart topper with ‘This Time (The Dirty Bit)’. I wish I could say that there were lesser evils in the world but no, this pretty much takes the cake right now. Speaking of evils, Scarlett Belle‘s got another one in the pipeline. The duo’s third single ‘Loverboy’ is the fifth most added new song to Aussie radios this week.
James Blunt‘s comeback single ‘Stay The Night’ slips in at #42 this week in Australia. Should we expect things to pick up next week after his appearance on our X Factor? Watching his awkward duet with Andrew Lawson on ‘You’re Beautiful’ really put things into perspective for me. Hasn’t this man suffered enough to promote his music?
JLS scores their fourth UK #1 single with ‘Love You More’ this week. Wait a minute, did you know every thing these boys have breathed on – including the two charity singles – have gone #1 in the UK except for a rogue single ‘One Shot’, which only made #6? I shan’t mention it any further. Fanboys in the forums will start stewing over this again. Why upset the pack? They have so much to look forward to. JLS’ new album Outta This World was released today.
Shayne Ward‘s long awaited comeback Obsession tanks at #15 in the UK this week. Poor man. Somebody’s gonna break something when Simon Cowell pops into the studio to give him the pink slip. Do yourself a favour and have a dip low to his reggaeton cover of Tony Rich‘s ‘Nobody Knows’. He’ll appreciate the listen.
Ellie Goulding‘s enchanting cover of Queen Elton‘s ‘Your Song’ bullets from #39 to #3 in the UK this week. This is the first offering from Ellie‘s revamped Lights album – sensationally titled Bright Lights – which flaunts six new recordings, including a new version of ‘Lights’.
The Beatles most popular song might just be ‘Hey Jude’ with the track coming up as the most downloaded of the band’s back catalogue since its iTunes release on Thursday. All up, there are ten Beatles songs that have popped up on the UK Top 100 in a matter of just four days. Here’s a quick roll call: ‘Hey Jude’ (#40), ‘Let It Be’ (#46), ‘Twist and Shout’ (#48), ‘Here Comes The Sun’ (#64), ‘In My Life’ (#78), ‘Come Together’ (#83) and ‘Yesterday’ (#86).
Susan Boyle has blown up the American charts again. This year, our seasonal warbler drops The Gift and saw it sell over 318,000 copies in its first week. Sure it’s not on par with I Dreamed A Dream‘s titan 701,000 first week-sales but if this is what you call a sophomore slump, I’d be telling Simon Cowell to go ahead with that deposit on another private island.
Natasha Bedingfield is languishing at the wrong end of the US Hot 100 this week. Her new single ‘Strip Me’ – produced by Ryan Tedder – has bobbed back up at #99 after only managing to peak at #95 a few weeks back. I don’t care if everyone has moved on, I’m still thirsty for some Nat Bed. Her lyrics and Bourbon-kissed vocals are always right on. Absolutely cannot wait to hear the new album, which drops on 7 December in the US.
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