Success comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, on local levels and global fronts. Some just seem to want a piece of it in every market.
It has been a very good week for overachievers Bloc Party and Taylor Swift, as well as Birdy, Ricki-Lee, and Brandy. Also, find out where new releases from Owl City, Aiden Grimshaw and David Guetta land.
Remember back when it was kinda uncool to be “launched from a reality TV show”?
Well, it would seem that if you can escape that stigma with class and some bloody awesome creative ventures, you’re guaranteed to be embraced by the masses in the way Guy Sebastian and Jessica Mauboy were this week.
Elsewhere on this Chart Feed, it has also been a good week for the Spice Girls, Emeli Sande, Rita Ora and Flo Rida.
A whole season must’ve passed beneath our feet, moons come and gone, colours of the wind changed, since our last Chart Feed – but I’m now ready to immerse myself back into a regime of tireless research on Monday nights.
Perhaps once the choir of angels performing their celebratory rendition of ‘You Bring Me Joy’ has ascended back to heaven, we can begin this week’s pickings of the ARIA, UK Official and US Billboard charts.
This was a particularly rosy week for Justice Crew and Conor Maynard, featuring new entries also from The Veronicas, Kelendria Trene Rowland and Scissor Sisters.
Happy new year, y’all. I don’t know who approved my time off last Monday but I’m sorry for leaving y’all without a Christmas week chart feed.
I am back on the grind tonight because I know we need to start this year right. It’s such a traditionally quiet time of the year for music sales, technically all your underachieving faves should be making the Top 10 with no effort at all. But of course, there aren’t ever any surprises when you’re expecting it.
This week’s chart highlights include Michael Buble‘s record-breaking Christmas sales that has cancelled everything he’s put out before this year, Sia‘s third consecutive Aussie Top 30 appearance in five months, Havana Brown‘s American crossover, and shit loads more.
Reece Mastin‘s ‘Good Night’ checks off its second week on top of our ARIA singles chart, now clocking over 70,000 sales to become one of the fastest selling singles here this year. ‘Good Night’ is unsurprisingly also the biggest gainer on our Aussie airplay chart (between 24 to 30 November), rising to #23.
Guy Sebastian‘s ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ improves on last week’s debut, now rising to #4 on the ARIA chart in its second week. Probably thanks to some decent radio rotation too. ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ leaps from #54 to #27 on the Australian airplay chart.
Adele has the biggest selling music DVD in Australia this week with Live at Royal Albert Hall debuting on top of the charts, beating off two other new tour DVD releases: Lady Gaga‘s Monster Ball Tour (#2) and Kylie‘s Aphrodite Les Folies (#3). I suppose someone should mention that Britney‘s Femme Fatale tour DVD arrived at #8? Such a non-factor.
Over in the UK, Kylie‘s Aphrodite Les Folies Live in London debuts at #72 on the album charts. It should show up on the DVD charts next week.
Watch Adele performing ‘Turning Tables’ live at The Royal Albert Hall:
Hilltop Hoods featuring Sia‘s ‘I Love It’ is the biggest new single in Australia this week, debuting at #18. It is also the second most added new song to local radios. This is now Sia‘s second appearance in the ARIA Top 20 this year, following her other smash guest appearance ‘Titanium’ with David Guetta.
Jessica Mauboy and Stan Walker‘s redundant ballad ‘Galaxy’ sits at #20 on the ARIA Top 50 and registers the biggest drop on the Australian airplay chart in the last week, sinking from #17 to #31. The song has strangely appeared on the UK release schedule with a tentative 12 December launch date. Meanwhile, Stan‘s new album Let The Music Play worringly drops from #18 to #27 in its second week here.
Kelly Clarkson‘s ‘What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)’ leaps to #44 on our ARIA singles chart this week, while its predecessor ‘Mr Know It All’ falls to #29. All these lesser songs need to take note and move out of the way too. Kelly‘s hit album Stronger falls to #20 in its sixth week here.
Lana Del Rey‘s ‘Video Games’ breaks into a new peak of #56 on our ARIA charts. The gospel of Del Rey continues to spread across Europe – in fact, ‘Video Games’ is currently reigning in the iTunes Top 10 in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.
Watch Lana perform ‘Blue Jeans’ – a track featured on her ‘Video Games’ EP:
One Direction has the biggest selling new album in Australia this week with Up All Night making a strong debut at #5, simultaneously certifying gold sales of 35,000 copies shipped.
Olly Murs finally gets a UK #1 album with In Case You Didn’t Know debuting on top, selling 148,000 copies in its first week. His first album Olly Murs arrived at roughly the same time last year but only managed to sell 108,000 copies to debut at #2. Well done, you.
Take That’s Progress Live album enters at #12 in the UK this week, making sure Gary Barlow‘s not left penniless this Christmas while his X Factor cohorts all manage chart appearances. Progress Live remains as the biggest selling music DVD in the UK for the second week in a row, keeping Adele‘s Live At Royal Hall from claiming the throne.
Watch Take That performing one of my faves ‘Kidz’ live on their Progress tour:
Joe McElderry‘s Classic Christmas album debuts at #15 in the UK this week. This time next year, Craig Colton will be doing the same.
N-Dubz‘s Greatest Hits debuts at a humble #38 this week. It was such a pointless cash grab to coincide with Tulisa‘s X Factor gig and Dappy’s recent solo success. Tulisa‘s own solo album’s not slated for release until the first quarter of next year.
Kelly Rowland‘s Here I Am (International Version) cops a red-faced flop in the UK this week, entering at #56 despite all the promo she’s put in during the week including a mini concert for BBC 1Xtra – which was an utter hot mess, by the way. The album turns up at #23 on the UK digital charts, which doesn’t look too bad I guess. Kelendria‘s current single ‘Down For Whatever’ drops to #9 there while the sexy American urban smash ‘Lay It On Me’ starts charting at #81 in the UK.
Here I Am has a slight chance of faring better in its second week, especially after today’s X Factor performance. Look, I really don’t think it’s gonna significantly turn fortunes around for the diva but kudos for trying anyway.
Watch Ms Kelly turn out a medley performance of ‘When Love Takes Over/Down For Whatever’ on UK X Factor:
The Saturdays‘ On Your Radar sinks from its disappointing #23 debut to #53 this week. It’s officially a success of Sweet 7 proportions now, am I right – guys? The pop quintet has just kicked off their All Fired Up tour so with any luck, this should support sales a little.
X Factor Finalists‘ woeful charity single ‘Wishing On A Star’ did go #1 after all, making this the fourth consecutive year where the show has slapped a benefit release on top of the charts.
Jessie J‘s defining ballad ‘Who You Are’ races from #37 to #8 this week, thanks to her performance on the UK X Factor and not to mention a complimentary warble by axed contestant Misha B.
Rebecca Ferguson‘s debut album Heaven arrives in UK storefronts today and it’ll be interesting to see where it ends up given the lukewarm chart response to ‘Nothing’s Real But Love’. The slow-burning single does a death drop from #10 to #30 this week.
Emeli Sandé‘s second solo single ‘Daddy’ debuts at #21 this week, obviously gonna be a hard match for ‘Heaven’s peak at #2. The flawless singer/songwriter will drop her debut album Our Version of Events on 6 February.
Watch Emeli‘s video for ‘Daddy’:
Beyoncé‘s ‘Love On Top’ flies to #28 in the UK this week, making this Queen Bey‘s 19th solo Top 30 smash in the country. The last closest reach she had was with ‘Countdown’ just a few weeks ago, peaking at #35.
Michael Buble‘s Christmas album squeezes to the #1 spot on the US Billboard 200 with a marginal 0.18% lead over Nickelback‘s Here and Now, which debuted at #2. This is said to be the closest race to the top since November 2007.
Christmas is Buble‘s third US #1 album and with 227,000 copies sold, this is actually the biggest weekly sales he’s ever clocked. I’m thinking he’s gonna be doing seasonal records more often now. Interestingly enough with Justin Bieber‘s Under The Mistletoe and Michael Buble‘s Christmas going #1, 2011 is now the first year to yield two US #1 Christmas albums since 1957, when Elvis and Bing Crosby scaled such heights.
Watch Michael Buble recording ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’:
Nickelback‘s Here and Now is the band’s third consecutive album to make the US top two. Although, the opening week sales don’t quite match that of 2005′s All The Right Reasons (325,000) and 2008′s Dark Horse (326,000).
Rihanna‘s Talk That Talk debuts at #3 in the US, nabbing 197,000 first week sales. Last year’s blockbuster album Loud managed to debut at #2 with 207,000 copies sold. Over at the singles bar, ‘We Found Love’ continues to reign on top of the US Billboard Hot 100 while ‘Talk That Talk’ becomes the biggest new single in the country, debuting at #31. Elsewhere, ‘You Da One’ drops from #14 to #22 while ‘Where Have You Been’ cracks the Top 100 at #65.
In the UK, Talk That Talk drops to #3 in its second week. The pull downwards is also reflected on the singles chart with ‘We Found Love’ slipping to #3 and ‘You Da One’ dipping one spot to #40. The more drastic drops were felt by album tracks: ‘Talk That Talk’ (#25 to #47) and ‘Where Have You Been’ (#61 to #94).
Here in Australia, ’We Found Love’ is still securely seated in the ARIA Top 5 while its predecessor ‘You Da One’ ascends to a new peak of #31. Its other sister tracks ‘Where Have You Been’ and ‘Talk That Talk’ drop to #63 and #73 respectively, while the new album slides to #7 in its second week. Talk That Talk has now been certified gold sales for shipments of 35,000 copies in Australia.
Listen to Rihanna‘s fierce as fuck ‘Cockiness (Love It)’:
Lady Gaga‘s Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden is the biggest selling music DVD in the US, debuting straight at #1 ahead of two other major titles out in the same week: Britney‘s The Femme Fatale Tour (#2) and Beyoncé‘s Live at Roseland (#3).
A Very Gaga Holiday EP debuts at #52 on the US Billboard 200 while Born This Way – The Remix enters at a lowly #105. Over at the singles chart, ‘You and I’ sits at #29 while ‘Marry The Night’ ascends from #97 to #59.
In the UK, Born This Way – The Remix debuts at #77 while ’Marry The Night’ edges to a new peak of #16. Here in Australia, Born This Way – The Remix debuts at #62 on our ARIA charts but ’Marry The Night’ has yet to return to our ARIA Top 100.
Watch the hilarious Cooking with Gaga segment on Alan Carr‘s Chatty Man:
will.i.am‘s new single ‘T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)’ featuring Mick Jagger and Jennifer Lopez debuts at #36 on the US Billboard Hot 100, selling 70,000 first week downloads. Meanwhile here in Australia, ‘T.H.E.’ enters our ARIA charts at #68. The Black Eyed Peas frontman’s last solo hit here was last year’s ‘Check It Out’ (featuring Nicki Minaj), which made #21.
Monica‘s new ballad ‘Until It’s Gone’ moves up to a new peak of #26 on the US R&B/Hip Hop charts. There hasn’t been as much of a buzz with this new era for Mo so let’s hope things pick up in the new year. Her seventh studio album New Life is slated for a 21 February release in the States.
Selena Gomez & The Scene‘s ‘Love You Like A Love Song’ finally tops the US Billboard Dance/Club play charts with Beyoncé‘s ‘Countdown’ closing in at #2. Shout out to these key risers: Wynter Gordon‘s amazing ‘Buy My Love’ (#7), Nervo‘s ‘We’re All No One’ (#8) and Katy Perry‘s ‘The One That Got Away’ (#13).
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).
