Well this is a really good value Chart Feed compilation, I have to say. Well, as good as it can be without Girls Aloud and Brandy to really discuss, of course. So until then, you just have to deal.
This has been a good week for our Aussie pop prince Guy Sebastian and songbird Delta Goodrem, new girlband sensation Little Mix and triumphantly, Taylor Swift matches Adele‘s US digital song chart record.
“Oppa gangnam style!” *drops the beat*
You know when your parents start to recognise a internet viral music video that it’s well and truly time for everyone else to move on.
It has been a tremendous week for K-pop sensation PSY‘s ‘Gangnam Style’, not only is it officially the most ‘liked’ video in the history of the internet – the track has also successfully topped the Australian and UK charts to become the first Korean pop single to do so.
Its crossover chart success in the Western market is just mind-blowing, no doubt bringing a whole lot of national pride for South Koreans everywhere.
Elsewhere, it has also been a great week for Pink, Mumford and Sons, Conor Maynard, Brandy and Christina “I think you already know my weight!” Aguilera.
You have to hand it to this divine empress of song. Nobody straddles the fine line between luxurious and tacky quite like Mariah Carey. You don’t need to check the receipts to know that she’s legit.
Mimi’s empowering urban jam didn’t exactly get everyone moist with excitement when it premiered a few weeks ago, but just like a lot of my fellow Lambs, I waited for the video before passing final judgement.
The age-old boxing match theme applied to ’Triumphant (Get ‘Em)’ really hits home the song’s message of overcoming adversity. However, rather than letting you experience it in a raw Rocky Balboa-style treatment, the music video is rendered with a golden 1960s touch.
The opulence, the cinematic frames, the fucking yards of gold lamé that seem to disappear to nowhere on Mariah’s body – these are all signifiers of a typical Mimi clip where excess is celebrated and modesty scoffed. And you gotta love her for that!
The video’s director and Mariah’s full-time boo – Nick Cannon – thoroughly did ‘Triumphant (Get ‘Em)’ justice by honouring his wife’s fondness for extravagance. We’ve all seen Mariah try to do pedestrian-realness with ‘Through The Rain’ and, frankly, it scared the shit out of me to see her try to dress like us mere mortals.
Mariah Carey should never try to destroy the illusion of her grandeur – no, not even to get some “universal message of hope” across in one of her own videos. I think at this stage of her career, Mimi and her Lambs know how it works.
The formula for her videos are more or less: one part skimpy two piece, one part mega wind machine and fluttering of fingers, and some misguided portions of looking like Miss Universe parading evening wear like her life depended on it.
Seeing rappers Meek Mill and Rick Ross take up significant screen time in the first half of the video concerned me, just like their prominence on the track did.
However, you more than get your money’s worth towards the end when confetti’s raining on Mimi’s pageant queen diva pose and she’s steady punching the air like there was no Laila Ali.
This video is magnificent in every sense imaginable for a typical Mariah production. The only thing missing was a pair of giant flaming butterflies scorching up behind the boxing ring.
Footnotes:
Mariah Carey‘s ‘Triumphant (Get ‘Em)’ has to date charted at #97 on the US Billboard Hip Hop/R&B Songs and #144 on the official UK Singles chart.
The much-favoured remixes (see Vintage Throwback Mix, Pulse Remix, Danny Verde Club Mix, Laidback Luke Extended Mix, The New Iberican League Club Mix) have scaled up to #42 on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart.
Hold on a minute, let me get this straight. It’s Mariah Carey’s eagerly anticipated new single and she’s only turned up to sing the hook and a couple of finger-fluttering ad libs over the top? How is this ho only here for the “feature vocalist” parts of her own damn single?
I think for a lot of poor hungry Lambs, this all-important new Mimi single has been built up to be some sort of main event that should be particularly pleasing to appreciators of her urban collaborations.
Y’know, sequined props where props are due – our favourite Midas-caressed manatee did pioneer the hip hop rap/diva sung vocals format that has revolutionised modern pop R&B. But honestly, this collabo structure is just not cutting it for her in ‘Triumphant (Get ‘Em)’.
For a major comeback single, you shouldn’t have to sit through over a minute of guest rappers verses to hear more of Mimi‘s famed wailings. That’s not where the box office is at, boo.
Everything about this song has been a chore for me. It has been a chore sitting through the rap spittings (this would not have been a problem if I had actually signed up to hear Rick Ross and Meek Mill - which I didn’t). It has been a chore trying to work out what exactly I should be taking away from this ‘Triumphant’ experience.
Mariah, when she is on point, is actually one of the most effective pop songwriters of her generation. She has served up legitimate timeless smashes that cut straight to the heart with brilliant lyrics, sentiments and vocal delivery – think: ‘Butterfly’, ‘Bye Bye’ and ‘Breakdown’.
In the lead up to ‘Triumphant”s release, Mimi had tweeted that the lyrics were very personal to her. It’s almost as if she’s deliberately drawing attention to it because she might fear people would miss the message? Since when has this been an issue for a properly executed Mariah song? Never.
With sizeable rap verses taking precedence and perforating beats competing with her vocal parts, I’m starting to wonder how important these lyrics – or in fact, Mariah herself – really is to the song.
Right now, Mimi would be giving more value for money in a single seating on the Home Shopping Network than she would in all four minutes of ’Triumphant (Get ‘Em)’. And you know something about that ain’t right.
Listen to Mimi’s new single in full now:
Footnotes:
The single hits digital shelves on 7 August. Expect the video for ‘Triumphant (Get ‘Em)’ to premiere soon. Mimi’s forthcoming 14th studio album is slated for release later this year.
For those who just don’t have the luxury of time to sit around waiting for Limmy to write faster – myself included – here is a shotgun solution.
Let’s do this thing called Quick Feed, where you get a quick compilation of new music updates delivered through your driver seat window every other day in a brown take away bag with an unfathomable amount of serviettes, and you tell me whether it works or not.
Collect your first edition at the next drive-thru window. The receipt is in the bag.
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.
Looking at the singles bar, Bey‘s euphoric ‘Love On Top’ rises to a new peak of #22 in the UK while ‘Countdown’ ascends to #54 and ‘Best Thing I Never Had’ re-enters at #71.
Watch Bey deliver an emotional rendition of ‘I Care’ and ‘I Miss You’ for A Night with Beyoncé *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.
X Factor Australia winner Reece Mastin snatched wigs all the way to the top of the ARIAs this week with his debut single ‘Good Night’. It was reported that ‘Good Night’ managed to sell one copy every 2.7 seconds on Wednesday alone – easily clocking 32,000 sales in the first 24 hours.
Reece‘s debut album – featuring studio recordings of 10 songs he covered on the show – will drop on 9 December. Knowingly missing from the mix is the much-detested cover of ‘All By Myself’. Reece Mastin – the album – is currently charting at #60 on our Aussie iTunes based on pre-orders alone.
Guy Sebastian‘s ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ is the second biggest new single on the ARIA charts – winding up at #7. The X Factor judge was positioned at #2 on our iTunes charts for a few days, behind his apprentice Reece.
Watch Guy‘s brilliant new video ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’:
Israel Cruz‘s ‘Party Up’ rises to #33, somehow resurrecting after looking like it was destined to be another home grown crunk’n'b flop. The Aussie producer – who has crafted numbers for the likes of Jessica Mauboy, Elen Levon and Scarlett Belle – last appeared in the Top 50 seven years ago with ‘Old Skool Luv’.
Ricki-Lee‘s ‘Raining Diamonds’ plummets from #19 to #36, clocking only one week in the ARIA Top 20. Be very fucking worried. The slamming dance/pop epic managed to rise to #23 on the Australian airplay chart in the last week – evidently not enough to sustain interest.
The forthcoming ‘Raining Diamonds’ video sees our girl channeling some kind of Sasha Fierce/Barbarella realness – watch the behind the scenes before the full production premieres hopefully sometime during the week:
Rihanna‘s Talk That Talk debuts at #5 in Australia, sending three new tracks to our ARIA Top 100 in its wake – ‘You Da One’ (#41), the frenetic future club smash ‘Where Have You Been’ (#46) and ‘Talk That Talk’ (#61). The project’s lead single ‘We Found Love’ sits at #4 and is still the most played song on Aussie radios.
Over in the UK, Talk That Talk debuts at #1 – racking up over 160,000 opening week sales to become one of the fastest selling albums there this year. Just so you know, TTT crossed north of 100,000 copies in the first three days alone. RiRi also has four tracks in the UK Top 75 this week – ‘We Found Love’ (still at #1), ‘Talk That Talk (#25), ‘You Da One’ (#39), ‘Where Have You Been’ (#61).
Over in America, Talk That Talk is slated to debut at #3 or #4 this week with predicted sales between 200,000 – 210,000 copies. ’We Found Love’ is still the most downloaded song in the country while its follow up ‘You Da One’ debuts at #9 on the US Billboard Digital Songs chart, selling 124,000 copies.
Listen to Rihanna‘s slamming ‘Where Have You Been’:
Katy Perry‘s ‘The One That Got Away’ slowly edges up to #32 on our ARIA charts. The driving pop ballad drops from #20 to #29 on our Australian airplay charts in the last week. Meanwhile over the States, ‘The One That Got Away’ cracks the Top 10, making Teenage Dream now the first album in 17 years to spawn six Top 10 smashes.
The last record holder was Janet Jackson‘s Janet circa 1994. Note: only seven albums in music history have snatched six or more US Top 10 hits. Janet‘s Rhythm Nation was the first album by a female artist to do so.
Lady Gaga‘s ‘Marry The Night’ drops out of our ARIA Top 100 altogether this week. Gag! No radio support, no video out, and various competing Gaga releases all continue to undermind this single’s potential.
Over in the UK, ‘Marry The Night’ stalls at #18 while her brand new Born This Way remix album debuts at #77. Looking at the UK iTunes store now, A Very Gaga Holiday EP sits comfortably at #18 on its first day out. There’s no way this ho’s gonna go through the festive season without making a dollar or two.
Over in the US, ‘Marry The Night’ re-enters the US Billboard Hot 100 at #97 – thanks in some small way to radio pick up and general awareness. ‘Marry The Night’ is the most played new song on US airwaves, debuting at #65 on the airplay charts.
Watch Glam Ma Monster perform ‘Marry The Night’ for A Very Gaga Thanksgiving:
Kelly Clarkson‘s ‘What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)’ is making a killing already on the Australian airplay charts – leaping from #49 to #21. The future smash is currently placed at #42 on our Aussie iTunes charts. Over in the States, ‘WDKY’ re-enters the US Billboard Hot 100 at #99 and on the digital charts at #64. She needs to stop flogging ‘Mr Know It All’ and just go to town on this one already.
Other notable new singles buzzing about our Aussie iTunes include: will.i.am featuring Jennifer Lopez and Mick Jagger‘s ‘T.H.E.’ (#62) and Cher Lloyd‘s summer-correct ‘With Ur Love’ (#63).
Kylie Minogue‘s Ultimate Kylie compilation shoots up to a breathtaking #95 on the Aussie iTunes chart while Aphrodite – Les Folies Live in London sits at #169 after her defining induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame. No other Kylie albums have returned to the Top 200 in light of all this publicity. Let’s hope her stunning Aphrodite – Les Folies Live in London DVD racks up some serious sales because that tour was just fucking everything. The Aphrodite Live in London album is currently charting at #85 on UK iTunes.
Watch Kylie perform ‘Love At First Sight/Can’t Fight The Feeling’:
Stan Walker‘s Let The Music Play debuts at #18, making it the biggest new Aussie album on the charts this week. Not that there’s much competition – sorry David Campbell. Stan‘s album has done well to stand up in the Top 20 given that ‘Light It Up’ flopped and all he’s got to represent is that ballad borrowed from Jessica Mauboy‘s album.
Dolly Parton‘s new album Better Day debuts at #29 in Australia this week, supported by her recent tour around the country, which included some dates up in some proper country area. I honestly can’t go back far enough to tell you when was the last time the defining music legend had a Top 50 ARIA hit but let’s just say, it’s the first time this century.
Olly Murs‘ new single ‘Dance With Me Tonight’ debuts at #2 in the UK this week, suffering the ultimate cock block by Rihanna‘s ‘We Found Love’. In the first three days on sale, the spunky X Factor star managed to surpass RiRi‘s ‘We Found Love’ by 2,000 copies – but by the end of Thursday, ‘We Found Love’ had pulled up worryingly close at just 49 units away from overtaking Olly. Come weekend, look what happened.
Olly‘s sophomore album In Case You Didn’t Know is currently charting at #2 on the UK iTunes store on its first day out. Check out the dapper man performing ‘Dance With Me Tonight’ on UK X Factor with The Muppets:
Kelendria Trene Rowland, welcome back to the muhfuggin’ UK charts. ‘Down For Whatever’ enters at #6 this week, becoming the former-DC glamazon’s sixth solo Top 10 hit in the region. She’ll be engaging in some serious promo this week to flog the international edition of Here I Am which features her two huge dance collabos: ‘When Love Takes Over’ (with David Guetta) and ‘What A Feeling’ (with Alex Gaudino). Here I Am (International Edition) is currently charting at #26 on UK iTunes on its first day out.
Meanwhile across the Atlantic, Kelendria‘s ‘Lay It On Me’ can probably be written off as a certified flop. The summer radio ready smash sinks to #77 on the US R&B/Hip Hop charts, unable to even scale the Top 30 following ‘Motivation’‘s surprise #1 reign just a few months ago.
Rebecca Ferguson‘s gorgeous debut single ‘Nothing’s Real But Love’ enters at #10 on the UK charts this week. No, it isn’t crash hot by any major label pop star’s standards but I have a really soft spot for the girl. My mind, body and spirit is completely ready for her album Heaven, which arrives next Monday in the UK.
Watch Rebecca‘s charming interview on This Morning and performance of ‘Nothing’s Real But Love’:
One Direction‘s Up All Night debuts at #2 in the UK this week, managing 138,000 opening week sales. The lads’ single ‘Gotta Be You’ does a death drop from its #3 debut last week to #16.
Here in Australia, the physical copy of Up All Night is going at retail outlets for $13 – certainly an enticing offer given that they’re only really known for one very new hit single at the moment. The album is currently placed at #9 on Aussie iTunes. Over on our ARIA Top 100, ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ rises to #8 this week while its b-side ‘Na Na Na’ has astonishingly made it at #84.
The Saturdays‘ On Your Radar shockingly debuts at #23 on the UK charts this week, making it the girls’ first album to completely miss the Top 10. Fuck, I know the album wasn’t that great but surely it deserved more than this epic floppage? Regardless of the results, On Your Radar has surprisingly been quietly released on Aussie iTunes – making this the first Saturdays album to reach our shores since Chasing Lights. I need to lie down.
Pixie Lott continues the flow of British pop flops with Young Foolish Happy plummeting from #18 to #42 in its second week. Her underappreciated new single ‘What Do You Take Me For’ sinks from #20 to #42. Pixie‘s label has swung into damage control, bringing forward the third single – ‘Kiss The Stars’ – for a 26 December release. Here in Australia, I guess Pixie‘s Young Foolish Happy is doing alright to even be seen at #165 on our Aussie iTunes chart.
Watch Pixie flog ‘What Do You Take Me For’ on Loose Women:
The X Factor Finalists 2011‘s charity single ‘Wishing On A Star’ is surprisingly reigning at #1 on the UK iTunes chart right now on its first day out. Surprising reception given how shit it is but also altogether unsurprising given the involvement of JLS and One Direction.
Drake scores the third largest opening week album sales of 2011 with Take Care pushing 631,000 copies to debut at #1 on the US Billboard 200. It’s a sizable improvement on Drake‘s 2010 smash Thank Me Later, which managed 447,000 first week sales to also debut at #1.
Adele‘s 21 clocks its 39th consecutive week in the US Billboard 200 Top 5 bracket, making history as the longest time an album has remained in the Top 5 since its debut. The last record holder was Michael Jackson‘s legendary 1987 album Bad, which clocked 38 weeks.
Watch Adele perform ‘Turning Tables’ live at Royal Albert Hall:
Glee‘s The Christmas Album, Vol. 2 debuts at #6 in the US Billboard 200 at #6, pulling 71,000 opening week sales. Talk about a significant drop compared to the cast’s first Christmas album, which debuted at #8 with 161,000 first week sales last year.
Elsewhere, the Glee cast’s A-grade mash up of Adele‘s ‘Rumour Has It/ Someone Like You’ debuts at #5 on the US Billboard Digital Songs chart, racking up 160,000 downloads. This is now Glee‘s fifth largest weekly sales figure for any of their singles. ‘Rumour Has It/ Someone Like You’ is only bettered by ‘Teenage Dream’ (214,000), ‘Loser Like Me’ (one of two originals written for the cast – 210,000), ‘Forget You’ (192,000) and ‘Don’t Stop Believin” (177,000).
Mariah Carey continues to bathe in gold this lucrative Christmas season. Her classic ‘All I Want For Christmas’ is currently covered in three albums in the US Billboard Top 10 – Michael Buble‘s seasonal record (#2), Bieber‘s Under The Mistletoe (#5) and Glee‘s newest Christmas album (#6).
Selena Gomez & The Scene‘s ‘Love You Like A Love Song’ still has some unbelievable mileage left in it. The single rises to #46 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the A-level remixes soar to #2 on the dance/club play chart.
Watch the stunning video for Selena‘s next single ‘Hit The Lights’:
Other notable new entries on the dance/club play chart include Taio Cruz and Flo Rida‘s ‘Hangover’ (the biggest debut at #33), Florence + The Machine‘s ‘Shake It Out’ (entering at #45) and Flo Rida‘s ‘Good Feeling’ (opening at #46).
