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[ThePensmith]

Happy Friday everyone - time for my personal top 20 this week. Is George Ezra about to extend his run at number one to six weeks, or have new entries from Little Mix and Ellie Goulding proved too much of a challenge for him? Let's find out...

THEPENSMITH'S TOP 20 SINGLES CHART
Week ending 7th December 2018
© AM LIMITED 2018

1. (1) GEORGE EZRA - Hold My Girl
2. (3) JESS GLYNNE - Thursday
3. (HNE) LITTLE MIX - Think About Us
4. (2) NOW UNITED - All Day
5. (4) MICHAEL BUBLÉ - Love You Anymore
6. (5) ALL SAINTS - Testament In Motion
7. (6) TAKE THAT - Out Of Our Heads
8. (NE) ELLIE GOULDING FEAT. DIPLO & SWAE LEE - Close To Me
9. (8) BACKSTREET BOYS - Chances
10. (NE) ANDY BROWN - Keeper

11. (9) BUSTED - Nineties
12. (10) JAMIE CULLUM - Love Is In The Picture
13. (NE) RAE MORRIS - Dancing With Character
14. (7) JAMIE LAWSON - Testify
15. (11) OLLY MURS FEAT. SNOOP DOGG - Moves
16. (13) KYLIE MINOGUE FEAT. JACK SAVORETTI - The Music's Too Sad Without You
17. (12) DIDO - Hurricanes
18. (15) RICK ASTLEY - She Makes Me
19. (RE) THE POGUES & KIRSTY MACCOLL - Fairytale Of New York
20. (20) LSD - Thunderclouds

Compiled from my own personal listening in the last seven days across streaming, digital and physical formats.

KEY

(1) - last week's position
(HNE) - highest new entry
(NE) - new entry
(RE) - re-entry

CHART COMMENTARY



Christmas personal chart -T2. And perhaps unsurprisingly, following his increased promotion for the single - which included a performance on last weekend's final of The X Factor - George Ezra extends his run at number one on my chart to a sixth week with 'Hold My Girl'. Unless some drastic developments occur between now and two weeks from today, there is a very real possibility that my 2018 Christmas number one could come from him. Then again, Jess Glynne has risen a place this week to score her second silver medal of the year, with 'Thursday' now holding at #2, and also looks like a challenger. It is very much still all to play for.

To this week's biggest new hit then - and it's not been the easiest of times for Little Mix of late. Not only did they severe ties with Simon Cowell's SyCo label over a management dispute (and at the eleventh hour before their new album came out), and got embroiled in a public online row with - of all people - uber-troll and mince sack Piers Morgan, 'Woman Like Me', their big launch single off their fifth studio album 'LM5' with Nicki Minaj debuted at what for most would be a respectable #4 entry point on my personal chart towards the end of October. Of course, for four girls who had to that point claimed a number one on my personal chart with every lead single off a new album bar their second, a little more was expected of them, and the single was off my personal chart after just seven weeks.



Hence there is a sense that damage control has been exerted by their new label, RCA, who have plumped for a far better and more accessible single for their next release. 'Think About Us' is actually more like the music we're used to from them, and it is thus duly rewarded with a #3 entry, and one which should silence the critics who suggested their bubble had burst following a series of seemingly unfortunate events.

Ellie Goulding enters five places below them at #8 this week with her first brand new single for more than a year. The last time she was on my chart was in April 2017, reaching as high as #23 with Kygo on his single "First Time", but the last time she was higher than that was with her Bridget Jones soundtrack single "Still Falling For You", which got as high as #2. "Close To Me" is the first single from a forthcoming new album out next year, and sees her team up with rapper Swae Lee and Diplo, the latter of whom in turn notches up two singles inside this week's top 20, as "Thunderclouds", his former number one from September with LSD is a non mover at #20.



Andy Brown secures his third top 10 hit as a solo artist this week - albeit only just. "Keeper" is the follow up to his last single, "About Last Night" from September, but is unable to match that song's top 3 success by debuting at #10. Meanwhile, his unreleased solo album "Cedarmont" is still in the can and he is still labelless, once again releasing this track self funded under his own steam, whilst it's just over a month ago since Lawson performed a one off gig in London to mark the anniversary of the release of their debut album "Chapman Square".



"Someone Out There", the second album from Blackpool born singer-songwriter Rae Morris has been cited by many critics as one of the albums of 2018 - and now that album produces her first ever top 20 hit this week. 'Dancing With Character' enters at #13, backed with a sweet video of her dancing in her native Blackpool's world famous Tower Ballroom with her grandmother who she sings about in the song. Call it the time of year for me saying this, but this is such a beautifully crafted pop single that I could see this gaining traction once the Christmas period is over.



Finally this week, as if to prove the festive season is upon us once more, an old favourite of mine is back in the top 20 since its last appearance - oooh - eleven months ago. The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl have now been a fixture of my Christmas charts every single year since 2005 when they re-released 'Fairytale of New York'. Its peak position to date is still the #3 it scaled upon re-release. One can only speculate how high they'll end up going this year - but that's a matter for next week.

FLASHBACK TOP 10
Your chance to see how my personal top 10 was looking on this week in the last 20 years. This week in 2001: Daniel Bedingfield stays at the top with his debut single for a second week, plus new entries from Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Steps and Stereophonics



1. (1) DANIEL BEDINGFIELD - Gotta Get Thru This



2. (HNE) SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR - Murder on the Dancefloor
3. (2) S CLUB 7 - Have You Ever
4. (7) KATE WINSLET - What If
5. (NE) STEPS - Words Are Not Enough / I Know Him So Well
6. (3) PPK - ResuRection
7. (NE) STEREOPHONICS - Handbags & Gladrags
8. (5) BLUE - If You Come Back
9. (4) HEAR'SAY - Everybody
10. (8) RIVA FEAT. DANNII MINOGUE - Who Do You Love Now? (Stringer)

This post has been edited by ThePensmith: Dec 14 2018, 04:42 PM