Black Eyed Peas win a close race for the number one single. JLS narrowly beat Robbie Williams in the albums chart with both selling over 200,000 copies.

There was a real battle at the top of both charts this week with the lead changing hands as the week went on. The eventual winners in the singles chart are Black Eyed Peas who become the first act to have three number ones this year with Meet Me Half Way. The previous two each spent two non-consecutive weeks on top; in the unlikely event that they do the same with this song, that will be a unique achievement. That leaves Leona Lewis having to settle for a second number two hit with Happy. It’s actually not a bad song, largely because she has resisted the temptation to use several notes for what should be a single syllable.

JLS fall two places to number three although their previous number one, Beat Again re-enters the chart at number 33 following the release of their album.

N-Dubz have their first top ten hit in either chart with I Need You at number five. It’s no better then their previous rubbish, it’s just sold better. At number seven is Britney Spears with the economically-titled 3 which is the usual over-produced stuff. I have referred to Travis’ superior version of Hit Me Baby (On More Time) before. Since then Lily Allen has also demonstrated that Ms Spears doesn’t necessarily perform bad songs, she just performs them badly. I’m hoping Ms Allen’s version of Womaniser is included in her set in Bournemouth on Friday. Whether she does or not, there’s an acoustic version of the song on the special edition of It’s Not Me It’s You released tomorrow (Monday).

About A Girl is the first Sugababes single since their last line-up change. The song has been re-recorded to include Jade Ewen’s vocals and is a new entry at number eight. Sugababes thus become the third act to have a hit single with two completely different line-ups following Brotherhood of Man and Tight Fit. This does not include naturally transient line-ups such as football squads and (with next week in mind) X-Factor finalists. The song should not be confused with About A Boy which is a book by Nick Hornby, the film of which gave a young Nicholas Hoult his big break.

As is common these days, an album’s second single has entered the chart as soon as the album is released. This time it’s Robbie Williams who enters at number 17 with You Know Me which is due to be released next month. It is already ahead of lead single Bodies which has gone back up one place to number 22.

Pixie Lott has her third top 40 single with Cry Me Out at number 25. Her previous two singles reached number one but it is unlikely that this will do the same on its physical release at the end of the month. I rather liked both Mama Do and Boys & Girls so this song is a disappointment.

With Children In Need coming up on Friday, a song to raise money for the cause has entered at number 36. The band, Chartjackers, and the song, I’ve Got Nothing, have been brought together by youtube. Given that pedigree, it could have been a lot worse.

After nearly dropping out last week Florence + The Machine move back up 13 places to number 27 with You Got The Love which gets a physical release tomorrow. Sex On Fire was also close to leaving the top 40 last week and this week it has indeed gone out having now notched up 46 weeks in the chart, one week short of Englebert Humperdinck’s Release Me.

The battle at the top of the albums chart has been won by JLS with their eponymous debut album. Their lead has been reported at around 1500 copies which suggests that the cynical marketing tactic of releasing the album with five different covers may have been decisive.

Sadly that means that Robbie Williams just misses out with Reality Killed The Video Star which could prove to be his first studio album not to top the chart. With Christmas not far away, an eventual climb to the top cannot be ruled out. He was the first solo artist to top the charts with his first five studio albums and went on to have a further three chart-toppers (including a Greatest Hits album). So far, only the Live at Knebworth album has failed to top the chart, peaking at number two. The title is a reference to producer Trevor Horn who first made his name with The Buggles’ number one hit Video Killed The Radio Star. Williams’ previous album Rudebox was savaged by the critics and performed modestly. There was a good reason for this. It was a rotten album. This new album sees a return to form for one of Stoke City’s best known supporters who has renewed his songwriting partnership with Guy Chambers as well as working with other writers such as Blockhead Chas Jankel.

For their greatest hits set, Up To Now, Snow Patrol have delved back into the archives to include songs from before they became famous as well as something from Gary Lightbody’s side project The Reindeer Section. It also includes live tracks, B-sides and a cover of Beyoncé’s Crazy In Love. Their first two studio albums failed to chart but the next three all made the top three with Eyes Open making number one in 2006. They keep up their record of making the top three or getting nowhere by entering at number three this week.

While Snow Patrol are variously described as Scottish or Irish or even Scottish/Irish, Biffy Clyro are only ever labelled Scottish. Like Snow Patrol their fortunes have varied. Their first two albums just about made the lower reaches of the top 50 before Puzzle reached number two in 2007. Their fourth album, Only Revolutions, is another success, entering at number eight.

In last week’s commentary I should have said the Rod Stewart’s Some Guys Have All The Luck was a re-entry. This week he has a genuine new entry at number ten with Soulbook, a collection of covers of Motown classics. Like Sean Connery, Rod Stewart is so proud of his Scottish roots that he chooses not to live there. He looks his age unlike Jamie Cullum who looks about 14. His new offering, The Pursuit, is at number 16 this week his third top 20 album.

Two women at opposite ends of the age spectrum and with very different vocal styles have new entries this week. Whiny American teenager Miley Cyrus is at number 17 with Time Of Our Lives. The far more powerful vocals of Shirley Bassey (who was born just 18 months after Miley Cyrus’s paternal grandfather) feature in Performance, her first studio album for 20 years. Produced by David ARnold it features songs by contemporary writers such as Rufus Wainwright, Gary Barlow, Richard Hawley, David McAlmont, Manic Street Preachers and the Pet Shop Boys. That album is at number 20.

For a period in the 1970s it seemed that no chart was complete without at least one song by one or more members of the Osmond family. They were nearly all atrocious although The Osmonds did accidentally release one good song in Crazy Horses. A live version of that song appears on Donny and Marie Osmond’s first album together in over 30 years. Perhaps it took them that long to think of a suitable title before settling on Donny and Marie. If the rest of the album is made of the insipid slush they put out in the 70s (and it does include liver versions of Puppy Love and Paper Roses), it will be truly dire and thoroughly deserved to miss out on a top 40 place, albeit narrowly. For over 30 years the Osmonds were probably the most famous Mormons in the music industry until the Killers came along and assumed that mantle.

The only re-entry is at number 30 where Leona Lewis’s Spirit is back again ahead of the release of her second album tomorrow.