007 Chart Commentary - 11th Dec 2011

Olly Murs - Dance With Me Tonight climbs to #1

In a week where the #1 was less of a foregone conclusion than last week and indeed next week, we actually have a track climbing to #1. So knocking off this year's X Factor finalists is former X Factor runner up and current XTra Factor presenter Olly Murs. Olly joins the select list of atrists who have scored 2 #1 singles this year, following on nicely from Heart Skips A Beat and in case you didn't know he had last week's #1 album! This is Olly's 3rd chart topper and likely to be for a solitary week thanks to this year's X Factor winners Little Mix.

Lloyd feat Andre 3000 & Lil Wayne - Dedication To My Ex (Miss That) enters at #3

This week saw the release of 2 highly anticipated urban releases, one of which is the highest new entry at #3. US R&B singer Lloyd can say he is always polite, considering his real name is Lloyd Polite Jnr. Dedication To My Ex is a song about a girl who had an affair while Lloyd was on vacation, and is his first UK top 40 single out of several past releases including You, Get It Down Shawty and Lay It Down. This track also features Andre 3000, who is best known as 50% of Outkast and US rapper Lil Wayne, who is best known in the UK for his track Lollipop and numerous collaborations.

T-Pain feat Wiz Khalifa & Lily Allen - 5 O'Clock enters at #6

US singer, songwriter, rapper and producer Faheem Rasheed Najm gets his biggest UK hit this week as his time check enters at #6 ... announcing it's 5 o'clock in the morning! Like Lloyd, T-Pain has not had any massively successful singles in the UK until now. He has had top 40 hits I'm Sprung, Church and I'm Sprung though. 5'Oclock features a sample from Lilly Allen's hit Who'd Have Known, which made #39 in 2009.

Several Christmas classics climb or re-enter this week

There are many festive favourites in this week's chart, as with each year around this time. However there are rather more higher up the chart as all (except 1) have been reduced to 59p on iTunes, leading to 7 Christmas songs being present in the top 40 and several more lower down. The highest of those is All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey at #12, followed by FAirytale Of New York which oddly enough was not reduced but still makes it to #17 this year. We also see Justin Bieber's Mistletoe at #23, Wham at #26, Wizzard at #28, Slade at #33 and Band Aid at #34.

Sway feat Kano - Still Speeding enters at #19

Derek Andrew Safo is another rapper to score his first major UK hit single this week going under the name of Sway, as Still Speeding enters at #19. Sway has had several previous releases which flopped, including Up Your Speed, Little Derek and Mercedes Benz. Still Speeding features a sample from Lloleta Holloway's Love Sensation, as very successfully used for Black Box Ride On Time.

Amy Winehouse - Our Day will Come enters at #29

The late Amy Winehouse this week adds to her tally of top 40 hits as her cover of Our Day Will Come enters at #29. The song was originally a hit for Ruby & The Romantics in 1962, and was originally intended for her debut album Frank but left off in the end. Instead the track has surfaced as a cut from her Lioness : Hidden Treasures album.

Amy Winehouse tops the album charts this week

Talking of the late Amy Winehouse, she now scores a 3rd hit album and 2nd chart topper in the form of a compilation of lost tracks and remakes entitled Lioness : Hidden Treasures. Just behind her is Michael Buble's Christmas album at #2 and Rebecca ferguson's debut Heaven at #3. Olly Murs slips to #4 and Rihanna to #5. There are other new entries from the Black Keys and the Beegees further down, but not much else in the way of movement to report.

Personal opinion

Well thank goodness those X Factor Finalists only lasted for a week on top and none better than the brilliant Olly Murs to replace them. I am also glad that neither of the boring hip hop tracks from Lloyd or T Pain made it in the end. However I am glad to see all these festive classics make a significant impact this year, shame that the brilliant Amy Winehouse track is not higher but her album has smashed into #1 so that's good.