191. "If you're not the one" Daniel Bedingfield (1 week)

 

Reached #1: 24 February 2003

UK Chart Peak: #1

 

Daniel Bedingfield's ballad version was floating around the chart since the beginning of the year and finally made it to #1. It was also #1 in the UK and Denmark.

 

In 2008, a dance track by Sharam (featuring re-recorded vocals by Bedingfield himself), based around this song titled "The One" hit #33 in my chart.

 

 

192. "Not gonna get us" tATu (2 weeks)

 

Reached #1: 3 March 2003

UK Chart Peak: #6

 

Whereas "All The Things She Said" was #2 in my chart, held off by both Las Ketchup and U2, this was the song that turned tATu into the first Eastern European act to top my chart. "Not gonna get us" is the English version of their hit "Nas ne dogonyat", which was the first song I've ever heard of them. In Portugal, it was included in the soundtrack of the first season of teen soap-opera "Strawberries With Sugar".

 

tATu would have three more top 40 hits in my chart, including their 2003 Eurovision entry "Ne ver, ne boysa".

 

Edited October 7, 201410 yr by N-S

193. "Surrender" Laura Pausini (1 week)

 

Reached #1: 17 March 2003

 

The queen of the early days of my chart, Laura Pausini grabbed a surprise #1 with her first English-language single.

 

The seven-year gap between her last #1 and this one was a record at the time.

 

194. "I'm with you" Avril Lavigne (1 week)

 

Reached #1: 24 March 2003

UK Chart Peak: #7

Lavigne chalked her second #1 in my chart with this track that has gone down as one of her most memorable.

 

The track was sampled in Rihanna's "Cheers (Drink to that)" which hit #15 in my chart in 2011.

 

195. "Somewhere I belong" Linkin Park (1 week)

 

Reached #1: 31 March 2003

UK Chart Peak: #10

 

"Somewhere I belong" was Linkin Park's first #1 in my chart and also topped the charts in New Zealand and Poland.

 

Their 2001 single "Crawling" is the most successful song ever in my chart not to reach the top 10. It only peaked at #11 but stayed 20 weeks in my top 40.

 

196. "Sound of the underground" Girls Aloud (3 weeks)

 

Reached #1: 7 April 2003

UK Chart Peak: #1

 

The first single by Girls Aloud's fresh out of being formed in Popstars: The Rivals, "Sound of the underground" topped my chart as well as UK and the Irish chart.

 

Interestingly, all four Girls Aloud releases in 2003 peaked in every position of the top 4 in my chart, as "No Good Advice" hit #2, "Jump (For my love)" #4 and "Life Got Cold" at #3.

 

Edited October 7, 201410 yr by N-S

197. "Acreditar" Operação Triunfo (2 weeks)

 

Reached #1: 28 April 2003

 

After the success of the Spanish "Operação Triunfo", the Portuguese debuted in January 2003 and the group anthem sang by all 16 contestants hit #1 in my chart.

 

198. "Someone who cannot love" David Fonseca (3 weeks)

 

Reached #1: 12 May 2003

 

 

After the split of Silence 4, David Fonseca went on to pursue an equally successful solo career.

 

By hitting #1 with his debut solo single, he became the first non-Spice Girl to have #1s in my chart with both solo and band releases.

 

 

199. "Dime" Beth (2 weeks)

 

Reached #1: 2 June 2003

 

Beth Rodergas placed second in the second season of the Spanish "Operación Triunfo" and she was the one picked to sing the Spanish entry at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest.

 

The Spanish entry was my favourite that year and thus "Dime" hit #1 in my chart and remains the only Eurovision song to top my chart in the year it competed.

 

Edited October 7, 201410 yr by N-S

200. "Bring me to life" Evanescence feat. Paul McCoy (1 week)

 

Reached #1: 16 June 2003

UK Chart Peak: #1

 

Featuring guest vocals by Paul McCoy of the band 12 Stones, "Bring me to life" was Evanescence's debut hit and is considered a nu-metal classic. It topped the charts in the UK, Italy and Australia and won a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance.

 

The song took six weeks to hit #1 in my chart, entering at #5 and then moving up and down every position in the top 5 until it hit the top.

 

 

201. "Velha infância" Tribalistas (2 weeks)

 

Reached #1: 23 June 2003

 

Tribalistas was an all-star project that gathered three big names in Brazilian music: Arnaldo Antunes, Carlinhos Brown and Marisa Monte.

 

The album was double platinum in Portugal and spawned three top 10 hits in my chart, the biggest being the haunting "Velha infância" ("old childhood"), that was also included in the Brazilian soap-opera "Women in love".

 

Edited October 8, 201410 yr by N-S

202. "Crazy in love" Beyoncé feat. Jay-Z (2 non-consecutive weeks)

 

Reached #1: 7 July 2003, 21 July 2003

UK Chart peak: #1

 

Another song that anyone not living under a rock will recognize from the get go. "Crazy in love" was Beyonce's first proper solo single and was #1 in the UK, the USA and Ireland. It was also the first #1 in my chart for future hubby Jay-Z.

 

A re-recorded version was featured in the trailer of the forthcoming "50 Shade of Grey" movie.

 

 

203. "Played-a-live (The bongo song)" Safri Duo (1 week)

 

Reached #1: 14 July 2003

UK Chart peak: #6

 

The instrumental track "Played-a-live" was one of 2001's most successful dance tracks, hitting #1 in Switzerland and in Safri Duo's native Denmark and top 10 in plenty of other countries. But for reasons I cannot remember, it only peaked at #14 in my chart back then.

 

However two years later, the track had a revival in Portugal and was very present in my summer 2003 from being played on the beach I went to being used in the advertising campaigns for Olá (Wall's) ice-cream, which prompted the release of new edition of their "Episode II" album with new remixes. All this allowed me to make amends for the track's earlier low peak. In total Safri Duo had five top 40 hits in my chart.

 

Edited October 8, 201410 yr by N-S

204. "Sin miedo a nada" Alex Ubago (1 week)

 

Reached #1: 28 July 2003

 

Spanish singer Alex Ubago shoot to fame in 2002, as his debut album sold a whopping 900000 copies in his country alone.

 

"Sin Miedo a Nada" was the album's most popular track. In the album version, it was recorded in duet with Amaya Montero but it was the solo version that was used for the music video and CD-single release. The song had peaked at #8 in late 2002 in my chart but after I bought the album, it re-entered at #1.

 

205. "Bem bom (2003 remix)" Doce (1 week)

 

Reached #1: 4 August 2003

 

Portugal's first ever girlband, Doce had showed the nation some girl power in the 80's in a career that spawned seven years and produced several hits that became national evergreens and whose highlight was their participation in 1982 Eurovision Song Contest.

 

In 2003, a new greatest hits album featuring new remixes led a to mini-Doce revival in Portugal with the four ladies coming out of semi-obscurity to do TV interviews where they reminisced about the band's heyday. The track chosen to promote the record was a new remix of their 1982 Eurovision entry. This is was thus the second Eurovision song to top my chart in 2003.

 

 

 

 

 

206. "No letting go" Wayne Wonder (3 weeks)

 

Reached #1: 11 August 2003

UK Chart peak: #3

 

Wayne Wonder became the first Jamaican artist to hit #1 in my chart as "No letting go" topped the chart for three weeks.

 

However subsequent singles failed to enter my chart, turning Wonder in one of its biggest one-hit wonders.

 

Edited October 8, 201410 yr by N-S

207. "Numb" Linkin Park (3 weeks)

 

Reached #1: 8 September 2003

UK Chart peak: #14

 

"Numb" became Linkin Park's second #1 in my chart (and the longest-running) and it also was a chart-topper in Greece, and has went down as one of the band biggest hits.

 

I wasn't a huge fan of the 2004 mashed-up remixed version "Numb/Encore", although it became more successful than the original in some countries, so it only peaked at #13.

 

208. "Where is the love?" Black Eyed Peas (2 weeks)

 

Reached #1: 29 September 2003

UK Chart peak: #1

 

Not only was this the first #1 for the Black Eyed Peas in my chart (none of their previous songs had entered it before), this was the first #1 related to Justin Timberlake, who famously supplied uncredited guest vocals.

 

"Where is the love?" was the best selling single in the UK in 2003 and was also #1 in Australia, Austria, Flemish Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland.

 

209. "In the shadows" The Rasmus (4 weeks)

 

Reached #1: 13 October 2003

UK Chart peak: #3

 

Finnish rockband The Rasmus had their breakthough hit with "In The Shadows" that was #1 in their native country but also in Germany and New Zealand. The song holds the record for the most performance royalties received abroad for a Finnish composition.

 

This was the longest-running #1 of my chart in 2003, eventually ending up as the year-end #1, the only time my year-end chart was topped by a Q4 song.

 

210. "O amor a Portugal" Ennio Morricone & Dulce Pontes (3 weeks)

 

Reached #1: 10 November 2003

 

Legendary maestro/composer Ennio Morricone broke the record as the oldest person to top my chart at age 75, by teaming up with Portuguese singer Dulce Pontes (of Eurovision 1991 fame) for the album "Focus", where Pontes performed some rewoked tunes by Morricone. That is the case of this track, based around Morricone's soundtrack from "Once Upon a Time in the West".

 

Dulce Pontes premiered this song in the inaugural football match of the new Alvalade Stadium between Sporting Lisbon and Manchester United, in which an eighteen-year old Cristiano Ronaldo shined so brightly that he was signed to the Red Devils almost imediately.