It's quarter 4 of 2008. X Factor was ruling the screens. Strictly Come Dancing was finding it's feet.

 

Musically, we have a battle for the ages. The pop princesses were FIGHTING.

 

Alesha Dixon - The Boy Does Nothing

 

Alesha was coming hot off of her Strictly Come Dancing win. With this week being her "impact week", the odds were stacked against her. How would she do with her new popularity after a pretty low-key solo career a couple of years beforehand? ('Lipstick' BANGS btw!) She ended up 4th in this race - ahead of Xtinct - charting at number 8 (peaking at #5 the following week!) but actually ended up being top 3 best selling out of these 5!

 

 

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Beyoncé - If I Were A Boy

 

Beyoncé was coming off the back of her successful 'BDay' era. Unlike the other 4 singles released this week, she went for the mid-tempo approach, which likely benefitted her more! This ended up winning the chart battle and went on to be the biggest selling of the 5 as it debuted at #2, but later went on to peak at #1. Some considered it as a bit of an "upset" because I think most people had Britney down as the firm favourite.

 

 

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Britney Spears - Womanizer

 

The bookies fave of the weeks releases Britney's "proper comeback" was set to be the biggest release of the 5. Whilst it became a huge smash and gave Britney the hit she needed for her next album after the under performance of 'Blackout', it had to settle by being the 2nd most popular of the week as it entered the charts at #4 and peaked at #3 a month later!

 

 

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Christina Aguilera - Keeps Gettin' Better

 

I know that there wasn't TOO much hype around this one, but a lot had it as the 3rd favourite (behind Britney & Beyoncé) as she had taken clear tips from Lady Gaga (who was a bit unknown in the UK at the time, but was having a massive hit with 'Just Dance' in the US at this point!) and decided to use a similar sort of sound to launch her first official greatest hits collection. It tanked. It debuted in 5th place at #14 and faded away relatively quickly. Her greatest hits didn't do much at the time either, peaking at #10 and not really sticking around the way Greatest Hits from major popstars would and should do.

 

 

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Leona Lewis - Forgive Me

 

Coming off of the fastest selling debut album by a solo female of all time, there was one critique that many had of Leona. It's that she was playing ti "too safe" and released too many ballads/mid-tempos. So here was her chance to prove to everyone (the US included!) that she could indeed, serve us a BOP! 'Forgive Me' ended up in 3rd place as it entered at #5, but unfortunately, it's chart life was minimal and short as I believe it was catered a bit TOO much to the US market that I think even everyone in the US found it a bit patronising. However, it didn't matter too much as she performed on X Factor a couple of weeks later to debut her version of 'Run', which went on to be a MASSIVE hit for her in December.

 

For me I voted:

 

Britney

Britney

Alesha

Alesha

Beyoncé, Britney, Christina & Leona

 

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I remember this chart battle SO well lmao omg. I remember the state of Buzzjack at this time too Such an iconic time!

 

I liked all of them bar Alesha, whose song I found/still find incredibly annoying (thankfully she released the FAR superior 'Breathe Slow' as the follow up!). 'If I Were A Boy' is low-key one of my favourite Bey songs! FAR superior to 'Single Ladies' to me! Britney's is an undeniable classic. It's held up incredibly well and I think it's the most well-remembered of the 5 that was released? Xtinct was unfortunate. I really like KGB but to launch her greatest hits, it would have been nice to have had something more quintessential Christina released instead of a song which was trying to jump onto the latest trend. As for 'Forgive Me', it's a cute song! I like it. It's not essential Leona for me, but it was a nice change of pace for her and nice for her to show a side like that. Thankfully it didn't ruin her momentum though!

If you have a chart battle from 2000-2009 that we can relive, drop me a PM of an infamous chart battle and I'll try and make this a more regular thing!

I think this had been done before but the questions are different to that one so I don't see a reason to merge them!

 

Anyway I voted..

 

Beyoncé

Beyoncé

Leona

Leona

Alesha, Beyoncé and Britney

 

I dont hate the Leona or Christina songs though and was a fan of KGB but it hasn't aged too great now.

Leona

Beyoncé

Christina

Christina

Alesha, Britney, Beyoncé, Leona

'Womanizer' for the positive ones and 'If I Were A Boy' for the negative ones :kink:

 

sudden flashbacks to that massive OTT build-up that Britney got on the night of her X Factor 'Womanizer' performance :lol:

I do remember this chart week as I was regularly following the charts at the time, does bring back my peak chart geek memories x

 

I can't vote though as I didn't like any of them that much and they've mainly dated terribly

In 2008 year "Womanizer" was my huge favourite, now I prefer "Keeps Gettin' Better", but both deserved to be # 1 hits in GD.

Edited June 11, 20232 yr by Last Dreamer

I like all of them, and always did, but of these, Britney was and is my favourite, Christina was and is my least favourite (judging on the songs!)

Not that keen on any of them hehe!

 

Britney best and Beyoncé worst. Would have left the last question blank but it wouldn’t let me. :ph34r:

Edited June 11, 20232 yr by JulianT

Sorry I was meant to put "None" as an option but completely forgot :drama:

 

It'll be an option in future ones!

Alesha Dixon

Alesha Dixon

Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera

All of them.

 

Britney was levels clear of everyone that week and still is today.

Britney

Britney

Christina

Christina

All five

 

I love Christina more than all of these artists but Keeps Gettin' Better, while quite good, was easily the weakest here. I bought Womanizer and Forgive Me at the time but liked the Alesha and Beyoncé songs too.

Britney

Britney

Christina

Christina

All five

Exactly the same votes as me!

 

It's strange considering that Womanizer came within a year of Blackout, yet it still felt like a major comeback moment for Britney. I really wanted it to get to #1 but it wasn't meant to be.

Ooh this is a fun idea x I think I remember reading discussion about this at the time so I guess I must have been lurking for a few months before I actually made an account here.

 

Think my fave at the time was actually Alesha lol but Britney is comfortably my fave of them now (although I still have a soft spot for the Alesha song as a bit of naff fun, and I like the Leona song too). Beyoncé was and is the worst. The Xtina song is just kind of mid and forgettable but not her worst.

When said Beyoncé worst song was my eoy #1 of 2008 🤭 7 weeks on top at that lmao. Looking back I probably wouldn't have had it more than say 4 weeks.

Britney (although I wasn't 'around' to witness this big chart battle as such, being in Aus at the time)

Britney

Beyonce (I'd guess as I recall it got annoying from the sheer overplay it had at the time)

Christina (still not that keen on the Bey song but it is better than this and Leona)

Britney