Leona stays on top form while garage anthem takes the runners up spot

 

Leona Lewis has achieved the longest run at No.1 ever for a reality TV related song as Bleeding Love notches up its fifth week in control of the chart. Gareth Gates’ Unchained Melody, Sound Of The Underground by Girls Aloud, Shayne Ward’s That’s My Goal and Leona’s own debut single A Moment Like This all topped the chart for 4 weeks each. Rising an impressive twelve places to No.2 is Heartbroken by dance/garage act T2 featuring the vocals of Jodie Aysha. The song seems to have come out of nowhere to be huge in the clubs and now the charts and is the first major singles success of 2007 for Blackburn based independent record label All Around The World (AATW) though they have had top 10 albums from Cascada and Ultrabeat this year. T2’s success is all the more impressive being a garage anthem as the genre was at its peak in the early part of this decade with acts such as DJ Pied Piper, So Solid Crew and Oxide & Neutrino scoring No.1 hits. The genre appeared to have largely moved back underground with only an odd chart hit every couple of years now.

 

Moving down a place to No.3 this week after 4 weeks at No.2 is British boyband Take That. Rule The World has sold around quarter of a million copies in only five weeks so far. Timbaland and One Republic spend a 6th week in the UK top 10 with Apologize which slides just a place to No.4 this week. Rounding off the top 5 is Valerie by Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse. It’s another long runner in the top 5 and has so far moved 7-3-2-5-5-4-5-5 on its 8 week residency in the UK top 10. The emergence of downloads as the most popular format seems to have greatly slowed down a UK chart which had over 40 No.1 singles in 2000. Four singles from this week’s top 5 have been in the top 10 for 5 weeks or more as a result of this effect.

 

Shayne Ward scores his 4th top 10 hit single of his career as the ballad Breathless makes its chart debut at No.6 this week. It’s the follow up No U Hang Up/If That’s Ok With You which reached No.2 a couple of months ago and is down nine places to No.26 this week. His second album Breathless is out on Monday. Alicia Keys moves down a place with her current single No One while Kylie Minogue slides four places with 2 Hearts. It is the lead single from her tenth studio album X which is due out on Monday and should easily beat the No.6 peak of its predecessor, 2003’s Body Language, which wasn’t well received on the whole by critics or music buyers.

 

Girls Aloud continue their impressive run of top 10 hits as Call The Shots, the second single from their latest album Tangled Up, debuts at No.9 on the strength of downloads alone. The 17th successive top 10 hit from the British girl group, it is probably Leona’s only challenger for next week’s No.1 spot. Rounding off the top 10 is another British girl group, Sugababes, who spend a 9th week in the top 10 with the former No.1 About You Now which is a non-mover at No.10 this week. In an ever increasing British dominated top 10, homegrown talent takes up 7 spots of this weeks top 10, while there is one Australian act and two American acts joining them.

 

Girls Aloud’s first week downloads surge has spelled disaster for another British girl group, Spice Girls. The recently reformed band, and by far the biggest act of the 1990’s, released Headlines (Friendship Never Ends) physically last week and it climbs 12 places to No.11, which is more than likely to be its chart peak. It’s a sad end to a run of hits that saw them score 9 No.1 singles and a No.2 single from their first 10 releases. Headlines is also one of the worst performing Children In Need songs ever. Last year’s official song, Downtown, by band member Emma Bunton peaked at No.3 while S Club 7 had the most success scoring two Children In Need related No.1’s in 2000 and 2001 respectively. This chart flop for the Spice Girls makes it look unlikely that they will ever release another single or record any more new music. Though perhaps a large reason for their downfall is because of the continuing success of the two acts immediately above them this week, Girls Aloud and Sugababes.

 

5 other songs join or rejoin the UK top 40 this week. Arguably one of Elvis Presley’s most famous hits, Always On My Mind, taken to No.1 in 1987 by Pet Shop Boys, re-enters the chart at No.17 this week, the lowest so far of his latest re-release series. British rapper Dizzee Rascal’s infectious new single Flex climbs from No.57 last week to enter the top 40 this week at No.23. Just behind him at No.24 and up from No.53 is a song that could well be around for a while. Crank That by Soulja Boy has already been a huge No.1 hit in the US and the crunk anthem is likely to go into the top 5 here in the coming weeks, particularly after its impending physical release. British rock act Gallows team up with rapper Lethal Bizzle to score a top 40 hit this week with Staring At The Rude Bois. Lead singer Frank Carter recently appeared at the top of NME’s Cool List 2007. And finally, Stronger, the former No.1 single from Kanye West re-enters the top 40 at No.38 this week, up from last week’s No.44. The only other climber in the top 40 is The Pretender by Foo Fighters which is by far their longest running chart hit ever and is back up four places to No.36 this week.

 

The album chart has had another eventful week though not at the No.1 spot as Leona Lewis does the double again with her debut album Spirit which is easily outselling its competitors still. On its third week on the chart Back Home by Westlife moves back up a place to No.2 while classical artist Katherine Jenkins scores the week’s highest new entry with Rejoice in at No.3. Girls Aloud’s 2006 Greatest Hits album reached No.1 but only one of their other studio album’s has made the top 5, their debut album Sound Of The Underground which peaked at No.2. New album Tangled Up makes its chart debut at No.4 while rather impressively, a mix album of their’s is new at No.56 attracting Woolworths buyers where the album was less than £2 if bought with Tangled Up. Led Zeppelin fall one place to No.5 with Mothership. The Eagles first studio album in decades is a non-mover at No.6 while Spice Girls plummet from No.2 to No.7 with Greatest Hits. Andrea Bocelli doesn’t budge from No.8 while Take That’s Beautiful World looks set to be a big Christmas seller for the second successive year as it stays at No.9 this week. Rounding off the top 10 is Celine Dion who is down 5 places with Taking Chances.

 

With Bleeding Love still so far ahead of its competition it looks as if Leona might well score a 6th week in control next week. However the physical release of Call The Shots by Girls Aloud might spoil the party. If Girls Aloud should climb to No.1 next week, it will be their fourth No.1 and their first unrelated to a TV show or charity event. Other singles that are physically released next week and could make a splash in the top 40 come from Editors, Elvis Presley, Pendulum and Sean Kingston, none of which are likely to trouble the top 10.

 

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Brilliant read yet again, Rich. Thanks! :D

Cheers Jester, and you're welcome!

Well-written and full of great information :D Good job!

Cheers!

Another interesting article.

Thanks

Oh and nice to see a small Gareth mention too .

This is an excellent review !!!

Could Connie Talbot be a challenge for Leona this week in the album charts ?

She's getting a fair bit of exposure at the moment (GMTV,Central News,Walsall lights switch on,etc)

Somehow, I think a lot of copies will be bought for Christmas .

There have been millions of hits on You Tube from all over the world.

Another interesting article.

Thanks

Oh and nice to see a small Gareth mention too .

 

:lol: I didn't even think of that

This is an excellent review !!!

Could Connie Talbot be a challenge for Leona this week in the album charts ?

She's getting a fair bit of exposure at the moment (GMTV,Central News,Walsall lights switch on,etc)

Somehow, I think a lot of copies will be bought for Christmas .

There have been millions of hits on You Tube from all over the world.

 

Cheers Paul! She could go top 20 but I don't think she'll have enough to beat Kylie and Leona

This is an excellent review !!!

Could Connie Talbot be a challenge for Leona this week in the album charts ?

She's getting a fair bit of exposure at the moment (GMTV,Central News,Walsall lights switch on,etc)

Somehow, I think a lot of copies will be bought for Christmas .

There have been millions of hits on You Tube from all over the world.

I think shes going to do a lot better than people expect, I agree, as its xmas, I think this will do well.

.