Britain’s biggest TV show, X Factor, has once again proved its chart dominance by providing another UK No.1 single. After chart topping hits from Steve Brookstein, Shayne Ward, Chico, Leona Lewis (twice) and Leon Jackson, the song Hero, by this year’s twelve finalists, is the seventh UK No.1 single related to the show to date. The eventual winner is certain to make it eight next month when they yet again will inevitably score the Christmas No.1 single. Girls Aloud fall to No.2 with The Promise and Pink’s So What slides another spot to No.3.

 

Hero, a cover of the classic nineties hit by Mariah Carey, has been given a 2008 treatment by the X Factor finalists in aid of the Help For Heroes charity, which gives aid to British service men and women wounded in action. Mariah’s original, from 1993, peaked at a lowly No.7 in the UK, so this X Factor cover instantly blows the success of the original out of the water. The song features vocals from all twelve finalists, including the already eliminated acts, Bad Lashes, Girlband, Scott and Austin. The combination of a charity single and the biggest television show in Britain right now has resulted in a huge selling No.1 single, by far the biggest one week tally of 2008, eclipsing the new benchmark that Girls Aloud set last week. In the last seven days, the song sold 313,244 copies and with the song almost guaranteed continued promotion on X Factor, particularly in the lead up to remembrance Sunday and Mariah’s guest appearance on next weekend’s show, it should hold onto the top spot for another few weeks and should pass Duffy’s Mercy in a few weeks time to become 2008’s biggest selling single.

 

With debuts at No.1 becoming more commonplace again now that downloads have overtaken CD singles as the format of choice, Hero is the second chart topper in a row to debut at No.1, and third out of the last four. Only Pink’s So What did not debut at the top, although arguably would have done if the download had been released on a Monday. The last single to debut at the top was of course just last week and The Promise by Girls Aloud. The fourth No.1 single of their career in the UK, any other week it would have easily kept hold off the top spot for a second week, but due to the crushing nature of the X Factor single, it is forced down to No.2 to join singles from The Ting Tings, Ne-Yo, Coldplay and Kid Rock to be 2008’s only one week chart toppers. In contrast, thirty five of the chart toppers in 2000 had only a sole week at the top, when the chart was moving at its fastest speed at the top. The Promise is however still selling incredibly well and has already outsold more than half of Girls Aloud’s previous singles totals in just two weeks, looking well on its way to become their second biggest selling hit, behind their 2002 debut Sound Of The Underground, their only single to date to have passed the half a million sales mark. Their new album, Out Of Control, is out on Monday and is expected to give Razorlight a tough challenge in next week’s album chart.

 

Pink’s former chart topper, So What, spends a fifth week inside the top five, falling another place to No.3 this week, and Infinity 2008 by Guru Josh Project falls a place to No.4, a week ahead of the release of the physical which should give it a sales boost next week, even if the single falls further down the chart. Kings Of Leon’s Sex On Fire is the fourth former No.1 single in the top five, that song falling another spot to No.5 this week after eight weeks inside the top five now. Katy Perry’s second single Hot ‘N’ Cold climbs a place to a new peak of No.6 despite continuing controversy surrounding the singer due to the internet pictures of her holding a flick knife in a promotional shot that were picked up on by The Sun recently. Up by The Saturdays is not living up to its name and is down a place to No.7 this week, although this is its third week in the top ten, If This Is Love, the group’s first single, had fallen as far as No.19 in its third chart week.

 

Kanye West’s Love Lockdown stays at No.8 and Razorlight’s Wire To Wire surprisingly falls four places to No.9 this week despite receiving its physical release, proving that even indie fans refuse to buy CD singles anymore. Indeed, it seems that only singles at the bottom of the chart receive notable boosts from physical releases these days, sales in the top ten now too high for them to make a notable difference. Jack White & Alicia Keys finally went top twenty last week with the new Bond theme Another Way To Die, and with the film finally being released in cinemas in the past few days, the song receives an expected boost, going up eight places to No.10 this week, though still three places lower than the peak scaled by Chris Cornell’s You Know My Name, the theme to the 2006 Bond film Casino Royale. The song could well climb higher again next week though. The top ten this week therefore features four British acts and one British/Swedish act, and five American acts.

 

Outside the top ten there are various other climbers and newcomers this week. After seven weeks around, Jennifer Hudson’s Spotlight is on the up again, climbing one place back to No.12 having moved 15-11-13-11-12-13 previously. The continuing success of the song, which has topped the UK airplay charts already, is hardly any consolation for the singer who has been in the news prominently during the week when her mother, brother and nephew were killed in a mass shooting/kidnap ordeal. A few other old hits climb back up the chart this week in a slow chart. Rihanna’s former No.3 hit Disturbia is back up a place at No.14, Snow Patrol’s Take Back The City moves one place north at No.15, a former No.6 hit, and Katy Perry’s I Kissed A Girl is back up one to No.16, the second consecutive week that the singer has two simultaneous top twenty hits. Also moving back up the chart this week are Pussycat Dolls’ When I Grow Up (20-18), Madcon’s Beggin’ (28-27) and Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown’s No Air (36-34).

 

Dangerous by Kardinal Offishall and Akon is climbing rather more quickly, the former US top five hit jumping eleven places to No.21 this week. Another Akon track, his new single Right Now, makes its top forty debut at No.23 this week. Adding up all of his own singles or those that he has featured on since his chart debut with Locked Up, the Senegalese rapper has had an astonishing twenty top seventy five hits in less than five years, making him one of the most prolific chart stars of the decade. London soul singer Adele scores her fourth top forty single of 2008 this week with Make You Feel My Love, the latest single from her former No.1 album, 19. It goes into the top forty at No.26 this week, with the physical out on Monday. The single, a cover of a Bob Dylan song, follows the No.2 hit Chasing Pavements and the top twenty follow up’s Cold Shoulder and Hometown Glory. Kings Of Leon’s next single, Use Somebody, re-enters at No.30, having initially peaked at No.29 when the album was released a few weeks ago.

 

Michael Jackson’s classic hit Thriller is back into the UK top forty at No.35 this week, a Halloween themed download re-entry. Amazingly, the song only peaked at No.10 back in 1983, although the fact that it was the fifth single from the now world’s biggest selling album of all time could have something to do with this low peak. The song also re-entered at No.57 last Halloween. I Hate This Part, the second single to be taken from the new Pussycat Dolls album Doll Domination debuts at No.36 this week on download sales and is likely to follow its predecessor, When I Grow Up, into the top ten in the coming weeks. US Disney star Miley Cyrus, the star of the popular Hannah Montana series, goes into the top forty at No.37 this week with 7 Things, her second UK top forty hit after See You Again, which recently reached No.11 here. Finally, Chris Brown and Keri Hilson’s duet Superhuman moves up the chart slightly this week. The track, which debuted at No.40 last week, moves up two places to No.38 this week.

 

In another packed album chart, there are five newcomers this week. Pink follows her huge No.1 single So What with her first UK No.1 album, Funhouse. She has had two million sellers in the UK already though, Missundaztood and I’m Not Dead. Snow Patrol are right behind Pink with their new album A Hundred Million Suns, a surprising turn of events considering their last two albums were multi million sellers. It seems that album success in the UK is no longer based on your previous album, but on the strength of the lead single of your current album. Even Dido’s Safe Trip Home, the forthcoming follow up to two of the decade’s biggest sellers, No Angel and Life For Rent, is by no means a certainty to top the album chart considering the lack of success of the album’s first single Don’t Believe In Love which was released this week physically and digitally and failed to make the top forty at all. Similarly, Anastacia’s Heavy Rotation, the follow up to her huge eponymous 2004 No.1 album, has gone in at a lowly No.17 this week after the complete flop of the album’s first single, I Can Feel You. Back to the top ten, AC/DC’s Black Ice is down two places to No.3 this week and Kings Of Leon’s Only By The Night dips a place to No.4.

 

Celine Dion returns to the top five with My Love: The Essential Collection which goes straight in at No.5 and Irish crooner Daniel O’Donnell returns to the top ten at No.6 with Country Boy. It is incredibly the singer’s eleventh UK top ten album in the last ten years. Katherine Jenkins is down two places at No.7 with Sacred Arias and Bloc Party’s new album Intimacy, formerly released online, goes in at No.8 after a physical release. German dance act Sash! climb a place to No.9 on their second week with The Best Of, an incredible result considering that albums from Kaiser Chiefs, Leon Jackson, Oasis, Keane, Sugababes and Boyzone, all of which were above Sash! last week, have all been forced below the dance act this week. Finally, Dig Out Your Soul by Oasis drops three places to No.10 on its fourth week around.

 

Next week’s chart should see a second week at the top for the year’s fastest seller, Hero by the X Factor Finalists. Girls Aloud are still selling incredibly well and will undoubtedly remain at the top end of the chart, along with Pink, Guru Josh Project, whose single receives its physical release on Monday, and Katy Perry, but a number of high profile female artists release new singles next week and at least some of them are guaranteed top ten entries next week. Christina Aguilera releases her greatest hits album, A Decade Of Hits, on November 10th and the token single Keeps Gettin’ Better is released digitally this week and could well be a contender for the top ten. Her old rival Britney Spears is also back though with new single Womanizer, which is almost certainly going to beat Christina’s offering, and if not for the X Factor single, would surely have been a guaranteed No.1. As it stands, the single might have to settle for No.2 next week.

 

Beyoncé is back with new single If I Were A Boy, which has shot to No.3 in the US this week, and it should have similar success here. Leona Lewis has been one of the biggest stars of the past couple of years, and her first uptempo release, Forgive Me, from the forthcoming re-release of her Spirit album, should go top five next week. The physical and download versions are both out on Monday. And last year’s Strictly Come Dancing victor, and former Mis-Teeq MC Alesha Dixon is back with her first single since 2006, the Xenomania produced The Boy Does Nothing, which should be her first solo top ten hit in seven days time.

 

Other singles physically released on Monday that could make a notable chart impact in seven days time include songs from Adele, Kanye West, Kardinal Offishall & Akon, Miley Cyrus, Paul Weller and Scouting For Girls. Pink is almost certain to lose the No.1 album after one week as Girls Aloud and Razorlight look set to battle it out for the top honours. With lead singles seemingly setting the barometer for album success these days, Girls Aloud seem to be the favourites to top the chart following their chart topping success with The Promise. In their six year career, the band have never scored a No.1 studio album, although their 2006 hits album, The Sound Of Girls Aloud topped the chart. Razorlight’s Slipway Fires might have to settle for No.2 although there is still a chance that it could top the chart. Other albums that should make a notable impact include new releases from Enrique Iglesias, Cliff Richard, Andrea Bocelli, Status Quo and Paul Weller.

 

Thanks to Polyhex, EveryHit, ManicKangaroo and Play.com for various information and resources

Great Read Both charts are going to get very jam packed :o

Edited November 2, 200816 yr by KJ Rob

Great read again! :D

 

so this X Factor cover instantly blows the success of the original out of the water

 

Whoa for a second there i missed the "the success of" part of that sentence. For a split second i was horrified! :lol:

Great Read Both charts are going to get very jam packed :o

 

thanks Rob :D indeed they are, good sales for a few weeks though!

Great read again! :D

Whoa for a second there i missed the "the success of" part of that sentence. For a split second i was horrified! :lol:

 

thanks Harve :D of course it's not better than Mariah's original :heehee:

Great write up as usual Richard.

Experimenting with a blog version ^_^

Edited November 24, 200816 yr by Herman Munster

I don't think Girls aloud are guarenteed #1 this week in the albums... Pink will have strong second week sales. Girls aloud are not exactly a big Album sellers... Razorlight could also go to #1 but for the fact that so many bands (keane,Kaiser chiefs,) have underperformed i think Razorlight will too.

I think Pink might, just might hang on for a second week, as Jez said, Girls Aloud are not big album sellers but I think Cliff Richard is another sure bet, the album covers 50 years of his music career, seems to be the dark horse album this week.

 

And nice write up Rich

Great write up as usual Richard.

Experimenting with a blog version ^_^ X Factor provides fastest selling single of 2008

 

thanks :D it looks good in that blog!

I don't think Girls aloud are guarenteed #1 this week in the albums... Pink will have strong second week sales. Girls aloud are not exactly a big Album sellers... Razorlight could also go to #1 but for the fact that so many bands (keane,Kaiser chiefs,) have underperformed i think Razorlight will too.

 

maybe, but they are coming off the back of one of the biggest singles of the year, and the hype surrounding Cheryl on X Factor

 

last year Tangled Up was released off the back of a semi-successful No.5 hit, and Call The Shots which was a new release at the time

I think Pink might, just might hang on for a second week, as Jez said, Girls Aloud are not big album sellers but I think Cliff Richard is another sure bet, the album covers 50 years of his music career, seems to be the dark horse album this week.

 

And nice write up Rich

 

thanks Martin, I think the dark horse to watch out for is Enrique Iglesias!