bobiloko

Don't get me wrong, I do think a song should stay for a long time at the top if it's really a massive hit all around Europe and nothing can overthrow it - like "Whenever, Wherever" by Shakira. But what I saw in EURO 200 was ridiculous - for the first 35 weeks of 2010, there were only THREE number ones - "Bad Romance", "Telephone" and "Alejandro"!?!? I think that ideally there should be somewhere between 12 and 18 number ones in a year. With one or two having long runs at the top (7+ weeks) and then about an equal number of medium runs (3-6 weeks) and short runs (1-2 weeks). After all, there are times when there is much competition for the top and no song can win for a long time! However, it's also not only about the number of weeks at number 1 but also about not knowing who'll be at the top each week. Look at the number ones in MTV European Top 20 in 2010: Black Eyed Peas - Meet Me Halfway 5 (7 total) Lady GaGa - Bad Romance 1 Ke$ha - TiK ToK 1 Lady GaGa - Bad Romance 1 (2) Ke$ha - TiK ToK 1 (2) Lady GaGa - Bad Romance 1 (3) Ke$ha - TiK ToK 3 (5) Stromae - Alors On Danse 1 Lady GaGa & Beyoncé Knowles - Telephone 1 Stromae - Alors On Danse 1 (2) Lady GaGa & Beyoncé Knowles - Telephone 2 (3) Stromae - Alors On Danse 2 (4) Lady GaGa & Beyoncé Knowles - Telephone 1 (4) Stromae - Alors On Danse 1 (5) Lady GaGa & Beyoncé Knowles - Telephone 1 (5) Stromae - Alors On Danse 1 (6) Lena - Satellite 1 K'naan - Wavin' Flag 3 Katy Perry - California Gurls 4 Shakira - Waka Waka 2 Lady GaGa - Alejandro 1 Shakira - Waka Waka 1 (3) Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP - We No Speak Americano 2 Eminem & Rihanna - Love The Way You Lie 1 Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP - We No Speak Americano 1 (3) Eminem & Rihanna - Love The Way You Lie 6 (7) Rihanna - Only Girl In The World 6 The number ones were not that many but some of the battles for the number 1 spot were great - between "Bad Romance" and "TiK ToK" and especially between "Alors On Danse" and "Telephone"... It was so interesting to see each week which of the two contenders was going to prevail!

Hmm... They are certainly identical... I sincerely hope that EURO 200 won't be the basis for MTV European Top 20 from now on... I looked at the editions of EURO 200 since the beginning of 2010 and there are a couple of things I'm not happy with: During most of the weeks, there are only one or two new entries to the Top 20 of EURO 200 (I count as new entries songs that have climbed from outside the Top 20). There are few editions with four new entries and just one edition with five new entries! I don't want to have just one or two new entries in European Top 20 almost every week! I also have another problem with that EURO 200. It's not actually a chart for Europe but only for the European Union. I don't think excluding the charts from Norway and Switzerland is a good idea. On the other hand, I really don't think some of the charts used for Eastern European countries are real... However, it must be said that there is something that makes EURO 200 better than the Eurochart - it looks like the UK, France and Germany singles charts don't have too big an influence on the chart. I didn't notice songs in the Top 10 that were only successful in one of these countries - like is often the case in the Eurochart... But then we come to the worst thing about EURO 200 - there are simply too few number ones! It's just too boring when there are only 6 or 7 number ones in a year! There shouldn't be such a slow exchange at the top in European Top 20...

I'm happy that "Hold My Hand" at number 3. Since 1991, every song of Michael Jackson that has been in MTV European Top 20 has reached the Top 4! "Only Girl In The World" spends a 9th consecutive week at number 1! This is Rihanna's longest stayer at the top. The previous record was held by "Love The Way You Lie" with a total of 7 weeks at number 1 (the last 6 of them - consecutive)... Oh, but "Only Girl In The World" actually replaced "Love The Way You Lie" at the top! So yes, Rihanna has now spent the last 15 weeks at number 1 in European Top 20!!! It's interesting to see a surprising re-entry - like "Waka Waka" this week. And I'm also glad Israel Kamakawiwo'ole made it to the chart - I didn't think he would because I thought "Over The Rainbow" didn't have a music video but it turns out that it does!

So more than 9 years after "You Rock My World" Michael Jackson appears in MTV European Top 20 again... What can I say about the chart during the year 2010? Well, apart from those awful three consecutive weeks with no new entries in December, it wasn't bad at all. Since April 11, 2009 European Top 20 is done in a different way than before. 2009 was a mix of the old and new way of chart-making and there were MANY songs that appeared in the chart then. I wondered what would happen in 2010 - the first whole year when the new chart method was used. As it turns out, there were quite fewer songs in the chart in 2010 than in 2009 - "only" 116, although this is actually a very respectable number for the 2000's. And I have to say that at times I felt there were too many new entries in 2009 (but mostly because some of them were only successful in the UK and not the whole of Europe)... On the other hand, in 2010 there were still a couple of weeks with many entries - there was a week with 6 new entries and a re-entry and another week with 6 new entries... Since April 11, 2009 MTV European Top 20 (or at least its Top 10) is mostly based on the Eurochart. But sometimes there are "made-up" editions of the chart which don't seem to be directly based on the Eurochart - and, in my opinion, they are often more interesting than those that are based on the Eurochart. I have the impression that in 2010 there were more "made-up" editions of the chart than in 2009 and that's nice, I think. But I must admit that the Eurochart has also had a positive impact on MTV European Top 20 - nowadays some songs appear in the chart, even if they aren't successful in the UK. For example, "Alors On Danse" by Stromae was a number 1. Under the old "system", I'm sure the song wouldn't have entered European Top 20 at all! So what do I hope for regarding European Top 20 in 2011? Perhaps a balanced number of new entries during most of the weeks (but there should definitely be some weeks with many new entries!) and NO weeks without entries. Also, I don't want to see songs that are only successful in the UK. On the other hand, if a song has success all across Europe but not in the UK, it should debut in European Top 20 - no matter what language it's in! However, that doesn't include songs that are only successful in France or Germany - I do mean all across Europe. And hopefully most of the new entries will be reasonable - although I guess a couple of random ones are OK as long as they don't come anywhere near the top of the chart... I also wish they would start broadcasting the whole Top 20 on MTV Europe, not just the Top 10... but maybe we should be thankful that they are at least updating the whole Top 20 on MTV Europe's site! Happy New Year!

Well, three weeks without new entries is an absolute tragedy... But I think I know why this is happening. The Eurochart hasn't been updated for weeks so it looks like the people who make MTV European Top 20 have nothing to base the chart on... However, there have been some "made-up" editions of European Top 20 before - they weren't based on the Eurochart, yet there were new entries and the chart actually looked quite interesting. Maybe the holiday period is partly to blame for the lack of inspiration in European Top 20's chart-makers...

It all started 5 years ago... During these 5 years, Rihanna has achieved 11(!) number ones in MTV European Top 20 - "Pon De Replay", "S.O.S.", "Unfaithful", "Umbrella", "Shut Up And Drive", "Don't Stop The Music", "Take A Bow", "Disturbia", "Russian Roulette", "Love The Way You Lie" (with Eminem) and "Only Girl In The World". In addition, she has scored two number 2's - "Live Your Life" (with T.I.) and "Rude Boy". Quite a domination over the chart, I think!

I like this edition of European Top 20. It's "made up" since it's not the same as any edition of the Eurochart... but there is quite a lot of movement. Unfortunately, what usually happens in such cases is that the following week European Top 20 once again copies the Eurochart so I expect many of the songs to make reverse movements next week. We'll see...

These "made up" editions of European Top 20 are much more interesting than the ones that copy the Eurochart. "Alejandro" by Lady GaGa is only the second number 1 in European Top 20 since April 11, 2009 that hasn't been a number 1 in the Eurochart - the first one was "Russian Roulette" by Rihanna.

The biggest question is whether to count "Break Your Heart" as a new entry or a re-entry. It's true that this version includes Ludacris but his participation is minimal. Even the video is the same as the previous version - just with a couple of appearances by Ludacris. That's quite different from the situation with "Cose Della Vita" by Eros Ramazzotti, for example - the new version with Tina Turner was in two different languages and with a new video...

There is an explanation for Stromae's chart run - as you know, nowadays MTV European Top 20 is based on the Eurochart but from time to time there are editions which are not based on it - "made up" editions (but which for me are much more true to the spirit of European Top 20). Last week's edition, when "Alors On Danse" fell 1-8, was one such edition. However, this week they have used the Eurochart again and since Stromae is number 1 there, "Alors On Danse" goes 8-1! By the way, there is a new number 1 in the Eurochart but I guess this will be reflected in the next European Top 20 chart...

It's such a pity that I'm checking the Eurochart from time to time! "Alors En Danse" by Stromae is number 1 there so I wasn't as flabbergasted as I could be when I saw the song at number 1 in MTV European Top 20... If I hadn't checked the Eurochart, after I watched positions 10-2 on European Top 20, I would have been sure that "Bad Romance" by Lady GaGa has returned to number 1... And then, when they played "Alors En Danse" at the top, I wouldn't have believed my eyes! Who knows - maybe that would have been the biggest shock I have experienced EVER while watching European Top 20... Anyway, the last time a song sung in a language different than English appeared in the chart was in 2005 - "La Tortura" by Shakira and Alejandro Sanz, which, just like "Alors En Danse", became number 1 in European Top 20.

Actually, this is NOT the same chart as the one that had "The World We Live In" by The Killers at number 1! The "real" MTV European Top 20 - as it had existed for more than a decade - stopped after April 11, 2009. After that there were various charts pretending to be the MTV European Top 20 - the one they used to broadcast on MTV Latvia and MTV Estonia was the one where "The World We Live In" reached number 1. However, as time passed, it became clear that that chart wasn't a real continuation of the old MTV European Top 20... In fact, they actually stopped broadcasting it in September last year! The chart posted here is the one that MTV Europe began broadcasting after April 11, 2009. It's largely based on the Eurochart but with the songs in French and German taken out. Still, from time to time there are editions of the chart that are "made up" - not actually based on an edition of the Eurochart. I think the newest one is an example of this - the evidence is the debut of "I See You" by Leona Lewis.

tsetsi, how do you get the new chart on Monday when they update it on Tuesday on MTV Europe's website? I'm extremely happy with the last edition of European Top 20 for 2009. It's again one of those "made up" ones that isn't based on any edition of the Eurochart... The chart looks interesting and actually resembles the "old" European Top 20 as there are no debuts in the Top 10 (the fact that nowadays almost every week there are new entries in the Top 10 is probably what makes me sad the most about the "new" European Top 20)... Jamse, thank you for the question! I didn't watch the chart at the end of 1999 yet and I always wondered why there were no "normal" editions of the chart for 2 weeks in a row! Now you confirm that they broadcast the chart with the Top 20 for the whole 1999 during both weeks! It's a pity they didn't broadcast this "best of the 90's" chart - it would have been interesting to see whether there would be songs from 1990 and 1991 in it (which would mean that they must have an archive from those times)... Speaking of year-end charts, I want to ask something not related to European Top 20. At the end of every year MTV Europe broadcast a Top 100 for the whole year... but this year I don't think they did. However, I'm not 100% sure. Can anyone confirm that? It would be sad as this Top 100 was also a big tradition...

tsetsi, according to MTV Europe's website, the number 19 is "Hotel Room Service" by Pitbull, not "Party In The USA" by Miley Cyrus... By the way, I'm really happy that "You Are Not Alone" hasn't entered the chart. This shows that not every number 1 in the UK chart is going to debut in MTV European Top 20...

This edition of the chart is another made up example. It doesn't correspond to any edition of Eurochart - "Empire State Of Mind" is not that high, the same goes for "Party In The USA"... Although I guess that the next edition (which will be broadcast today on MTV Europe) is going to resemble one of the recent editions of the Eurochart - I have noticed that so far there haven't been two made-up editions of European Top 20 in a row... Jamse, I think it's one and the same chart, these are just two different ways to name it. You can see more information about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurochart_Hot_100_Singles tsetsi, what you say about Jeff from MTV Europe is very interesting. Since he has all the archives from the chart since April, is it possible that he also has earlier archives - for example, from 1991 and before? Or, if he doesn't, since it looks like he's a helpful person, can he try to find somewhere these early archives - they must be somewhere in MTV Europe... It's also interesting whether he knows how European Top 20 was made before the switch to this Eurochart-based version - after all, no one has really answered that question until now...

It's true that Charlotte said that "If I Were A Boy" was the first number 1 of 2009. In fact, during that edition of the chart she was acting all the time like it was 2009 already - for example, she mentioned that "Infinity 2008" was outdated because now it was 2009... However, the previous year she did the same - during the chart of December 29, 2007 (when "Bubbly" by Colbie Caillat entered the chart), she mentioned again that this was the first edition of MTV European Top 20 for 2008. The reason for that, of course, is that they record European Top 20 in advance. But, if we use that situation as a precedent, we should conclude that the chart where "If I Were A Boy" was number 1 for a second week was the chart of December 27, 2008. After all, they broadcast it on MTV Hits before the start of 2009. Then the following week they repeated the same chart... That's why I think we should consider the next edition - when "Hot 'N' Cold" by Katy Perry goes to number 1 - as the first one of 2009. And I guess we should date it as the chart of January 10, 2009 - as MTV Europe and MTV Hits broadcast it during the same day (the Monday two days later)... Although I'm not really sure that's the best solution. Anyway, the current European Top 20 is not that random - basically, it's just the Eurochart without the songs in German and French. However, I think the songs that are at high positions only in the UK should also be excluded - otherwise each week when a song debuts in the Top 3 of the UK chart, it's guaranteed a Top 10 debut in European Top 20! And that's so wrong - in the good old days it was really exceptional to have a Top 10 debut in MTV European Top 20... Now all that's required is for the song to reach the Top 3 of the UK chart! tsetsi, I have a question - can you confirm that all of the editions of the chart after April 11, 2009 are absolutely correct? Because I compared the charts since the middle of June with the respective editions of the Eurochart... and while it's not surprising that sometimes a couple of positions are exchanged, there are a few completely made up editions of European Top 20 that have no equivalent editions of the Eurochart - I'm talking about the charts of June 29, August 3 and August 31... If everything you have posted is indeed correct, that would be interesting - these 3 made up charts can be considered "real" editions of European Top 20 as they are not based on the Eurochart but probably on the estimate of someone from MTV Europe!?... By the way, there is a small mistake in the chart of October 19 - the "last week's positions" for "I Gotta Feeling" and "Celebration" are switched.

I did watch the chart in question and they showed "Disturbia" by Rihanna as number 16, not "Forgive Me" by Leona Lewis. That was an important week because at that time MTV Hits was broadcasting the chart a week in advance compared to MTV Europe. However, that was the last time that happened. MTV Hits broadcast that edition of the chart in the last week of 2008 and then repeated it in the first week of 2009 - when MTV Europe broadcast it for the first time. Since then, both MTV Hits and MTV Europe were broadcasting one and the same edition of European Top 20 each week. That's why the biggest question for me is whether that chart should be counted as the chart of December 27, 2008 or as the chart of January 3, 2009. What do you think? By the way, the chart is shown as the chart of January 3 in this thread but it's shown as the chart of December 27 in the 2008 thread: http://www.buzzjack.com/forums/index.php?s...1358&st=200 As you can notice, in that thread it's "Disturbia" by Rihanna that's shown as the number 16. Regarding the fact that I haven't posted anything for ages - I'm sure you can guess why. The reason is that what has happened to European Top 20 has broken my heart. I loved the chart and I followed it every week from April 2000 until that edition when "Day 'N' Nite" by Kid Cudi and Crookers became number 1... What happened after that? There was no single European Top 20 anymore - each of the European MTV's seemed to have a different European Top 20... I believed the chart they broadcast on MTV Latvia and MTV Estonia was the direct continuation of the real MTV European Top 20... But, as time passed, I came to the conclusion that this wasn't true. I think the person who made the chart for the Baltic MTV's just looked at the last edition of the real European Top 20 and tried to resemble it... But then at times that person ran out of ideas - you can see it in the editions when there was almost no movement and no new entries... So in the end I think it was logical that they stopped broadcasting the chart on the Baltic MTV's somewhere in September. What remains then? The chart that they broadcast on MTV Europe - after all, European Top 20 is supposed to be exactly the chart that's broadcast on MTV Europe! But then what happens when there is no more MTV Europe - if each country gets its own MTV? Which chart will be considered the "real" European Top 20 then? Furthermore, it's still very difficult for me to swallow the fact that the chart they currently broadcast on MTV Europe (and show on their website) is just the Eurochart without the songs in French and German... OK, we can just accept that the way the chart is being made has changed - that might have happened many times before without us knowing - but at least before I felt that it was MTV Europe who made the chart, not the people who make the Eurochart! But if we don't consider the current chart on MTV Europe to be the real European Top 20, then the edition when "Day 'N' Nite" reached the top would be the LAST edition of the chart... and then - NOTHING... I'm sad... Maybe little by little I'll get used to this "new" European Top 20...

Quite a sad edition of the chart indeed... The last time there were NO new entries was on January 22, 2005 - more than four years ago! I had sincerely hoped we would never see an entryless chart again... What is even more absurd about the situation is the number of big hits that are just screaming to be new entries - "Right Round", "Takin' Back My Love", "Jai Ho!", etc... Next week there had better be at least 4 new entries - 6 would be best as there have never been exactly six new entries in one week in the chart's history... However, I suspect there will be just one (or at most two) new entries next week as well - like it has been the tendency during the whole year 2009 so far...

Yes, it has become a complete chaos. Each MTV (apart from the Baltic ones) seems to have a different interpretation of the Eurochart! Which just shows that this isn't the real European Top 20 - otherwise the chart would have been the same for all MTV's... Still, it's good to see that at least on mtv.tv they have updated a whole Top 20. And with its help we can reconstruct the previous week's chart. Only number 19 and 20 are missing - those are obviously the songs that went out. Now if only we could find out which songs occupied these two positions...

Well, well! It was some time ago that tsetsi gave us links to a Lithuanian site where we can watch different shows from MTV Lithuania and a similar Latvian site for MTV Latvia. Of course, the most important thing for us was that they showed the editions of European Top 20. Another interesting thing to note - both MTV Lithuania and MTV Latvia broadcast the chart with a local presenter! So when we now found out that European Top 20 would have no presenter anymore, I still had one (BIG) hope - that since MTV Lithuania and MTV Latvia have their own presenters, these MTV channels will continue to broadcast the REAL European Top 20. Unfortunately, nowadays MTV's shows can't be watched on the Latvian site. But take a look at these videos from the Lithuanian site: http://www.boms.lt/Video.aspx?VID=3385 http://www.boms.lt/Video.aspx?VID=3386 They show the two parts of this chart: 20 Britney Spears - Circus 19 Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat - Lucky 18 Ciara & Justin Timberlake - Love Sex Magic 17 The Killers - Human 16 Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody 15 Taylor Swift - Love Story 14 John Legend - Everybody Knows 13 Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You 12 Katy Perry - Hot 'N' Cold 11 Lady GaGa - Poker Face 10 T.I. & Rihanna - Live Your Life 9 Leona Lewis - Run 8 The Killers - Spaceman 7 U2 - Get On Your Boots 6 James Morrison & Nelly Furtado - Broken Strings 5 Katy Perry - Thinking Of You 4 Kevin Rudolf & Lil' Wayne - Let It Rock 3 Lily Allen - The Fear 2 Pink - Sober 1 Kid Cudi & Crookers - Day 'N' Nite Now this looks like the missing link between the chart I posted above and the last edition of the real MTV European Top 20. I just knew the Baltic MTV's would save the day!... It's just sad that the channel which brought European Top 20 to us - MTV Europe - no longer broadcasts it... Although, of course, we'll be able to see later today if they haven't reverted to the real chart... I must admit that from these two last editions that I posted the chart doesn't look inspiring at all... but what matters is that it still exists, even if only in one part of Europe!

It gets even more interesting! Here is the chart that appears on the sites of MTV Lithuania, MTV Latvia and MTV Estonia: 1. Kid Cudi vs. Crookers - Day N Night 2. Lily Allen - The Fear 3. Ciara feat. Justin Timberlake - Love Sexy Magic 4. Kevin Rudolph feat. Lil Wayne - Let It Rock 5. Katy Perry - Thinking Of You 6. James Morrison feat. Nelly Furtado - Broken Strings 7. Pink - Sober 8. The Killers - Spaceman 9. U2 - Get On Your Boots 10. Leona Lewis - Run 11. Lady Gaga - Poker Face 12. Eminem - We Made You 13. T.I. feat. Rihanna - Live Your Life 14. John Legend - Everybody Knows 15. Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You 16. Katy Perry - Hot'N'Cold 17. Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody 18. Jason Mraz - Lucky 19. The Noisettes - Don't Upset The Rhythm (Go Baby Go) 20. Britney Spears - Circus Now this is a continuation of the last REAL European Top 20 chart!!!

Hmm... This chart on MTV Germany seems like a really strange mix between the Eurochart and some random elements (I don't think the new Lady GaGa single has had success across Europe so far)... I think it will be important to watch European Top 20 on Saturday on MTV Europe to see what they broadcast then. Unfortunately, I won't be able to do it... tsetsi, what about you? By the way, I was thinking about something. Like Xylem said, there have been many songs that have been played a lot on MTV Europe, yet they didn't even enter European Top 20; on the other hand, some songs weren't played at all on MTV Europe, yet they reached very high positions in European Top 20 (for example, "Anyone Of Us" by Gareth Gates and "Chihuahua" by DJ Bobo). The way the chart has been made during all these years is a mystery. However, I can't believe one and the same person has been making the chart during these more than 20 years. Yet, if we assume that the chart-makers have changed from time to time, that didn't show in the chart itself - in the period 1991-2009 no edition looks completely different from the previous one. That's why I think that the methodology of the chart has remained the same the whole time, regardless of the current person "in charge" of European Top 20. If that's true, it's much stranger that they would switch to the Eurochart since it looks like the methodology remains there, even if the person who has last been making the chart has "resigned"...

Well... It's true that anything is better than nothing... But, even if MTV start playing the whole Top 20 (or at least show quickly positions 20-11, like they have done in the past), I'm not sure I'll be OK with that. After all, during all these (probably more than 20!) years European Top 20 - no matter how accurate it was - was MTV Europe's chart. Now this is Billboard's Eurochart with the non-English songs removed... The fact that they have replayed last week's chart on MTV Hungary might mean that this is a temporary thing; perhaps the person who was making European Top 20 has given up and now they are looking for a replacement... But if that's not the case and showing Billboard's Eurochart is a permanent change, I'm not happy. Who says the Eurochart is accurate? In my opinion, the UK, French and German charts have too big an importance in it. If European Top 20 has had its own methodology for more than two decades, it should continue to have its own methodology - even if it's a new one. If no one close to MTV wants to do that, there are many European Top 20 lovers who will be delighted to be making the chart! I have made up a methodology where each country's singles chart is basically equally important; there are, of course, other possible solutions... Give power to the fans! Otherwise the only question each week will be: Which songs from the Eurochart are they going to remove when they broadcast the "Euro Top"?...

I haven't posted for a while... I'm now watching the chart a week later on MTV Europe - just like I was before I found out about MTV Hits (yes, they have started broadcasting the chart again now but the same edition as MTV Europe, not the following one)... I've just watched the chart of April 4 and it has left me with mixed emotions. European Top 20 has become really uninteresting this year... and, as I was watching this chart, I thought things had gone very wrong. Only one new entry again - and it's a song by John Legend that has no success anywhere in Europe!? Where is "Right Round" by Flo Rida!? And why is "Poker Face" still falling when it reigns all over the continent!? But then before the Top 3 Charlotte, the chart presenter, announced that there was going to be a new number 1. That did catch my interest. I was more than happy to learn that "Let It Rock" - one of the most undeserving number ones in the history of MTV European Top 20 - was no longer at the top. And then I felt somewhat good when I found out that Kid Cudi was the new chart-topper - while I find "Day 'N' Nite" quite bad, a song with a similar sound hasn't been number 1 for ages so it's good to see more variety at the summit... And then the feeling of sadness - at the end of the chart, Charlotte thanked us for "all these years" and finished with "Adios"... It seems that we won't see her next week...

Hmm... I'm getting more and more confused! And, to make things worse, MTV Hits seem to have stopped broadcasting the chart!... At least it looks like the record for most weeks in the chart may finally be broken. I think "I Kissed A Girl" by Katy Perry has a real chance to do that...