bobiloko

Jamse, you have done an amazing job! Your commentary is extremely interesting! I guess I'd add just a couple of things: "Clumsy" by Fergie actually becomes her longest staying single in European as it spends its 16th week in the chart while both "London Bridge" and "Big Girls Don't Cry" were in for 15 weeks. And with "Scream" and "Apologize" Timbaland has two songs in the Top 5! However, two artists have even had two songs simultaneously in the Top 3 - Bryan Adams with "Please Forgive Me" and "All For Love" (with Rod Stewart and Sting) and Dido with "Stan" (with Eminem) and "Here With Me"... I think it's not impossible for "Don't Stop The Music" and "Apologize" to accumulate more points than "Gangsta's Paradise" and "Whenever, Wherever"... but I'm not sure anyone would ever have more points than "Asereje"! My hope was that "I Do It For You" by Bryan Adams could have accumulated around 500 points but our recent data suggests very strongly that this isn't true...

Here is the chart of March 1, 2008: 20 KYLIE MINOGUE - WOW NEW 19 Janet Jackson - Feedback 1 Up 18 Nickelback - Rockstar Stay => 17 Maroon 5 - Won't Go Home Without You 5 Down 16 KYLIE MINOGUE - IN MY ARMS NEW 15 Fergie - Clumsy 5 Down 14 Mark Ronson & Amy Winehouse - Valerie 3 Up 13 Linkin Park - Shadow Of The Day 2 Down 12 Alicia Keys - No One 3 Down 11 Jennifer Lopez - Hold It Don't Drop It 4 Down 10 Timbaland, Keri Hilson & Nicole Scherzinger - Scream NEW 9 Snoop Dogg - Sensual Seduction 4 Up 8 Adele - Chasing Pavements 6 Up 7 Gwen Stefani - Early Winter 1 Down 6 Simple Plan - When I'm Gone 2 Up 5 Lenny Kravitz - I'll Be Waiting Stay => 4 Britney Spears - Piece Of Me Stay => 3 Timbaland & OneRepublic - Apologize Stay => 2 Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music 1 Down 1 Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love 1 Up WOW!!!!!! This time I'm not exaggerating at all when I say that chart history is written this week. For the first time EVER there are two new entries by one and the same artist! And neither of them is a collaboration - both are solo singles of the one and only... Kylie Minogue! You have to understand that this is something unique for MTV European Top 20. For more than 17 years it has always been like this: a single by an artist is followed up by another single by the artist. Sometimes there may be an overlap (the follow-up spending its first weeks in the chart while the previous single is spending its last weeks in)... but there has always been consecutivity and not simultaneity. This began to change at the end of 2007 when there were two instances of an artist having two simultaneous songs in the chart - Nicole Scherzinger with "Whatever U Like" and "Baby Love" and Rihanna with "Don't Stop The Music" and "Hate That I Love You". Neither of them was a case of a single and its follow-up - they were just simultaneous hits. However, I didn't think the day would come when two singles by an artist would enter the chart in ONE AND THE SAME WEEK! But now Kylie does it with "Wow" and "In My Arms". And why not? After all, both have been released simultaneously in Europe - just in different countries. With Kylie's unbelievable achievement, it's easy to overlook the third new entry of the week, in spite of its impressive Top 10 debut. Timbaland scores a hit with the fourth single from his album - "Scream", with the participation of Keri Hilson and Nicole Scherzinger. There was a certain song with the same title which made an even more impressive debut in 1995, entering European Top 20 straight at number 2... Of course, I'm talking about the Jackson duet! And with Janet currently in the chart with "Feedback", everything is ready for Michael's comeback! And while Timbaland has a new song in the chart, it's his previous single that really deserves a mention. What "Apologize" is doing is something really amazing. Here is its chart run so far: 5-2-1-4-3-2-1-1-2-2-5-2-1-2-3-3 The song has spent 16 weeks in the chart, all of them in the Top 5!!! The closest chart performances are those of "Shut Up" by Black Eyed Peas and "What Goes Around... Comes Around" by Justin Timberlake, which spent in the Top 5 their first 13 and 12 weeks in the chart, respectively. Even if "Apologize" leaves the Top 5 next week, I think it will be extremely difficult for any song to top its achievement! In this context, "Piece Of Me" by Britney Spears has spent all of its seven weeks in the chart in the Top 5. However, although it debuted straight at number 4 and climbed to number 3 the following week, it has so far failed to go any further. In fact, it's now spending a fifth consecutive week at number 4! And about the new number 1, I can only say: FINALLY! I have waited for a long time to see "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis reach the top and at last the song does it. Let's look at its chart run: 19-16-14-10-8-9-3-2-3-3-3-2-1 When earlier this year "Don't Stop The Music" by Rihanna reached number 1 in its 12th week in the chart, I noted that this was the second longest journey to the top (the clear record being held by "Self Esteem" by Offspring, which first became a number 1 in its 16th week in the chart). Well, now Leona overtakes Rihanna's second position as "Bleeding Love" reaches the top in its 13th week in the chart! I do wonder whether Offspring's record will ever be broken...

Jamse, you seem to have posted only the Top 10? Here is the whole chart of February 23, 2008: 20 Janet Jackson - Feedback NEW 19 Paramore - Misery Business 1 Up 18 Nickelback - Rockstar RE-ENTRY 17 Mark Ronson & Amy Winehouse - Valerie RE-ENTRY 16 Foo Fighters - Long Road To Ruin 4 Down 15 Colbie Caillat - Bubbly 2 Down 14 Adele - Chasing Pavements 2 Up 13 Snoop Dogg - Sensual Seduction 1 Up 12 Maroon 5 - Won't Go Home Without You 6 Up 11 Linkin Park - Shadow Of The Day 1 Down 10 Fergie - Clumsy 1 Up 9 Alicia Keys - No One 4 Down 8 Simple Plan - When I'm Gone 1 Up 7 Jennifer Lopez - Hold It Don't Drop It 1 Up 6 Gwen Stefani - Early Winter 1 Up 5 Lenny Kravitz - I'll Be Waiting 1 Up 4 Britney Spears - Piece Of Me Stay => 3 Timbaland & OneRepublic - Apologize 1 Down 2 Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love 1 Up 1 Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music Stay => Guess who's back? Janet Jackson! I have to say that I had begun to wonder whether we would ever see her again in the chart... But now she enters at number 20 with "Feedback". She was last seen in European Top 20 with "Son Of A Gun" in the chart of February 23, 2002 - exactly six years ago!!! However, this year we should also see another comeback - that of her brother Michael. I know it's too early but I'm already thinking whether he could debut straight at number 1... There are two re-entries this week. "Rockstar" by Nickelback entered the chart at number 17 in the very first edition of the year and immediately went out... which was quite undeserved, considering the song's success around Europe. But I was almost sure that it would re-enter the chart someday... and it does it now, seven weeks later. The other re-entry, however, is much more interesting. "Valerie" by Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse had a short stay in European Top 20 at the end of last year - it spent three weeks in the chart, peaking at number 11. Now it re-enters TWELVE weeks later! That's not the longest time before a song has re-entered the chart - "Basket Case" by Green Day re-entered the chart fifteen weeks after leaving it; not to mention the special case with Wet Wet Wet's "Goodnight Girl", which appeared in the chart in early 1992 and then again in late 1994... But still, the achievement of "Valerie" is impressive! And deserved, if you judge by the fact that the song spends a sixth week at number 1 in The Netherlands! "I'll Be Waiting" by Lenny Kravitz climbs to number 5 and thus becomes his third highest-peaking single after "Are You Gonna Go My Way", which reached number 2 and "Fly Away" - number 3. But the most remarkable performance is that of "Don't Stop The Music" by Rihanna... which has silently broken a record! The fact that it spends a sixth week at number 1, thus equalling the number of weeks "Umbrella" spent at the top is nice but what's important is that "Don't Stop The Music" is at number 1 in its 18th week in the chart! The thing is, this is a record! NO song has still been at the top this late in its chart run!!! Two songs have been at number 1 in their 17th week in the chart - "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" by Kylie Minogue and "Whenever, Wherever" by Shakira... but now "Don't Stop The Music" does better than these MASSIVE hits! Who would have guessed that when the song left the chart after only three weeks in, having peaked at number 12?...

Mycket bra, Jamse! Where did you find these older charts? It pains me to look at the one from July 1991 as "I Do It For You" by Bryan Adams is only at number 17... I had always hoped that it was the song to spend the most weeks at number 1 in the chart ever! By the way, I do think they take into consideration the singles charts of the different European countries. But there seems to be a subjective element - they decide not to include some big hits while they include some songs that aren't successful anywhere... On the other hand, that makes the chart more unpredictable!

To tell you the truth, I prefer random new entries to no new entries at all! Exactly the new-entryless weeks during 2002-2004 were the biggest reason the period wasn't as interesting as other periods in the history of European Top 20... Here is the chart of February 16, 2008: 20 Paramore - Misery Business NEW 19 Rihanna & Ne-Yo - Hate That I Love You 2 Down 18 Maroon 5 - Won't Go Home Without You NEW 17 Mika - Happy Ending 1 Down 16 Adele - Chasing Pavements NEW 15 Kanye West - Good Life 2 Down 14 Snoop Dogg - Sensual Seduction 4 Up 13 Colbie Caillat - Bubbly 5 Down 12 Foo Fighters - Long Road To Ruin 3 Down 11 Fergie - Clumsy 1 Up 10 Linkin Park - Shadow Of The Day Stay => 9 Simple Plan - When I'm Gone 3 Down 8 Jennifer Lopez - Hold It Don't Drop It 7 Up 7 Gwen Stefani - Early Winter 4 Up 6 Lenny Kravitz - I'll Be Waiting 1 Up 5 Alicia Keys - No One Stay => 4 Britney Spears - Piece Of Me Stay => 3 Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love Stay => 2 Timbaland & OneRepublic - Apologize 1 Down 1 Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music 1 Up Three new entries this week. At number 18 we find "Won't Go Home Without You", Maroon 5's third single from their current album after "Makes Me Wonder" reached number 2 and "Wake Up Call" - number 7. The other two new entries - "Misery Business" by Paramore (at number 20) and "Chasing Pavements" by Adele (at number 16) - are the first hits for these artists in European Top 20. I quite like it when there are newcomers to the chart because sometimes there are only new entries by established artists for weeks! There is a shocking big climber this week. Here is the chart run of "Hold It Don't Drop It" by Jennifer Lopez so far: 14-OUT-16-16-15-8 It looked like it could stay even longer in the lower end of the chart... but that 7-place climb was absolutely unexpected! This is still Jenny's lowest peaking single as a main artist but it can, of course, climb even higher. The Top 5 is really stable - it has consisted of these 5 same songs for 5 weeks now! The only movement in the Top 5 and probably the biggest surprise of the week is the "new" old number 1 - "Don't Stop The Music" by Rihanna. After "Apologize" replaced it at the top last week, "Don't Stop The Music" regains the crown this week to claim a fifth week at number 1! Her only song to have stayed longer at the top was "Umbrella" - 6 weeks.

Here is the chart of February 9, 2008: 20 Jay-Z - Roc Boys 2 Down 19 Avril Lavigne - Hot 5 Down 18 Snoop Dogg - Sensual Seduction NEW 17 Rihanna & Ne-Yo - Hate That I Love You 2 Down 16 Mika - Happy Ending 1 Up 15 Jennifer Lopez - Hold It Don't Drop It 1 Up 14 50 Cent & Akon - Still Will 5 Up 13 Kanye West - Good Life 2 Down 12 Fergie - Clumsy 4 Down 11 Gwen Stefani - Early Winter 1 Up 10 Linkin Park - Shadow Of The Day 3 Up 9 Foo Fighters - Long Road To Ruin 3 Down 8 Colbie Caillat - Bubbly 1 Down 7 Lenny Kravitz - I'll Be Waiting 2 Up 6 Simple Plan - When I'm Gone 4 Up 5 Alicia Keys - No One Stay => 4 Britney Spears - Piece Of Me Stay => 3 Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love Stay => 2 Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music 1 Down 1 Timbaland & OneRepublic - Apologize 1 Up There is only one new entry this week - "Sensual Seduction" at number 18. This is a rare case when Snoop Dogg appears in the chart as a solo artist. By the way, the number of not-so-successful rap songs in the current chart is remarkable - here we find also "Roc Boys" by Jay-Z, "Still Will" by 50 Cent and Akon, "Good Life" by Kanye West... The song that leaves European Top 20 this week is "Change" by Sugababes - after only 3 weeks in the chart and a peak of number 13. Interestingly, the girls seem to follow up their biggest hits with their smallest and vice versa. In 2006, "Red Dress" spent 2 weeks at number 2 and became their biggest hit in the chart. Then "Easy" only reached number 12 and became their smallest hit. After that they came back with "About You Now", which stayed at number 1 for 3 weeks - obviously, their new biggest hit... and now "Change", their new smallest hit! I wonder how many weeks their next single is going to spend at the top... "When I'm Gone" by Simple Plan climbs to number 6 and thus becomes their highest peaking song - "Welcome To My Life" stopped at number 9. But the biggest story is the "new" number 1. In fact, this is the third run at the top for "Apologize" by Timbaland and OneRepublic! Here is its chart run: 5-2-1-4-3-2-1-1-2-2-5-2-1 As you can see, the same thing has happened twice - after topping the chart, "Apologize" has left the Top 3... but then reclimbed back to number 1! This song just never gives up! However, returning to the top twice is not a record - "No Matter What" by Boyzone returned to number 1 THREE TIMES back in 1998...

Good commentary, Yan! I'll just mention that "Early Winter" is in fact Gwen Stefani's FIFTH single from "The Sweet Escape" (after "Wind It Up", "The Sweet Escape", "4 In The Morning" and "Now That You Got It")... which makes its achievement even more impressive!

Great statistics, tsetsi! I'm really happy that I was able to watch the unbelievable Vengaboys case... The edition of July 22, 2000 was CRAZY! "Shackles" by Mary Mary seemed to have peaked at number 4 as it then fell 4-5-7... so when the number 1 was to be revealed, there were two possibilities. I thought that since "My Uncle John From Jamaica" by Vengaboys had debuted straight at number 10 the week before, it was possible that it had gone 10-1... while "Shackles" must have left the chart straight from number 7! However, it turned out to be the opposite case - Vengaboys "disappeared as quickly as they arrived", as the chart presenter said... while "Shackles" climbed 7-1 after having been falling for two weeks before that! That was one of the (if not THE) most shocking climbs to number 1 ever! Anyway, here is the chart of February 2, 2008: 20 Sugababes - Change 7 Down 19 50 Cent & Akon - Still Will 1 Up 18 Jay-Z - Roc Boys 1 Down 17 Mika - Happy Ending NEW 16 Jennifer Lopez - Hold It Don't Drop It Stay => 15 Rihanna & Ne-Yo - Hate That I Love You 6 Down 14 Avril Lavigne - Hot 4 Down 13 Linkin Park - Shadow Of The Day 2 Up 12 Gwen Stefani - Early Winter 2 Up 11 Kanye West - Good Life Stay => 10 Simple Plan - When I'm Gone 2 Up 9 Lenny Kravitz - I'll Be Waiting NEW 8 Fergie - Clumsy 1 Down 7 Colbie Caillat - Bubbly 1 Up 6 Foo Fighters - Long Road To Ruin Stay => 5 Alicia Keys - No One 1 Down 4 Britney Spears - Piece Of Me 1 Down 3 Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love 1 Down 2 Timbaland & OneRepublic - Apologize 3 Up 1 Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music Stay => There are two new entries this week and I'm glad about both of them. I didn't really believe "Happy Ending" by Mika would enter the chart but it does it at number 17 and thus becomes Mika's third hit in the chart after the number 1 "Grace Kelly" and "Relax, Take It Easy", which definitely deserved more than its peak position (number 7) suggests. Neither "Love Today" nor "Big Girl, You Are Beautiful" appeared in European Top 20, probably because they were simultaneously released in different European countries and so they competed with each other (not that this has prevented Rihanna from having two simultaneous hits in the chart)... Lenny Kravitz is back in the chart for the first time since 2004 (his last hit was "California"). "I'll Be Waiting" debuts straight at number 9 and that's justified as it's doing well around Europe, in fact it has become Lenny's biggest hit ever in several European countries! Yet again a song leaves the chart the week after it has debuted. Last week "Let's Dance To Joy Division" by The Wombats was a new entry at number 19... and now it's already out. The last song to spend a single week at number 19 in the chart was "Something About You" by Jamelia. Two songs spend a fourth consecutive week at a definite position - "Long Road To Ruin" by Foo Fighters at number 6 and (more importantly) "Don't Stop The Music" by Rihanna at number 1. Who will take its place at the top? Maybe those who made the most shocking movement this week. Last week "Apologize" by Timbaland and OneRepublic fell 2-5 and it looked like it was on its way down... but now it makes a mirror climb 5-2!!! If it manages to go back to number 1, that will be an incredible achievement!

Here is the chart of January 26, 2008: 20 50 Cent & Akon - Still Will Stay => 19 The Wombats - Let's Dance To Joy Division NEW 18 Sean Kingston - Me Love 1 Up 17 Jay-Z - Roc Boys 1 Up 16 Jennifer Lopez - Hold It Don't Drop It RE-ENTRY 15 Linkin Park - Shadow Of The Day 4 Down 14 Gwen Stefani - Early Winter 3 Up 13 Sugababes - Change 3 Up 12 Simple Plan - When I'm Gone 2 Up 11 Kanye West - Good Life 2 Down 10 Avril Lavigne - Hot 2 Down 9 Rihanna & Ne-Yo - Hate That I Love You 3 Up 8 Colbie Caillat - Bubbly 2 Up 7 Fergie - Clumsy Stay => 6 Foo Fighters - Long Road To Ruin Stay => 5 Timbaland & OneRepublic - Apologize 3 Down 4 Alicia Keys - No One 1 Up 3 Britney Spears - Piece Of Me 1 Up 2 Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love 1 Up 1 Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music Stay => There is a re-entry for a third week in a row! I had the feeling that the week "Hold It Don't Drop It" by Jennifer Lopez spent at number 14 a fortnight ago wouldn't remain its only one in the chart... Now it re-enters at number 16. As for the new entry... Well, "Let's Dance To Joy Division" by The Wombats debuts at number 19. This is yet another random new entry - it's not a huge hit across Europe... BUT I have to say that, in addition to its number 15 peak in the UK chart, the song also reached number 19 in The Netherlands. So it's a Top 20 hit also in a chart outside the British Isles... something which can't be said for other songs that have appeared in MTV European Top 20 (for example, "Here It Goes Again" by OK Go)! There are some statistics about this chart that I like to check once in a while - like which song has spent the most/least weeks in the chart for each peak position. And this week we have a new record in this aspect! "Oh Mother" by Christina Aguilera goes out of the chart after having the impressive chart run: 8-15 A peak position of number 8 and just 2 weeks in the chart! Yes, that's a record! So far the "record" for a peak of number 8 was 4 weeks - by "Only With You" by Captain Hollywood Project in 1993 and "Fight For Your Right" by N.Y.C.C. in 1998. Just for comparison with the neighbouring positions: the record for number 7 is 3 weeks (by "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night" by Bon Jovi) and for number 9 - also 3 weeks (by "Ça Plane Pour Moi" by Leila K. and "Praise You" by Fatboy Slim). Speaking of number 9, the song that currently occupies this position - "Hate That I Love You" by Rihanna and Ne-Yo - is also doing something remarkable. Here is its chart run: 18-14-14-13-13-12-13-11-11-20-12-9 To reach number 11, then to fall to the very bottom of the chart... and still be able to go back up and even reach a new peak position?! Well done! What about the other Rihanna song? "Don't Stop The Music" stays comfortably at number 1 for a third week in a row... Actually, perhaps not so comfortably as the competition is coming nearer and nearer - "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis and "Piece Of Me" by Britney Spears are now at number 2 and number 3...

Hi YanBG! It's great to see yet another Bulgarian here! Why am I so interested in MTV European Top 20? Well, it was back in 2000 that I started to become interested in music... and then I saw this chart on MTV and immediately fell in love with it! I have really strong emotional ties to it and nothing during the years has been able to change that... in fact, recently the chart has been getting even more interesting than when I started to watch it in 2000!!! And that's what matters to me - I don't really care whether the chart is made up. But I don't actually believe it's entirely made up - who's going to make up a chart just like that for more than 17 years?! Because we shouldn't forget that this is the chart of the biggest music television in Europe and has a long history - it's running since at least 1990! About the different MTV's - according to Wikipedia, a new MTV channel will launch in early 2008 - MTV HD (high definition). They say that it will be broadcast all around Europe... Who knows? Maybe this channel will replace MTV Europe. If so, they MUST play European Top 20!

Here is the chart of January 19, 2008: 20 50 Cent & Akon - Still Will 2 Down 19 Sean Kingston - Me Love RE-ENTRY 18 Jay-Z - Roc Boys 1 Up 17 Gwen Stefani - Early Winter NEW 16 Sugababes - Change NEW 15 Christina Aguilera - Oh Mother 7 Down 14 Simple Plan - When I'm Gone NEW 13 Britney Spears - Gimme More 2 Down 12 Rihanna & Ne-Yo - Hate That I Love You 8 Up 11 Linkin Park - Shadow Of The Day 1 Down 10 Colbie Caillat - Bubbly 6 Up 9 Kanye West - Good Life 4 Up 8 Avril Lavigne - Hot 4 Down 7 Fergie - Clumsy 2 Down 6 Foo Fighters - Long Road To Ruin Stay => 5 Alicia Keys - No One 2 Down 4 Britney Spears - Piece Of Me NEW 3 Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love 6 Up 2 Timbaland & OneRepublic - Apologize Stay => 1 Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music Stay => I couldn't have wished for a better start of the year for MTV European Top 20! Now this is unique - there have been four new entries and a re-entry for two weeks in a row! Let's hope the chart will continue to be as active during the whole year... It turns out that the sole week of "Me Love" by Sean Kingston at number 16 in the chart two weeks ago wasn't sole after all... Now it re-enters at number 19 and as last week there was also a re-entry, that makes it two re-entries in just three weeks this year! And that's more than the number of the re-entries for the whole period 2000-2006 (there was a total of ONE)!!!!!! "Early Winter" by Gwen Stefani debuts at number 17. Gwen is doing something remarkable - she has now had five singles from both of her albums enter European Top 20! And usually it's a huge accomplishment for any artist to have five hits from ONE album in the chart... Sugababes' first ever number 1 in European Top 20 - "About You Now" - is replaced this week in the chart by the follow-up "Change", which enters at number 16. Then at number 14 there is a comeback. "When I'm Gone" is Simple Plan's third hit in the chart after "Welcome To My Life" reached number 9 and "Untitled" - number 16... And that was unfair as the latter should have done better in the chart than the former - after all, "Untitled" actually WAS sucessful in some European countries! But the most impressive new entry is "Piece Of Me" by Britney Spears. Straight in at number 4! And that's Britney's highest debut in the chart ever! Previously, the record was held by "Born To Make You Happy", which entered at number 6... but in the first edition of 2000 - and before that there hadn't been a "normal" edition of the chart for two weeks so that could explain its high debut. Otherwise, the highest debut for a Britney single under "normal" circumstances was number 8 for "Toxic". There are also interesting facts regarding the songs that left the chart this week. Last week "Hold It Don't Drop It" by Jennifer Lopez was a new entry at number 14... now it's already out! Of course, it can re-enter someday but for now it's only the third song ever to have spent a single week at number 14 in the chart - after "The First Night" by Monica and "True To Your Heart" by 98 Degrees and Stevie Wonder. The other notable thing is that "2 Hearts" by Kylie Minogue went out of the chart straight from the Top 10. Here is its chart run: 6-5-5-7-7-6-7-6-7 What a chart run! 9 weeks in the chart and all of them - between number 5 and number 7! What else is there in this week's chart? A couple of flabbergasting movements. Last week "Oh Mother" by Christina Aguilera entered straight at number 8... but now it falls 7 places to number 15! It hasn't happened for years that a Top 10 debut falls so much in its second week in the chart... It last happened in 1998 - "No Tengo Dinero" by Los Umbrellos entered at number 10 and fell to number 18 the following week... But even more impressive was the chart run of "Get The Feelin'" by 5ive (which, incidentally, entered the chart just a week before "No Tengo Dinero"): 8-17-7-7 That chart run has it all! A debut in the Top 10, a huge fall... and then, unbelievably, an even huger reclimb! And to top it all, it left the chart straight from number 7 (like "2 Hearts")... Speaking of huge falls and reclimbs... Last week "Hate That I Love You" by Rihanna and Ne-Yo went 11-20 and it looked like we wouldn't see it in the chart anymore... but now it rebounds to number 12! 1998 was definitely the craziest year for European Top 20... can 2008 become just as crazy?!... Anyway, the reclimb of "Hate That I Love You" doesn't seem to affect in any way Rihanna's other single in the chart. "Don't Stop The Music" spends its second week at number 1... but I think it's facing strong competition. Apart from "Piece Of Me", "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis also looks impressive as it climbs 6 places to number 3... It will be interesting to see who conquers the top next week!

A new year and a new thread for MTV European Top 20! Here is the chart of January 5, 2008: 20 50 Cent & Justin Timberlake - Ayo Technology 3 Down 19 Gwen Stefani - Now That You Got It 1 Down 18 Colbie Caillat - Bubbly 1 Up 17 Nickelback - Rockstar NEW 16 Sean Kingston - Me Love NEW 15 Foo Fighters - The Pretender 1 Up 14 Kanye West - Good Life Stay => 13 Linkin Park - Shadow Of The Day Stay => 12 Sugababes - About You Now Stay => 11 Rihanna & Ne-Yo - Hate That I Love You Stay => 10 Nicole Scherzinger - Baby Love 1 Down 9 Fergie - Clumsy 1 Down 8 Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love 2 Up 7 Avril Lavigne - Hot 4 Down 6 Kylie Minogue - 2 Hearts 1 Up 5 Britney Spears - Gimme More Stay => 4 Foo Fighters - Long Road To Ruin 2 Up 3 Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music 1 Up 2 Alicia Keys - No One Stay => 1 Timbaland & OneRepublic - Apologize Stay => "Apologize" by Timbaland and OneRepublic spends a third week at number 1 Two new entries - the lower one at number 17 is Nickelback's comeback to the chart after two years' absence. "Rockstar" is their fourth hit in the chart after "How You Remind Me" (which peaked at number 4), "Someday" (number 5) and "Photograph" (number 7). I'm really happy that "Rockstar" entered European Top 20 as the song is doing well in some European countries (and most recently the UK). "Me Love" by Sean Kingston is the other new entry, debuting at number 16. This is the followup to "Beautiful Girls", which despite its huge success around Europe only peaked at number 6 in this chart. Well... There wasn't much to comment on this edition of the chart! BUT... just look at the following one! Here is the chart of January 12, 2008: 20 Rihanna & Ne-Yo - Hate That I Love You 9 Down 19 Jay-Z - Roc Boys NEW 18 50 Cent & Akon - Still Will NEW 17 Sugababes - About You Now 5 Down 16 Colbie Caillat - Bubbly 2 Up 15 Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah RE-ENTRY 14 Jennifer Lopez - Hold It Don't Drop It NEW 13 Kanye West - Good Life 1 Up 12 Nicole Scherzinger - Baby Love 2 Down 11 Britney Spears - Gimme More 6 Down 10 Linkin Park - Shadow Of The Day 3 Up 9 Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love 1 Down 8 Christina Aguilera - Oh Mother NEW 7 Kylie Minogue - 2 Hearts 1 Down 6 Foo Fighters - Long Road To Ruin 2 Down 5 Fergie - Clumsy 4 Up 4 Avril Lavigne - Hot 3 Up 3 Alicia Keys - No One 1 Down 2 Timbaland & OneRepublic - Apologize 1 Down 1 Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music 2 Up 2007 was a great year for European Top 20... And, if we can judge by this edition of the chart, it will be the same during 2008! Four new entries and a re-entry!!! Such a combination has happened only three times in the chart's history (twice in 1998 and once in 1999)... At number 19 is the lowest new entry - "Roc Boys" by Jay-Z. He has had success in the chart during the 2000's because he appeared on some singles by Beyoncé Knowles and collaborated with Linkin Park... Otherwise, his biggest hit as a main artist is "Hard Knock Life", which reached number 3 back in 1999. "Ayo Technology" has been replaced in the chart by "Still Will", which enters at number 18. This time it is Akon that features on the 50 Cent single. Last year Jennifer Lopez returned to the chart with "Do It Well", which wasn't quite successful. Now the follow-up "Hold It Don't Drop It" debuts at number 14. We'll see whether its fate will be better... There is a new entry in the Top 10! And a really surprising one... "Oh Mother" by Christina Aguilera enters straight at number 8. The previous singles from her current album were very successful - "Ain't No Other Man" and "Hurt" both peaked at number 1 while "Candyman" reached number 3. What about the re-entry? At number 15 we find "Hey There Delilah" by Plain White T's, which has done something amazing! By re-entering European Top 20, it scores its 17th week in the chart! The unbelievable is that it spent 16 weeks in the chart, then went out... and re-enters now! No song has returned to the chart after spending so many weeks in it... Not even close to that! Songs usually re-enter the chart after they have previously spent one to several weeks in it... 9 weeks at most! But now "Hey There Delilah" shows that one can never be sure that a song has left the chart for good! There is a new number 1... and this is another absolutely impressive achievement! Before this week, Rihanna held the record for most consecutive number ones - five ("Pon De Replay", "S.O.S.", "Unfaithful", "Umbrella" and "Shut Up And Drive"). Well, now she improves her own record as "Don't Stop The Music" becomes her SIXTH consecutive number 1 in European Top 20! Who will beat this?... Most probably not Rihanna herself as her following single "Hate That I Love You" falls 9 places to number 20 after only peaking at number 11. But there's more! Look at the chart run of "Don't Stop The Music": 14-12-15-OUT-11-7-7-6-5-3-4-3-1 As you can see, the song actually left the chart for a week and then re-entered! In the chart's history, only three other songs have climbed to number 1 after going out of the chart and then re-entering - "Truly, Madly, Deeply" by Savage Garden, "Life" by Des'ree and "If You Had My Love" by Jennifer Lopez. And even that's not all! "Don't Stop The Music" reaches number 1 in its 12th week in the chart. Now this is a long journey to the top! In fact, the second longest ever! Only one song had to wait longer to climb to the top - "Self Esteem" by Offspring back in 1995. Here is how it did it: 20-19-19-18-18-17-18-9-7-5-3-3-3-2-2-1 There is something really amusing about that - "Self Esteem" replaced at the top "Back For Good" by Take That... which was one of the two songs in the chart's history that reached number 1 most quickly (by actually debuting straight at the top)! And another funny comparison between those two songs - "Self Esteem" climbed to number 1 in its 16th week in the chart... while "Back For Good" didn't even spend 16 weeks in European Top 20! But back to this week's chart and there are a few interesting reclimbs - "Shadow Of The Day" returns to the Top 10 by going 13-10 and "Hot" by Avril Lavigne climbs from number 7 to number 4 after falling 3-7 last week. However, the most remarkable reclimb is by Fergie's "Clumsy". It climbs four places to number 5 and thus reaches a new peak position, becoming her third highest-peaking single after "Big Girls Don't Cry" (number 3) and "London Bridge" (number 4). Finally... do you see last week's new entries in this week's chart?! Both "Rockstar" by Nickelback and "Me Love" by Sean Kingston have left European Top 20 after just one week! By the way, "Me Love" is the first song to spend only one week at number 16 in the chart since "Ain't That A Lot Of Love" by Simply Red in 1999... An edition of the chart with two new entries - and both of them gone in the following edition! The only other such case was again in 1999 - the "victims" were "Saltwater" by Chicane and Maire Brennan and "Everything Is Everything" by Lauryn Hill. That's all for now. The new year for MTV European Top 20 starts promisingly...

Well, at least since 1994 every year there has been a chart for the whole year... But not this time! I'll post the charts of 2008 in a new thread but let me first review the year 2007 in MTV European Top 20. 137 different songs appeared in the chart during the year. This doesn't mean anything by itself so let's compare - in the period 2000-2006 there was no single year with more than 114 songs in the chart! And even when we look at the 90's - the "Golden Age" of European Top 20: there has been a bigger total of songs in the chart only in 1992, 1993 and 1998. So 2007 was a busy year for new entries! ...and for re-entries. There were 12 re-entries in the chart in 2007 - a joint second place with 1999 (the most re-entries happened in 1998). And two songs re-entered the chart twice!!! Just to compare with the period 2000-2005 when there were NO re-entries at all (and in 2006 - only one)... Also, the chart of November 17, 2007 contained the second highest number of entries ever - SIX (5 new entries and one re-entry). In addition, there was a week with five new entries and countless weeks with four new entries... While in 2001 and 2002 there were no weeks with more than three new entries! Another anti-record from the 2000's comes from 2003 - then no song debuted in the Top 10 (the highest new entry during the whole year was at number 12)! In 2007 there were numerous Top 10 debuts, including some very high ones... And especially "What Goes Around... Comes Around" by Justin Timberlake, which entered the chart straight at number 2 (!), thus joining the two other songs that have done the same in the chart's history - "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman" by Bryan Adams and "Scream" by Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. Only two songs have ever debuted higher (obviosly at the very top) - "Back For Good" by Take That and "Candle In The Wind '97" by Elton John. Since I mentioned the top... In 2007 we saw the least successful number 1 EVER. Until then, no chart-topper had spent less than 8 weeks in the chart... Well, "Window In The Skies" by U2 managed to stay in European Top 20 for a mere 6 weeks. And exactly the opposite - another number 1, "Say It Right" by Nelly Furtado, spent 28 weeks in the chart, thus becoming the second longest stayer in European Top 20 ever. The record holder is "Asereje" by Las Ketchup with 29 weeks but they were spread between two years so "Say It Right" is the song to have spent the most weeks in the chart in a single year. Back to unlucky chart-toppers - "About You Now" by Sugababes scored the biggest fall from number 1 EVER, falling to number 10 (the previous "record" had been 1-8)... What about the biggest movements in the chart in general? The biggest fall in 2007 was 2-16, achieved by "Ayo Technology" by 50 Cent and Justin Timberlake. On the other hand, the biggest climbs were two 16-place climbs - "Gimme More" by Britney Spears went 19-3 and "Hot" by Avril Lavigne went 20-4... and they did that in consecutive weeks! An honourable mention deserves "Ruby" by Kaiser Chiefs, which climbed 15 places from number 19 to number 4. There were lots of curious situations during the year... But the most impressive was the Rihanna case when she had two songs in the chart in three consecutive weeks but the two songs were different in each of the three weeks - the first week "Shut Up And Drive" and "Don't Stop The Music" were in the chart, the following week - "Shut Up And Drive" and "Hate That I Love You"... and the third week - "Don't Stop The Music" and "Hate That I Love You"! This was such an unique situation that I don't think anything similar will ever happen... But all these are just statistics. Let me also say something about the essence of the chart. In the past few years, it was difficult to believe that this was actually the EUROPEAN Top 20 as most of the songs in the chart were by American acts. If there were European acts in the chart, they came from the UK. So I was extremely happy to see in 2007 some songs from other European countries in the chart - like "Summer Wine" by Ville Valo and Natalia Avelon; "Fairytale Gone Bad" by Sunrise Avenue; "What Have You Done" by Within Temptation; "Monsoon" by Tokio Hotel; "D.A.N.C.E." by Justice; "Rise Up" by Yves Larock; "The Kiss Of Dawn" by HIM; "I Found U" by Axwell; "With Every Heartbeat" by Robyn and Kleerup; "Amaranth" by Nightwish... During the 2000's I hoped that someday MTV European Top 20 would return to its glory days from the 90's when it was REALLY interesting. At different times during 2007 I thought that maybe, just maybe that was happening... Well, now that the year has finished, looking at it, I can definitely say that it's true - 2007 was the year when European Top 20 finally returned to its great status!!!!!! Now let's just hope 2008 will be even better!

I agree about Foo Fighters - I can accept that "Best Of You" and "The Pretender" entered the chart as they did comparatively well in Europe... but neither of them deserved reaching number 2! And neither "Resolve", nor "Long Road To Ruin" should have entered the chart... On the other hand, Linkin Park's singles usually do well around Europe... although it's true that "Shadow Of The Day" is not among their most successful ones...

It turns out that in the last week of 2007 there wasn't a chart for the whole year but a normal edition of European Top 20! Here is the chart of December 29, 2007: 20 Wyclef Jean & Akon - Sweetest Girl Stay => 19 Colbie Caillat - Bubbly NEW 18 Gwen Stefani - Now That You Got It 1 Down 17 50 Cent & Justin Timberlake - Ayo Technology 6 Down 16 Foo Fighters - The Pretender 2 Up 15 Craig David - Hot Stuff Stay => 14 Kanye West - Good Life 2 Down 13 Linkin Park - Shadow Of The Day 4 Down 12 Sugababes - About You Now 2 Down 11 Rihanna & Ne-Yo - Hate That I Love You 2 Up 10 Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love 4 Up 9 Nicole Scherzinger - Baby Love 2 Down 8 Fergie - Clumsy Stay => 7 Kylie Minogue - 2 Hearts 1 Down 6 Foo Fighters - Long Road To Ruin 10 Up 5 Britney Spears - Gimme More Stay => 4 Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music 1 Down 3 Avril Lavigne - Hot 1 Up 2 Alicia Keys - No One 1 Down 1 Timbaland & OneRepublic - Apologize 1 Up I was almost sure that this would be a chart for the whole year... but I was wrong. Still, it's possible that the chart of 2007 becomes broadcast in the beginning of the following year - it has happened several times in previous years... I just knew "Apologize" by Timbaland and OneRepublic would reclimb to the top! Here is its chart run so far: 5-2-1-4-3-2-1 When it fell from the top to number 4, that was a big shock... but it has since climbed one place every week and thus spends a second week at number 1 now. What's really remarkable is that during the three weeks between its two appearances at the top there have been two other chart-toppers - "About You Now" by Sugababes and "No One" by Alicia Keys. But, interestingly enough, Sugababes' single itself had the same fate - it also went to number 1, then fell and there were two other chart-toppers before it returned to the top (and the funniest thing is that one of them was "Apologize")... As I commented a few weeks ago, such a thing had only happened twice in the history of MTV European Top 20... but now it has happened twice in one year! I'm just waiting for the day when a song will return to number 1 after three other songs have been there... "Don't Stop The Music" by Rihanna falls 3-4 but her other single in the chart, the duet with Ne-Yo "Hate That I Love You" climbs to number 11, thus reaching a new peak position. The other artist with two singles in the chart - Foo Fighters - are doing much better. Their older song "The Pretender" reclimbs 18-16... And what about "Long Road To Ruin"? Now that's a surprise! Just look at the beginning of its chart run: 19-14-18 It looked like it was going to leave the chart quite soon... Instead it reclimbed two places to number 16 last week... Still, nothing that impressive. But this week it makes a 10-place climb to number 6!!! "Long Road To The Top"? I don't know... I just know that there is a tendency for Foo Fighers singles that aren't successful around Europe to do well in this chart - "Resolve" reached number 5... There is only one new entry at number 19 this week - "Bubbly" by Colbie Caillat. I was going to say that I'm very glad when there is a new entry in the chart that hasn't entered the UK chart but is doing well in other European countries... Then I checked that and I was shocked to find out that "Bubbly" did spend a single week in the UK chart... at number 72?! In any case, the song is successful around Europe so it deserves being in European Top 20.

Hej Jamse! I'm really happy to see yet another fan of European Top 20! And yes, I also thought before that it was just Markus Toksdorf and I that were so interested in the chart... It's amazing to find out that there are other people sharing this hobby! I do wonder when European Top 20 started. Having in mind that MTV Europe itself started on August 1, 1987, I guess the chart started in 1988 at earliest... What the chart is based on is the biggest mystery! I have only heard the chart presenters say that it's a "sales and airplay chart"...

Once again, THANK YOU! However many times I say that, it wouldn't be enough! It's amazing to find this information after so many years of searching! I really hope that you'll find the earlier charts as well. The biggest question for me is: how many weeks did "I Do It For You" by Bryan Adams spend at number 1? Also, you have charts even from 1990? Do you actually know whether the chart started in 1990 or even before that?

Here is the chart of December 22, 2007: 20 Wyclef Jean & Akon - Sweetest Girl NEW 19 Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah 4 Down 18 Foo Fighters - The Pretender 5 Down 17 Gwen Stefani - Now That You Got It 2 Up 16 Foo Fighters - Long Road To Ruin 2 Up 15 Craig David - Hot Stuff 1 Down 14 Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love 2 Up 13 Rihanna & Ne-Yo - Hate That I Love You 1 Down 12 Kanye West - Good Life 5 Up 11 50 Cent & Justin Timberlake - Ayo Technology Stay => 10 Sugababes - About You Now 9 Down 9 Linkin Park - Shadow Of The Day Stay => 8 Fergie - Clumsy 2 Up 7 Nicole Scherzinger - Baby Love 1 Up 6 Kylie Minogue - 2 Hearts 1 Up 5 Britney Spears - Gimme More 1 Up 4 Avril Lavigne - Hot Stay => 3 Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music 2 Up 2 Timbaland & OneRepublic - Apologize 1 Up 1 Alicia Keys - No One 1 Up Where is last week's number 1?... At number 10!!! By falling 9 places, "About You Now" by Sugababes becomes the biggest faller from number 1 EVER! I'm not sure the girls are happy that they have broken exactly this record... So far the biggest falls from the top were: "All For You" by Janet Jackson, which went 1-8; and "Truly, Madly, Deeply" by Savage Garden, which went 1-7. The song that replaces "About You Now" at the top is "No One" by Alicia Keys. I would never have guessed that looking at the beginning of its chart run: 10-6-9-10... But in the end it went all the way to number 1! There are, of course, some contenders - "Apologize" by Timbaland and OneRepublic continues climbing back, reaching number 2 this week and seeking to return to the top spot. And Rihanna scores her sixth Top 3 hit with "Don't Stop The Music". Having in mind that all the previous five did become number ones, maybe this will be the sixth in a row? "Clumsy" by Fergie goes 10-8, equalling the peak position of "Glamorous" and beating the number 9 peak of "Fergalicious". Another song which reaches a new peak position is "Good Life" by Kanye West. Here is its curious chart run: 16-13-OUT-OUT-OUT-20-14-OUT-17-12 It has appeared in the chart three different times, entering outside the Top 15, then making a climb into the Top 15 and leaving the chart after that! Going by that logic, I'd expect it not to appear in next week's chart... and that seems even more likely as next week it's probably going to be the chart of the whole year! Which means that maybe the song at number 20 is the last new entry of 2007. It's quite a nice surprise for me to see "Sweetest Girl" by Wyclef Jean and Akon debut in European Top 20. Wyclef's last appearance in the chart was very successful as his collaboration with Shakira "Hips Don't Lie" became a number 1... Otherwise, his last solo single in the chart dates back to 2001 when "Perfect Gentleman" peaked at number 10.

Here is the chart of December 15, 2007: 20 Jennifer Lopez - Do It Well 5 Down 19 Gwen Stefani - Now That You Got It 1 Down 18 Foo Fighters - Long Road To Ruin 4 Down 17 Kanye West - Good Life RE-ENTRY 16 Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love 3 Up 15 Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah 5 Down 14 Craig David - Hot Stuff 2 Up 13 Foo Fighters - The Pretender 2 Down 12 Rihanna & Ne-Yo - Hate That I Love You 1 Up 11 50 Cent & Justin Timberlake - Ayo Technology 1 Up 10 Fergie - Clumsy 7 Up 9 Linkin Park - Shadow Of The Day 1 Down 8 Nicole Scherzinger - Baby Love 1 Up 7 Kylie Minogue - 2 Hearts Stay => 6 Britney Spears - Gimme More 4 Down 5 Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music 1 Up 4 Avril Lavigne - Hot 1 Down 3 Timbaland & OneRepublic - Apologize 1 Up 2 Alicia Keys - No One 3 Up 1 Sugababes - About You Now Stay => When "Good Life" by Kanye West debuted in European Top 20, it spent only two weeks in the chart and went out. However, later it re-entered the chart and spent two additional weeks in before leaving again last week. Now it re-enters for the second time! This is the first time there are TWO songs in one year that re-enter the chart twice (the first song was, of course, "Whatever U Like" by Nicole Scherzinger). But there is something else which may or may not be unique about this week's chart. Yes, there is a re-entry... but do you see any new entries? There have been occasions with no entries at all (let's hope that never happens again!)... but an edition with no new entries and just a re-entry? There is a "mysterious" edition of European Top 20 - the chart of November 26, 1994. In it there is only one entry - "Goodnight Girl" by Wet Wet Wet. The thing is, "Goodnight Girl" by Wet Wet Wet spent some time in the chart in February and March 1992! So did it make a re-entry in 1994 - almost two years later? It's strange because every other re-entry in the history of the chart has re-entered in a four-month period at the most. But still, if that's the same version of "Goodnight Girl" as the one that charted in 1992, it must be a re-entry? The problem is that I'm not sure it's the same version. In fact, in Germany the song has charted both in 1992 and in 1994 - and the 1994 version is titled "Goodnight Girl '94". I checked both videos in YouTube - there seem to be really, really small differences between both the songs and the videos. But whether that's enough to consider them two different versions - I can't decide. If someone else knows something more about the two "Goodnight Girl"'s, I'll be glad to hear explanations! Anyway, what's for sure is that this week there is an indisputable case of a chart with one re-entry and no new entries. By the way, which song did "Good Life" replace in the chart? "Headlines" by Spice Girls, which spent just a single week at number 20... Poor Spice Girls! Ten years ago they were scoring Top 5 hit after Top 5 hit... Here is the chart run of "Clumsy" by Fergie until this week: 19-16-17. Nothing foreshadowed that it would make a 7-place climb to number 10 this week! But, after all, it's such shocking movements that make the chart interesting! "About You Now" by Sugababes spends a second consecutive and third in total week at number 1. The biggest contender for its spot turns out to be "No One" by Alicia Keys, which goes 5-2... and thus it's already Alicia's highest peaking song, improving on the number 3 peaks of "Fallin'" and "Gangsta Lovin'" with Eve. Here are the number ones in European Top 20 at this time during the years: 1991 Michael Jackson - Black Or White 1992 Michael Jackson - Heal The World 1993 Bryan Adams - Please Forgive Me 1994 Bon Jovi - Always 1995 Coolio - Gangsta's Paradise 1996 Robert Miles - One And One 1997 Aqua - Barbie Girl 1998 Cher - Believe 1999 5ive - Keep On Movin' 2000 Backstreet Boys - The Shape Of My Heart 2001 Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out Of My Head 2002 Nelly & Kelly Rowland - Dilemma 2003 Britney Spears & Madonna - Me Against The Music 2004 Gwen Stefani - What You Waiting For? 2005 Madonna - Hung Up 2006 Justin Timberlake - My Love

tsetsi81, I did know about Gregory Lemarchal a couple of years ago - I knew that he was the winner of the French Star Academy... I had only listened to one song by him - his duet with Lucie Silvas "Même Si"... but I was impressed by him. And I was extremely sad when I found out about his death... But it's only now that I have listened to several of his songs. Yes, he is amazing. Especially the chorus of "SOS D'Un Terrien En Détresse" is something magical - how he begins with very low tones and reaches so high... I cried after I heard the song. This is so unfair...

I have also sent many emails to MTV about the chart archive of European Top 20 from before December 1991... but with no result. The closest I got was when once they replied to me that they had contacted the person who makes the chart and he'd see what he could do... They promised me to keep me informed but never wrote to me again... I'd really like to know who is this person who makes the chart and what is his email... I have so many things to ask him...

Yes, there is definitely a new entry by a certain girl band... Here is the chart of December 8, 2007: 20 Spice Girls - Headlines NEW 19 Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love NEW 18 Gwen Stefani - Now That You Got It 2 Up 17 Fergie - Clumsy 1 Down 16 Craig David - Hot Stuff 4 Down 15 Jennifer Lopez - Do It Well 3 Up 14 Foo Fighters - Long Road To Ruin 5 Up 13 Rihanna & Ne-Yo - Hate That I Love You Stay => 12 50 Cent & Justin Timberlake - Ayo Technology 3 Up 11 Foo Fighters - The Pretender 3 Down 10 Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah 1 Down 9 Nicole Scherzinger - Baby Love 2 Up 8 Linkin Park - Shadow Of The Day 2 Up 7 Kylie Minogue - 2 Hearts 2 Down 6 Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music 1 Up 5 Alicia Keys - No One 1 Up 4 Timbaland & OneRepublic - Apologize 3 Down 3 Avril Lavigne - Hot Stay => 2 Britney Spears - Gimme More 2 Up 1 Sugababes - About You Now 1 Up The HEADLINE of this commentary is, of course, the new entry at number 20. Spice Girls are back! They were last seen in the chart with "Holler" almost 7 years ago... Here are the peak positions of their singles in European Top 20: Wannabe - number 1 Say You'll Be There - number 3 2 Become 1 - number 3 Mama - number 1 Spice Up Your Life - number 2 Too Much - number 1 Stop - number 4 Viva Forever - number 1 Goodbye - number 5 Holler - number 1 As you can see, all of their singles so far have made the Top 5! I have a feeling it will be hard for "Headlines" to do the same... But I'm happy that it entered the chart because I was afraid it wouldn't. After all, it's nice to see Spice Girls' comeback noted in the chart, even though it wasn't really successful... On the other hand, Take That's comeback WAS successful and I think "Patience" deserved more than the number 7 position where it peaked... The other new entry at number 19 is "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis. This is not the first song by a participant in a UK music show to enter this chart - "Anyone Of Us" by Gareth Gates reached number 3 in 2003... and I think Leona has the potential to do something similar - she's already appearing high in the Scandinavian charts and it's very likely that this will be the case in the rest of Europe as well. There are a few surprising movements in the chart - "Hot Stuff" by Craig David falling 12-16 after climbing 17-12 last week; "Baby Love" by Nicole Scherzinger reclimbing back to the Top 10 (please, let "Whatever U Like re-enter once again!); "Ayo Technology" by 50 Cent and Justin Timberlake continuing to reclimb, this time going 3 places up... However, the most shocking movement is the 1-4 fall of "Apologize" by Timbaland and OneRepublic. It looked like the song was going to spend quite some time at the top... but it falls after only one week there and actually leaves the Top 3 altogether! Who benefits from that? For example, Britney Spears, who made the exact same movement (1-4) last week. This week "Gimme More" reclimbs to number 2. However, that's not enough for the top spot, which is retaken by Sugababes. "About You Now" spent a single week at the top before being replaced by "Gimme More", which also spent a single week at the top before being replaced by "Apologize"... which also spent a single week at the top before being replaced by "About You Now"! In the history of the chart it has happened from time to time that a song returns to number 1. However, to return to the top after not one but TWO other songs have been there - that's an extremely rare case! In fact, it has happened only twice before: In 1993, "I Feel You" by Depeche Mode spent two weeks at number 1. After that "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You" by Sting stayed at the top for one week and "Give In To Me" by Michael Jackson - for two weeks... before "I Feel You" returned for an additional two weeks at number 1! But even more impressive was the situation in 2001. "Stan" by Eminem and Dido spent two weeks at number 1. After that "Don't Tell Me" by Madonna stayed at the top for two weeks and "Love Don't Cost A Thing" by Jennifer Lopez - for five weeks... before "Stan" returned for an additional three weeks at number 1! To go back at the top after seven weeks!

Here is the chart of December 1, 2007: 20 Gwen Stefani - Now That You Got It RE-ENTRY 19 Foo Fighters - Long Road To Ruin NEW 18 Jennifer Lopez - Do It Well RE-ENTRY 17 Mark Ronson & Amy Winehouse - Valerie 6 Down 16 Fergie - Clumsy 3 Up 15 50 Cent & Justin Timberlake - Ayo Technology 1 Up 14 Kanye West - Good Life 6 Up 13 Rihanna & Ne-Yo - Hate That I Love You 1 Up 12 Craig David - Hot Stuff 5 Up 11 Nicole Scherzinger - Baby Love 5 Down 10 Linkin Park - Shadow Of The Day 2 Up 9 Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah 4 Up 8 Foo Fighters - The Pretender Stay => 7 Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music Stay => 6 Alicia Keys - No One 4 Up 5 Kylie Minogue - 2 Hearts Stay => 4 Britney Spears - Gimme More 3 Down 3 Avril Lavigne - Hot 1 Up 2 Sugababes - About You Now 1 Up 1 Timbaland & OneRepublic - Apologize 1 Up And yet again chart history is written this week! There are two re-entries for a second week in a row! But something even more impressive has happened in 1998 - then there were two re-entries one week, THREE re-entries (a record) the following week... and then SEVEN new entries (a joint record) the following week! No, what has really happened for the first time is something else. So far there have been 4 occasions in the history of European Top 20 when there has been at least one re-entry for three weeks in a row. However, this week for the first time there has been at least one re-entry for FOUR weeks in a row!!!! And to think that during the period 2000-2005 I wondered whether I'd EVER see a re-entry in the chart!... The lower re-entry at number 20 is "Now That You Got It" by Gwen Stefani. It entered the chart at number 16 and made a very promising climb to number 10 the following week... only to go straight out of the chart from that number 10 position! But now, after two weeks' absence, it's back in the chart. The other re-entry (at number 18) actually spent just one week out of the chart. "Do It Well" by Jennifer Lopez did seem to have completed a full chart run - it spent 7 weeks in the chart and peaked at number 7... but now it's back for an eighth week and we'll see whether it's capable of something more. In between them at number 19 is the only new entry - "Long Road To Ruin" by Foo Fighters. Their old single "The Pretender" is still at number 8. Nicole Scherzinger is probably not very happy this week. "Baby Love" falls from number 6 to number 11... while "Whatever U Like" leaves the chart once again. But if it does re-enter next week (or even later), it will be the first song to re-enter European Top 20 THREE times! "Hey There Delilah" makes a shocking reclimb to the Top 10, going 13-9. It's still far from improving on its peak position - number 6... but it will be an impressive achievement if it does it! I just knew "No One" by Alicia Keys shouldn't be written off yet! Until last week, its chart run was: 10-6-9-10 ...and it looked like it had peaked too early and was going to continue falling in the chart. But this week it reclimbs 4 places to its peak position. And, unlike "Hey There Delilah", I think it has a strong chance to improve that! Just like Sugababes, her predecessors at the top, Britney Spears has only spent one week at number 1. "Gimme More" leaves the Top 3 altogether while the three songs behind it all go one place up. Which means that Avril Lavigne scores her third Top 3 single from her current album as "Hot" reaches number 3. Before that "Girlfriend" became a number 1 and "When You're Gone" peaked at number 2... I must admit I would never have expected to see "Hot" so high! What was easy to expect, however, was that "Apologize" by Timbaland and OneRepublic would reach the top. Second number 1 for Timbaland after "The Way I Are" spent 7 weeks at the top (and finally leaves the chart this week straight from number 9). It will be interesting to see whether "Apologize" will have anywhere near as long a reign!

Here is the chart of November 24, 2007: 20 Kanye West - Good Life RE-ENTRY 19 Fergie - Clumsy NEW 18 Nicole Scherzinger - Whatever U Like RE-ENTRY 17 Craig David - Hot Stuff NEW 16 50 Cent & Justin Timberlake - Ayo Technology 14 Down 15 Nelly Furtado - Do It Stay => 14 Rihanna & Ne-Yo - Hate That I Love You Stay => 13 Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah Stay => 12 Linkin Park - Shadow Of The Day 6 Up 11 Mark Ronson & Amy Winehouse - Valerie 5 Up 10 Alicia Keys - No One 1 Down 9 Timbaland & Keri Hilson - The Way I Are 1 Up 8 Foo Fighters - The Pretender 4 Down 7 Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music 4 Up 6 Nicole Scherzinger - Baby Love 2 Up 5 Kylie Minogue - 2 Hearts 1 Up 4 Avril Lavigne - Hot 16 Up 3 Sugababes - About You Now 2 Down 2 Timbaland & OneRepublic - Apologize 3 Up 1 Britney Spears - Gimme More 2 Up Last week's edition was incredible but this one is great as well! TWO RE-ENTRIES! And both a giant climber and a giant faller... Two re-entries in one week is something that hasn't happened since April 10, 1999 and before this week had happened a total of 5 times in the history of the chart! By the way, once there have been THREE re-entries in a single week - that happened in 1998, when the chart was crazier than ever before or after. With these two re-entries the total number of re-entries for the year 2007 becomes NINE! This is one of the highest numbers for a definite year! Let's compare how many re-entries there were every year: 1992 - 8 re-entries 1993 - 11 1994 - 2 or 3 (it depends on whether one counts "Goodnight Girl" by Wet Wet Wet as a new version or as the same version that charted in 1992) 1995 - 6 1996 - 2 1997 - NONE 1998 - 15 1999 - 12 2000-2005 - NONE! 2006 - 1 2007 (so far) - 9 So there were more re-entries only in 1993, 1998 and 1999. Oh, and this week there has been a re-entry in the chart for 3 weeks in a row - again an accomplishment which has only happened a few times before! So what about these two re-entries? "Good Life" by Kanye West entered the chart while "Stronger" was still in. And "Good Life" actually left the chart... while "Stronger" stayed in it for 3 more weeks before now finally (?) being replaced by "Good Life" again! But nothing can beat the story about the other re-entry. I thought that we had finally seen the last of "Whatever U Like" by Nicole Scherzinger... How wrong I was!!! Here's what happened - "Whatever U Like" was replaced in the chart by "Baby Love". However, two weeks ago "Whatever U Like" re-entered European Top 20 while "Baby Love" was climbing. Still, "Whatever U Like" left the chart again last week... But now! "Baby Love" continues to climb... and "Whatever U Like" re-enters the chart for the SECOND time! Until now there have been only two songs that have re-entered the chart twice - "Them Girls, Them Girls" by Zig & Zag and "When You Say Nothing At All" by Ronan Keating. But neither of them did it while another song by the respective artist was in the chart! Yet, however illogical Nicole Scherzinger's situation might seem, I think I have found an explanation for this competition between "Whatever U Like" and "Baby Love" - it turns out that both appear on the same single... Which proves that European Top 20 is a song chart and not a singles chart. At number 19 Fergie scores her fifth hit from her album with "Clumsy". So far "London Bridge" peaked at number 4, "Fergalicious" - at number 9, "Glamorous" - at number 8 and "Big Girls Don't Cry" - at number 3. The other new entry at number 17 is the comeback of Craig David. He was last seen in the chart in 2005 with "All The Way". Let's see how his new single "Hot Stuff" does! Last week "Ayo Technology" was at number 2... and this week it falls 14 places to number 16! There have been two other 14-place fallers - "Who Is It" by Michael Jackson went 5-19 in 1992 and "Heartbreaker" by Mariah Carey did the same in the first week of 2000 (but the previous two weeks a normal edition of the chart wasn't broadcast, which could explain Mariah's fall). There has never been a 15-place faller in European Top 20. The biggest fall ever was 16 places and happened twice. First in 1993 "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston went 4-20 and then in 2003 "Lose Yourself" by Eminem went 2-18... So yes, "Ayo Technology" doesn't even achieve the biggest fall from number 2! Not to mention that last year "The Saints Are Coming" by U2 and Green Day went straight OUT of the chart from number 2... The shock of the week for me was the number 4 position. When I saw it, I just couldn't believe it! Even Charlotte, the chart presenter on MTV Europe commented that "Hot" by Avril Lavigne "strangely" climbs 16 places... What makes this even more impressive is that last week "Gimme More" by Britney Spears went 19-3... So there has been a 16-place climber for two weeks in a row! There was another such case in 1999 when there was a 17-place climber for two weeks in a row - first "I Want It That Way" by Backstreet Boys and then "Look At Me" by Geri Halliwell... And since I mentioned "Gimme More" - it is the new number 1, replacing "About You Now" by Sugababes, which spent a sole week at the top. This becomes Britney's 9th number 1 and thus she equals Michael Jackson's chart performance. Only Madonna is ahead of them with 11 number ones in the history of European Top 20.

tsetsi81 - thank you very much for the information about the 1999/2000 case! I like MTV Europe and I don't want it to disappear in favour of MTV Bulgaria... but if that does happen, I just want MTV Bulgaria to broadcast European Top 20! Because I think there are some MTV's in European countries which don't broadcast it... Xmas Ben - I did inform Markus soon after you started posting the older editions of the chart. He has received your email, I guess he's just waiting to see your whole archive and then he'll update it on his site.