Julian_

Nearly 2 decades on and I’m pleased to report that all trouble in America has been fully resolved. This was Razorlight’s only chart topper and had a very impressive chart run with 20 weeks in the Top 40. It reached #1 in October 2006 and was the #17 of that year, but its sales spilled over into 2007. It finished 8th in the earlier survivor so this result is a considerable improvement. 4th: Razorlight - America 15/30 votes (50%) 5th: Arctic Monkeys - Leave Before The Lights Come On 14/31 votes (45%) 6th: Mis-Teeq - B With Me 9/28 votes (31%) 7th: Javine - Real Things 8/29 votes (28%) 8th: Pink - There You Go 8/30 votes (27%) 9th: Steps - Here And Now / You’ll Be Sorry 14/30 votes (47%) 10th: Basshunter - Angel In The Night 14/33 votes (42%)

He did say we should just carry on and not mourn, so let’s do that. “When I’m Gone” was released in conjunction with “Curtain Call: The Hits”, and peaked at #4 in December 2005. Eminem said that he was taking an extended break and we might never see him again… and that lasted all of 11 months until he topped the chart with “Smack That”. 7th: Eminem - When I’m Gone 8/30 votes (27%) 8th: Stereophonics - Handbags & Gladrags 10/31 votes (32%) 9th: Puff Daddy featuring R. Kelly - Satisfy You 27/29 votes (93%) 10th: Cliff Richard - Santa’s List 18/30 votes (60%)

A tie! Someone please break it.

The only one of those I have worked out at the moment is “Sorry I’m Here…” which I have on 149k, so I was thinking it might just miss next week. Previous week - latest week: Sex On Fire 65-65 Riptide 68-68 Naïve 83-80

Think we got a figure of 6.35 million for “Shape Of You” around last August, a year after it reached 6 million. So I’d have thought it would have passed 6.5 million now unless it’s really slowed down. Will be fascinating to see which of that and Mr B gets to 11x platinum first. My money’s still on SOY.

Yes sorry it is that one, though ChartsPlus do actually credit it as Paul Simon / Simon & Garfunkel

I found the Belgian song quite meh just from listening on Spotify, but the performance definitely brought it to life and it certainly went down very well in the arena. But of course it’s just as much about impressing joe public in Azerbaijan as the fans and I can see it not doing that.

Week 19: 1 1 Sabrina Carpenter Short n' Sweet 280,000 650,000 2 2 Sam Fender People Watching 162,000 3 3 Ed Sheeran +-=÷x (Tour Collection) 155,000 260,000 4 4 Chappell Roan The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess 128,000 430,000 5 6 The Weeknd The Highlights 128,000 1,360,000 6 5 SZA SOS 127,000 610,000 7 7 Fleetwood Mac 50 Years: Don't Stop 122,000 1,590,000 8 8 Elton John Diamonds 117,000 1,770,000 9 9 Central Cee Can't Rush Greatness 113,000 10 10 Lady Gaga Mayhem 111,000 11 11 Taylor Swift The Tortured Poets Department 110,000 890,000 12 12 Billie Eilish Hit Me Hard And Soft 108,000 450,000 13 13 Charli XCX Brat 107,000 400,000 14 14 Tate McRae So Close To What 99,000 15 15 Noah Kahan Stick Season 99,000 570,000 16 16 Gracie Abrams The Secret Of Us 94,000 230,000 17 17 ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits 92,000 5,990,000 18 18 Oasis Time Flies... 1994-2009 92,000 2,130,000 19 19 Michael Jackson The Essential 91,000 1,930,000 20 20 Arctic Monkeys AM 90,000 2,190,000 21 21 Eminem Curtain Call: The Hits 87,000 3,400,000 22 22 Kendrick Lamar GNX 81,000 140,000 23 24 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 81,000 2,620,000 24 23 The Weeknd Hurry Up Tomorrow 80,000 25 25 Olivia Rodrigo Guts 77,000 570,000 26 26 Linkin Park Papercuts 75,000 250,000 27 27 Olivia Rodrigo Sour 74,000 1,120,000 28 28 Ariana Grande Eternal Sunshine 73,000 260,000 29 29 PartyNextDoor & Drake $ome $exy $ongs 4 U 70,000 30 30 Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory 69,000 5,370,000 31 31 Teddy Swims I've Tried Everything But Therapy, Part 2 66,000 32 32 Calvin Harris 96 Months 65,000 140,000 33 33 Benson Boone Fireworks & Rollerblades 65,000 190,000 34 34 Queen Greatest Hits 65,000 3,110,000 35 38 Alex Warren You'll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) 62,000 80,000 36 37 Pitbull Greatest Hits 60,000 530,000 37 36 Post Malone The Diamond Collection 60,000 390,000 38 35 Teddy Swims I've Tried Everything But Therapy, Part 1 59,000 220,000 39 39 Fontaines D.C. Romance 59,000 180,000 40 40 Maroon 5 Singles 57,000 900,000 Jennie - Ruby is straight back out and Simon And Garfunkel’s Ultimate Collection is in for the first time!

^ televote only in the semis so Belgium was sunk by the public!

I actually heard this for the very first time in the arena last night. My expectations were pretty low and were greatly exceeded. I’d have thought this could end up with a good jury haul.

Edited (“Nokia” didn’t)

Week 19: 1 1 Lola Young Messy 805,000 980,000 2 2 Rosé and Bruno Mars APT. 761,000 1,120,000 3 3 Gracie Abrams That's So True 675,000 1,110,000 4 4 Alex Warren Ordinary 669,000 5 5 Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars Die With A Smile 623,000 1,260,000 6 6 Chappell Roan Pink Pony Club 567,000 1,010,000 7 7 Chrystal The Days 525,000 690,000 8 8 Billie Eilish Birds Of A Feather 493,000 1,710,000 9 9 Chappell Roan Good Luck, Babe! 482,000 1,680,000 10 10 Benson Boone Beautiful Things 482,000 2,270,000 11 11 Gigi Perez Sailor Song 464,000 1,060,000 12 12 Sabrina Carpenter Espresso 437,000 2,190,000 13 13 Sabrina Carpenter Taste 434,000 1,230,000 14 14 Teddy Swims Lose Control 432,000 2,270,000 15 15 Teddy Swims Bad Dreams 398,000 640,000 16 16 Teddy Swims The Door 389,000 1,060,000 17 17 Kendrick Lamar Not Like Us 381,000 1,000,000 18 19 Tate McRae Sports Car 375,000 19 18 Myles Smith Nice To Meet You 371,000 480,000 20 20 Shaboozey A Bar Song (Tipsy) 360,000 1,700,000 21 21 Hozier Too Sweet 346,000 1,820,000 22 22 Myles Smith Stargazing 346,000 1,360,000 23 23 Lady Gaga Abracadabra 344,000 24 24 Sabrina Carpenter Please Please Please 338,000 1,480,000 25 25 Noah Kahan Stick Season 330,000 2,850,000 26 26 Sabrina Carpenter Bed Chem 320,000 710,000 27 27 Sonny Fodera, Jazzy & D.O.D. Somedays 311,000 780,000 28 29 Alex Warren Carry You Home 306,000 610,000 29 28 Kendrick Lamar & Sza Luther 301,000 400,000 30 30 Gracie Abrams I Love You, I'm Sorry 294,000 780,000 31 31 Chappell Roan Hot To Go! 293,000 950,000 32 33 Sabrina Carpenter Busy Woman 289,000 33 32 The Weeknd and Playboi Carti Timeless 278,000 500,000 34 39 Doechii Anxiety 274,000 35 34 Sam Fender People Watching 273,000 380,000 36 37 The Killers Mr Brightside 272,000 6,340,000 37 35 Kendrick Lamar & Sza All The Stars 271,000 2,190,000 38 36 Doechii Denial Is A River 268,000 270,000 39 38 Billie Eilish Wildflower 268,000 780,000 40 41 Bl3ss & CamrinWatsin featuring BbyClose Kisses 262,000 920,000 42 47 Ravyn Lenae Love Me Not 254,000 48 61 WizTheMc & Bees & Honey Show Me Love 227,000 62 63 Tate McRae Revolving Door 198,000 66 71 Chappell Roan The Giver 190,000 72 73 Leon Thomas Mutt 183,000 81 - Ed Sheeran Azizam 169,000 88 94 Morgan Seatree featuring Florence + The Machine Say My Name (Remix) 165,000 “Azizam” and “505” replace “Like Him” and “Pink Skies”

15/5: 1 1 Ordinary (1) 2 7 Love me not (2) 3 2 Pink pony club (2) 4 3 Show me love (4) 5 6 Azizam (3) 6 3 Messy (1) 7 5 APT (2) 8 21 Undressed (8) 9 11 Beautiful things (9) 10 9 The days (5) 11 8 Anxiety (4) 12 12 Sports car (7) 13 10 That’s so true (1) 14 14 Birds of a feather (2) 15 15 Die with a smile (3) 16 19 Good luck, babe! (2) 17 13 Steve’s lava chicken (13) 18 16 Busy woman (11) 19 18 Bad dreams (13) 20 25 Nice to meet you (12) 21 24 Carry you home (17) 22 20 Lose control (2) 23 23 The door (13) 24 34 Back to friends (24) 25 22 Taste (1) 26 26 Espresso (1) 27 27 Abracadabra (4) 28 39 Stargazing (6) 29 30 Mystical magical (29) 30 29 Sailor song (2) 31 31 A bar song (2) 32 - Old phone (32) 33 28 Nokia (18) 34 17 What was that (17) 35 37 Too sweet (1) 36 33 Mutt (29) 37 32 The giver (2) 38 36 Revolving door (17) 39 41 Somedays (10) 40 35 Sorry I’m here for someone else (34) 40 41 Somedays (10) 41 44 Mr Brightside (10) 42 42 Stick season (1) 43 40 Shake it to the max (40) 44 43 Tell me (43) 45 - Dreams (22) 46 - Kisses (9) 47 46 Iris (3) 48 - Party 4 u (48) 49 50 Say my name (49) 50 47 I had some help (2)

No huge standouts here but nice to be able to give JJ72 a win with their last Top 40. 8 JJ72 Formulae Already their last Top 40 but I love this: such a powerful vocal in the middle and a gorgeous quiet part towards the end 7 The Wildhearts Vanilla Radio Their 1st hit for a while but they began in 1989: this is a very enjoyable relentless rock number perfect for moshing 7 Jakatta Featuring Seal My Vision Last big hit for either of these artists and a great combination: Seal's smooth vocals complement the chilled house style 7 Thick D Insatiable Only hit for US DJ Eric Miller: this is a very strong retro sounding track and I particularly enjoy the electric guitar solo 6 No Doubt Underneath It All A very different style from their last couple of singles with a gentle ballad, but it's very nice and a sweet performance 6 Feeder Come Back Around This is musically quite gentle but it's the 1st single since their drummer's death and the lyrics to this are very poignant 6 The Libertines Up The Bracket Their peaks will improve with all their first 5 hits: I found their debut rather messy and this is much more like their sound 5 Holly Valance Down Boy As a 1st fully original hit this isn't bad from her: I like the ebb and flow of the production far more than the song itself 5 LeAnn Rimes Life Goes On This was a lead single so its #11 peak will have been a disappointment: it's a very pretty flowing song but unremarkable 4 John Otway Bunsen Burner A novelty song based on "Disco Inferno" full of puns and innuendo: it's great fun though doesn't bear that many listens 4 Energy 52 Cafe Del Mar {2002} A different version reached #12 in 1998: listening to them both side by side I prefer that and can't see what this brings 3 Ian Van Dahl Try This is quite a nice tune but it's so obviously an entirely recycled formula at this stage that the enjoyment is diminishing 3 Irv Gotti Presents The INC Featuring Ja Rule, Asha Down 4 U This is the only hit directly credited to this US producer who died recently: despite the featured stars it's quite boring 2 Stamford Amp Anything For You This band came about as a result of the children's "Saturday Show" on TV: their only Top 40 and a pretty cheesy song 2002 Weeks 42 and 43: #1531 19/10/2002 Las Ketchup The Ketchup Song (Asereje) 1 {1}-2-4-4-5-5-6-7-9-8-8-8-9-17-22-29-32-39-53-56-61-72->22 #1532 19/10/2002 S Club Juniors New Direction 2 {2}-8-9-17-25-33-47-45-51-56-75-72-71->13 #1533 19/10/2002 Foo Fighters All My Life 5 {5}-12-23-33-48-58-54-64-72->9 #1534 19/10/2002 Richard Ashcroft Check The Meaning 11 {11}-23-41-60-73R(2)-68->6 #1535 19/10/2002 The Coral Dreaming Of You 13 {13}-22-32-41-60->5 #1536 19/10/2002 Nick Carter Help Me 17 {17}-37-57->3 #1537 19/10/2002 Trinity-X Forever 19 {19}-30-51->3 #1538 19/10/2002 The Vines Outtathaway 20 {20}-49->2 #1539 19/10/2002 Lemon Jelly Space Walk 36 {36}-60->2 #1540 26/10/2002 Nelly Featuring Kelly Rowland Dilemma 1 {1}-1-2-3-2-4-6-10-13-13-11-10-18-21-25-26-30-42-52-59-66->21 #1541 26/10/2002 Big Brovaz Nu Flow 3 {3}-6-7-9-12-14-20-17-22-27-24-26-37-51-59-64-59-75R(2)->18 #1542 26/10/2002 Samantha Mumba I'm Right Here 5 {5}-10-19-30-44-62-68R(2)-71->8 #1543 26/10/2002 Manic Street Preachers There By The Grace Of God 6 {6}-29-45-74R(3)-74->5 #1544 26/10/2002 LL Cool J Luv U Better 7 {7}-14-21-29-42-63-75->7 #1545 26/10/2002 Badly Drawn Boy You Were Right 9 {9}-33-49->3 #1546 26/10/2002 Faith Hill Cry 25 {25}-56->2 #1547 26/10/2002 Doves Caught By The River 29 {29}-75->2 #1548 26/10/2002 Nakatomi Children Of The Night {2002} 31 {31}-49->2 #1549 26/10/2002 Syleena Johnson Tonight I'm Gonna Let Go 38 {38}-62->2 #1550 26/10/2002 PPK Reload 39 {39}-68->2

Wow so proud of the interval act! ❤️

You could put something like Rixton - Me And My Broken Heart in that camp maybe. Nothing wrong with it particularly - just sounds like tens of other songs from the time.

Just getting into the songs and this is a bit of a stunner.

I voted yes but only because I was the first to mention “Forever Love” haha. Gary Barlow - Forever Love Peter Andre - I Feel You Will & Gareth - The Long And Winding Road …were all included in the shortlist of 100 chosen by a group of us for the Worst Number One Ever rate back in 2022 (eventually won by “The Stonk”). None of them finished particularly high in the rate, I guess because there’ll all more dull than bad.

May be quite late with the updates this week but this is a bullseye.

Early days but a Robbie-Robbie final isn’t beyond the realms of possibility here!

Went for Avril: quite a weak lead really.

Sorry Rich but I really like “America”: going for Basement Jaxx. Great production but I prefer other songs from them.

Leaving well before any lights are switched on today are The Arctics. This was their 3rd hit following up a duo of #1s, and peaking at #4 in August 2006. It was actually a non album single, omitted from their debut “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not”. 5th: Arctic Monkeys - Leave Before The Lights Come On 14/31 votes (45%) 6th: Mis-Teeq - B With Me 9/28 votes (31%) 7th: Javine - Real Things 8/29 votes (28%) 8th: Pink - There You Go 8/30 votes (27%) 9th: Steps - Here And Now / You’ll Be Sorry 14/30 votes (47%) 10th: Basshunter - Angel In The Night 14/33 votes (42%)

The Stereophonics are facing the handbags at dawn as they exit in Round 3. Chris Farlowe originally released “Handbags & Gladrags” in 1967 but it only reached #33. The Stereophonics version reached #4 in December 2001 and spent 5 weeks in the Top 5, and was the theme to “The Office” sitcom. It appeared on 2 year end lists as #89 of 2001 and #115 of 2002, but did better in the earlier Survivor, finishing 3rd. 8th: Stereophonics - Handbags & Gladrags 10/31 votes (32%) 9th: Puff Daddy featuring R. Kelly - Satisfy You 27/29 votes (93%) 10th: Cliff Richard - Santa’s List 18/30 votes (60%)

Also Ronan - very soulless cover of what’s actually one of my favourite country songs.