André

Before everyone start saying she's copying M.I.A with the "Rude Boy" video. That's a typical DANCEHALL music video, it was not invented by M.I..A. and it's a Caribbean music style (and Rihanna is Caribbean) so yeah...

They would be in the Top 20. According to BBC, their tour made 50 million pounds which is 78 million dollars. So they would be at 16th-18th. But yes, based on the e-mail they sent you, we can't blame Pollstar for not including them.

It still is an extremely US-centric list though. Take That, for example, should be on that list but, since they're not famous in the US, they aren't.

Does this topic belongs in the "UK Chart Chat" forum? Furthermore, Take That should be on that list. Their Circus tour earned 50 million pounds which equals 78 million dollars, more than the Eagles.

Leona Lewis winning a serious award? LOL, what a big joke. She isn't an artist, she's merely a puppet. Yes, of course she 'co-writes' all her songs, with HUGE songwriters who write similar songs to plenty of other acts (and fyi, every single big pop act supposedly write their own songs). Her albums are despised by critics (and don't start with the 'prejudice against pop acts' BS cause Rihanna album, for example, had amazing reviews). Plus, face it: "Echo" was a flop. Yes, it did reasonably well in the UK (not compared to her previous CD) but it flopped everywhere else. The BRITs are rubbish but she doesn't deserve winning it anyway.

Chart sucess =/= success Miley Cyrus doesn't sell exceptionally well in the UK but is a huge name nonetheless. She sold out FIVE O2 Arena concerts. N-Dubz wouldn't be able to sell out ONE. All her concerts in the UK and Ireland sold out in a few hours. Despite of what her sales might indicate, she is a big name in the UK and obviously has lots of selling power.

The performance was tacky and the whole feathers and pretending they were naked thing was RIDICULOUS and did not work out well. Their vocals were OK, nothing spectacular and of course it had repercussion the next day (tabloids have always loved Girls Aloud and Cheryl Cole) but so what? It wasn't iconic nor memorable and it didn't even boosted the singles sales much. Use Somebody not only was a good performance, it made the single go to number 1.

LOL. Are you guys serious with wanting "The Promise" to win best performance in Brits history? It was a rubbish perf. Anyway, I wish the Spice Girls would win. It was the most epic Brits performance ever, one of the few that had repercussion all around the globe (also: Geri Union Jack dress). But yes, I don't think it'll win although it definitely deserves...

Girls Aloud did not achieve success in Europe and also flopped in Australia. And I really doubt JLS will have international success tbh. Boybands are completely ignored in most of the planet, unless they have a plataform like The X Factor. The fact the lads from JLS aren't particularly attractive won't help either. So yes, I'm betting they won't break in any other market. I don't think Alexandra will have much international success either. Maybe her singles will go top 10 in a few countries (since even Alesha Dixon achieved that) but I seriously doubt her album will have good sales anywhere besides the UK.

I agree. Glee is a pathetic combination of cliches and just plain dumb but people think it's the most brilliant show ever. High School Musical was also full of cliches but at least it wasn't so over-rated and over-hyped.

Yes. It wasn't long ago. It was Jump then Fall by Taylor Swift (when her album was re-released).

Out of curiosity, how many copies you need to sell in order to be number 1 on the Spanish single charts?

Rage Against the Machine no doubt.

I really doubt Paul McCartney will accept Simon's invitation. And yes, Beyonce and Take That won't be on the final again I think.

Not a fair comparison. There was no iTunes in 2002-2005 and you needed huge airplay (which Britney never had) to reach the top of the charts. Now, you need to sell well on iTunes which makes it easier for popular non-Urban artists (like Britney) to reach good positions in the Hot 100.

Yes, she was on last year but it would be extremely controversial for a final imo since, although she's enormously popular, she's considered an act targeted to kids and the general public doesn't have a good opinion about her. Beyonce or Westilife are safe choices, for example, because they're established acts, with great voices, extremely popular for years and who can be enjoyed by people of all ages (although I despise Westlife).

So anyone have the FIRST WEEK sales number?

I wonder who will they book for the finals. I heard rumours it would be Madonna but I really doubt it: she won't fly to London just to appear in the show since she has absolutely nothing to promote (she's not interested at all in promoting her new greatest hits). Even when Madonna has a new CD out, she don't usually appear on TV so... Any guesses? Since Stacey is rumored to be singing "The Climb", maybe Miley Cyrus? She'll probably be in the UK (she's touring and she's booked to be in the Royal Variety Show) but I think it would be an EXTREMELY CONTROVERSIAL choice and The X Factor usually bet on safe choices... I dunno...

I know, it was directed to them, not to everyone in this posst obviously :P

Are you guys aware their rendition is not supposed to be taken seriously, right? It's a joke. Of course it's not a vocally stunning performance.

Exactly, Simon isn't a fool. He NEVER made any abrupt changes on the format, those were minimal changes. However, to add charts elements on the show would be a big change. The focus is on the contestants, not the musical guests. Of course have A-listers help build momentum and give the show some buzz, but to add over two acts would be pathetic. The public isn't tuning in to see Top of the Pops, they want to see a reality show. They couldn't care less about the charts. To assume they do is to risk losing a huge chunk of the show audience. What? It doesn't make ANY difference for Sting's public image if he decides not to go, it's not a lose-lose situation for him. By not going he is merely making it very clear he thinks the show is dumb and that he would never consider going on it. The only way he could "lose" was by accepting Simon's invitation which would never happen.

The album is REALLY high quality. I'm not even a Rihanna fan (I mean, I really liked the club bangers in GGGB) but I thought it was a really solid product, although less commercial (it grows on you though). But anyway, those who are afraid she'll sing Wait Your Turn on The X Factor, fear not: this won't be released as a single. It's just for promo. She'll most definitely sing Russian Roulette or, worst case scenario, Hard (which is the second single).

Wut? He OBVIOUSLY won't go. First of all, he don't need all this promotion. And even if he needed, he isn't THAT dumb to say all this stuff and to accept to go on the show the next week. It's funny you think Sting is THAT desperate... Well, Lily Allen and The Artic Monkeys have much higher UK sales than most artists that are invited to The X Factor. And Lily obviously would accept it. She was on Strictly Come Dancing and Ant & Dec Saturday Night Take-Away, why wouldn't she be on The X Factor? Why would they do that? The show is a huge hit as it is. They won't change the format and risk losing the audience.

She didn't mention the album or the single during the interview (she gave ONE interview,). She didn't plug "Russian Roulette" or "Rated R" and didn't mention them at all. It didn't even play any new songs on the background.

Oh please. JLS song is also a tried-and-tested formula. JLS team only care about the commercialism too, there are no "moral" reason for them to be number 1. And also, I really doubt they have much input on their songs. Oh, not to mention, their songs are also crap. So there you go...