Chart history has been made this evening, as 'Number 1' by Tinchy Stryder featuring N-Dubz makes number one in the singles chart.

Amazingly, in nearly 57 years of the UK singles chart, no song called Number 1 (or Number One) has ever become the self-fulfilling prophesy that the artists would have liked. The Tweenies and Goldfrapp came closest, both taking songs called 'Number 1' into the top ten, at #6 and #9 respectively. You won't be surprised to hear that these two and Mr Stryder's are three different songs.

Today's chart-topper is an all-London collaboration, as Tinchy Stryder hails from Bow in East London while N-Dubz are from St. John's Wood and Camden. Dappy from N-Dubz will be familiar to many TV viewers as 'that man with the stupid hat' on Never Mind The Buzzcocks. Their collaboration includes the line, "I don't understand how you're number one" and I'm sure many people will feel the same way.

Labels: chart, Goldfrapp, N-Dubz, Number One, Tinchy Stryder, Tweenies

· link

...which probably explains everything.



Former bible-bashing singer Katy Perry continues her transformation and her path to world domination today as her bi-curious anthem* 'I Kissed A Girl' makes its inevitable climb from #4 to number one and sees off the copycats at the same time. The two cover versions which crept into the UK charts last week and led to Perry's track being released early and midweek last week have both disappeared from the chart today.

The song, which includes Max Martin and Cathy Dennis amongst its four co-writers, has been number one for nine weeks in Canada and seven weeks on Billboard's Hot 100 in America. 'I Kissed A Girl' is also number one in Australia and climbs from #10 to the top in Sweden this week. It's number two in Denmark and New Zealand and climbs from #16 to #2 this week in Ireland. It's #3 in the Netherlands and #4 in Finland and Norway.

There's a chance this may become the biggest-selling song of the year in the UK until the X Factor winner hits us in December. The CD version isn't released here until Monday 1st September, so there's every chance of this song 'doing an Umbrella'.

It has also spawned more YouTube cover versions than you can shake a cherry chapstick at, with variations including 'I kissed a frog/horse/squirrel/your mother...' etc. This 'gay version' (like the original isn't entertaining enough already to gay men) is typical of the rubbish that's around, but it has some nice pictures:



* Can you think of any other song which can be referred to as a 'bi-curious anthem'? I think Katy Perry has carved a niche all of her own here. One of her previous songs is called 'UR So Gay'.It's a song to her boyfriend who is adopting 'gay ways' despite not actually fancying men. ("You're so gay and you don't even like boys.") Her album's called 'One of the Boys'. Are you sensing a running theme of gender confusion here?

Labels: chart, Katy Perry, Number One

· link

Whatever happened to national pride, huh? Andy Abraham managed to come last in Eurovision on Saturday, as widely predicted by fans and bookies alike. On Sunday, he only managed to chart at a hopeless #67, giving him the lowest placed UK Eurovision single since 1989, when Live Report could only manage a week at #73, despite coming second in Eurovision. (Live Report's song is absolutely pants, so goodness only knows how that happened anyway.)

But what's this? This year's Greek entry, Secret Combination by Kalomira, is currently nestling in the midweek UK top 40, on the strength of download sales since Sunday. It's the song that received the UK's douze points on Saturday, so it's no big surprise that it's 'doing a Verka', but still...the shame!

Labels: Andy Abraham, chart, Eurovision 2008

· link

Dermot O'Leary made a surprising announcement tonight at the start of The X Factor. If it's true, it looks like the winner of this series won't be aiming for the Christmas Number One this year. He said the final takes place in four weeks' time, making it the 22nd of December and not the 15th; the date which would be necessary in order to register shop sales for the Christmas chart. (I thought there would be a double eviction soon, or the return of the three-act final, in order to cater for this.)

With Christmas Day on Tuesday 25th, the Christmas Number One will be announced on Sunday 23rd, meaning that an X Factor final on Saturday 22nd would have no impact at all, unless... unless...

Are they planning to take a massive gamble and release the winner's song as a download immediately after the programme? This would give two hours at the most for the song to outsell everything else from the last seven days before the midnight cut-off point for the chart week. However, if it sold at the same rate as Leona's download did in its first hour, it would be more than enough to top the charts.

Leona's single was released as a download after midnight last year, but it didn't matter because last year's final was on Saturday 16th December, giving a whole week of sales before she easily claimed the Christmas Number One on Christmas Eve.

If Dermot was right, this will add another twist to the annual race for the Christmas Number One, but he may be wrong. After all, last week he said the theme of today's show would be Motown, but that's been ditched in favour of love songs. Perhaps the X Factor people just don't know what they're doing?

This feeling will be heightened by the bemusing caption they put on screen tonight during Hope's travels back home. Did it really say, 'Sunderland, County of Durham'? For a start, it's called 'County Durham', not 'County of Durham'. More importantly, Sunderland isn't in it. It remains in the county called Tyne & Wear, unless I missed an announcement somewhere. A shocking mistake to make.

While I'm here... Rhydian gave a series-winning performance tonight, of one of my favourite songs ('Somewhere' from West Side Story), while Niki struggled with a few notes, especially near the start. I think Hope are in danger again tonight, after performing an unknown song (unless you're a Christina Aguilera fan), with some wavering vocals, despite what the judges said. (They can't hear a thing in the studio; we are in a much better position to hear the vocals on TV.) Surely Hope will be in the bottom two? However, it will probably be with Leon, in which case he may go, thereby keeping the girls in with a chance of winning, which is what some of the former contestants believe the programme-makers have wanted all along. (Ooh, it's a World of Chig exclusive!)

Labels: chart, Christmas, geography, Number One, X Factor

· link

Rejoice, music lovers! Celebrate, chart fans! Radio 1 has finally sacked JK and Joel from the chart show. In fact, the morons are leaving the station completely, being replaced on their early morning show by an unknown 21 year-old student. I can't think of any other unprofessional pair of idiots who so richly deserve such an embarrassing slap in the face.

I hope Jerk and Jackoff will be very happy together at Magic FM, or wherever else it is they're going where you don't have to have any interest in music.

Well done Radio 1, for rescuing us from their inanity and ineptitude, but what took you so long, Andy Parfitt?

Labels: chart, JK and Joel, Radio 1

· link

Chig never thought he would be glad to see the day when a grammatically-challenged single called 'The Way I Are' made Number One, but today is that day. Rihanna's Umbrella is down, after a thoroughly undeserved run of ten weeks at the top. History will record that it spent a week longer at Number One than 'Two Tribes' and that's just not right, is it?

Now the Umbrella's gone, do you think it might stop raining?

Labels: chart, Rihanna, singles, Timbaland

· link

It’s 07/07/07 and exactly two years since the London bombings. Al Gore is celebrating the anniversary with a series of concerts around the world. He is clearly a sick, dangerous terrorist.

It’s also French day in London. My sister is en Londres, watching the Tour de France invade, Richard Gasquet is in a Wimbledon semi-final and some French woman I hadn’t heard of until this week is in the women’s final. (Personally, I always find men’s semis more of an attraction.) Before the French get too carried away though, let’s just remind ourselves that it was two years yesterday that London beat Paris to the Olympics. Ha.

None of these events can compete with the main attraction of the day here though; my local carnival, going ahead despite the best efforts of the idiot bureaucrats in Birmingham City Council who decided only two weeks ago to price the carnival procession off the streets. My neighbourhood is very angry about this and so am I. (Full, ridiculous story here.)

So, with support and cynicism in equal measure, here is Chig’s Climate Change Chart of Topical Songs for today’s Live Earth concerts (and the artists who have selflessly given no thought at all to how many more albums they might sell next week):

01 Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth – Sparks
02 You Can Call Me Al (Gore) – Paul Simon
03 Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots Of Money) – Pet Shop Boys
04 The Earth Dies Screaming – UB40
05 Turn Off The Light – Nelly Furtado
06 The Great Song Of Indifference – Bob Geldof
07 Earth Song – Michael Jackson
08 This World Of Water – New Musik
09 Nothing Ever Happens – Del Amitri
10 Melt With The Sun – Amber ft Sweet Rain
11 Drowned World (Substitute For Love) - Madonna
12 Change The World – Eric Clapton
13 What Difference Does It Make? – The Smiths
14 Mad World – Tears For Fears
15 Change – Tears For Fears
16 Planet Earth – Duran Duran
17 The Power – Snap!
18 We All Stand Together – Paul McCartney & The Frog Chorus
19 Windpower – Thomas Dolby
20 Any Other World – Mika
21 Melt – Melanie C
22 Ice In The Sun – Status Quo
23 Sunburn – Muse
24 We Are The World – USA For Africa
25 Save Me – Queen
26 Burn Baby Burn – Ash
27 Mother Earth - Crass
28 Burning Up – Tony de Vit
29 This Is The World Calling – Bob Geldof
30 Hot Hot Hot - Arrow
31 I Melt With You – Modern English
32 Think Locally, Fuck Globally – Gogol Bordello
33 Power Out – The Arcade Fire
34 Cars – Gary Numan
35 Are ‘Friends’ Electric? – Tubeway Army
36 Electricity – suede
37 Electricity – Elton John
38 Electricity – Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
39 Electricity – Spiritualized
40 Electric – Lisa Scott-Lee
41 The Tide Is High - Blondie
42 Four Seasons In One Day - Crowded House
43 Cold As Christmas (In The Middle Of The Year) - Elton John
44 Everyone's Gone To The Moon - Jonathan King
45 The New Pollution - Beck
46 Weather With You - Crowded House
47 We've Got The Whole World In Our Hands - Nottingham Forest FC with Paper Lace
48 Sun Hits The Sky - Supergrass
49 Window In The Skies - U2
50 Electrical Storm - U2

Please feel free to suggest some more.

Labels: chart, Live Earth, Tour de France, Wimbledon

· link

Tanzen!

Verka Serduchka (left), the Ukrainian bacofoil drag queen who came second in Eurovision last week, has entered the official UK chart today at number 28, entirely on the strength of downloads. The song came third in the UK's televote, behind Turkey and Greece, getting our 8 points.

The song has fallen away a little from its midweek position of #18 (apparently), but at least we have just had the surreal experience of Dancing Lasha Tumbai being played on the Radio1 chart show.

This is the first time that a non-winning, non-UK Eurovision song has made the UK charts since...er...since....hmmm. Help, anybody?

It's possibly the first ever UK chart hit to feature Mongolian in its title, if it really is Mongolian, as claimed, but not the first in Eurovision, as Dschingis Khan and their eponymous song would have a claim to that. Ha, ha.

It's the second of Ukraine's Eurovision entries to make the UK chart, as Ruslana's winner, Wild Dances, spent one measly week at #47 in 2004, after coming 6th in the UK televote, getting 5 points. It's not bad going though, for a country which has only entered Eurovision five times.

Verka Serduchka has also entered the Swedish chart at #6, despite receiving only three points from Sweden last Saturday. Serbia's winner, which Sweden rewarded with 10 points, has entered the Swedish Hitlistan at number nine.

UPDATE: (Thanks Martin, and Dave in the comments.) From a debate that's already happened on the above issue, on the Eurovision Nation message board, it seems it was 1974 when a non-UK, non-winning song last made the UK chart. Thirty-three years! Respect to the tinfoil goddess and the UK's sense of humour! In 1974, the whole of the Eurovision top four charted here, with the top three all charting higher than the UK entry and having longer chart runs:

1974 Eurovision position / song & artist (country) / UK chart peak (Weeks on chart)

1st Waterloo - ABBA (Sweden) #1 (9 weeks)
2nd Si* - Gigliola Cinquetti (Italy) #8 (10 weeks)
3rd I See A Star - Mouth & MacNeal (Netherlands) #8 (10 weeks)
4th Long Live Love - Olivia Newton-John (UK) #11 (8 weeks)

*Gigliola charted here with the English version, 'Go (Before You Break My Heart)'.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Scooch have fallen only three places in their second 'proper' week on the chart, to number 8. I understand that, in the middle of the week, if downloads weren't being counted and the chart were based on CD sales only, Scooch were Number One!

YET ANOTHER UPDATE: The song which was number one in midweek, by Maroon 5, has failed to clinch the top spot today, in a genuine surprise. They have been nudged away from the top spot by Rihanna and her 'Umbrella', probably helped by the rain here in the last week(!)

THE LAST UPDATE: Last week's number one, by McFly, has broken a record quite spectacularly, by falling from #1 to #20. This breaks the record for the biggest tumble ever from the top spot for a non-limited edition single. This record had been held by Harry Belafonte since January 1958, when Mary's Boy Child fell from the top to #12. McFly have even equalled the all-time fall from number one, set two years ago by Elvis Presley's One Night / I Got Stung (also the 1,000th Number One), which was a limited edition release. No single has ever fallen lower than #20 from #1. All of this indicates that McFly's niche market gets more niche and more tuned in to first week sales with every release, and that the singles chart is excitingly unpredictable.

Labels: chart, Eurovision, McFly, Ruslana, Scooch, Ukraine, Verka Serduchka

· link

Wow! Despite last night's equal 22nd place at Eurovision, Scooch have managed to re-enter the chart today at number 5. This is the highest chart placing for the UK entry since the woman I was chatting and drinking with for three hours earlier today made #3 in 1997. We're having a bit of a renaissance with our UK entries, it seems, in terms of sales.

Scooch's result last night, 22nd out of 24 songs, was exactly the same as Javine's in 2005, with just one point more than her eighteen, but they have outperformed her quite significantly chart-wise.

The Scooch single is a re-entry today because it charted for one week at #61 on 25 March, on downloads only, before the download versions (which include mixes not on the CD or DVD formats) were withdrawn from sale until this week. (Yes, they were withdrawn from sale. James Masterton's chart commentary last week, which implied otherwise, was wrong and I have told him.)

Leaving that technicality aside, this is really the first UK Eurovision song to enter in the top ten since Precious in 1999 (if they did enter at #6, which I think they did), so congratulations are due. Heaven knows, we need some silver lining to the big grey cloud hanging over the UK. It also means that Scooch have easily beaten the #8 chart peak of Daz Sampson last year in just one week, when he took three weeks to climb there.

Well done Scoochers!

Chart peaks of the most recent UK Eurovision entries:

05 Scooch - Flying The Flag (For You) - 2007
08 Daz Sampson - Teenage Life - 2006 (Entered at #13, rose to #12, then #8.)
18 Javine - Touch My Fire - 2005
13 James Fox - Hold Onto Our Love - 2004
15 Jemini - Cry Baby - 2003
13 Jessica Garlick - Come Back - 2002
32 Lindsay - No Dream Impossible - 2001
34 Nicki French - Don't Play That Song Again - 2000
06 Precious - Say It Again - 1999
15 Imaani - Where Are You? - 1998
03 Katrina & The Waves - Love Shine A Light - 1997
01 Gina G - Ooh Aah...Just A Little Bit - 1996

Labels: chart, Eurovision 2007, Scooch

· link

It's only taken a week for the new chart rules to allow an act who wouldn't previously have charted to secure themselves a big hit.

The big story of tomorrow's chart will be unsigned band Koopa hitting the top 20 on downloads alone with their single 'Blag, Steal and Borrow'. I've heard the singer speaking on the radio twice in the last 24 hours, and their story (which sadly also includes a family tragedy) is all over the internet: NME, Channel 4 News, The Independent, Revolution, MTV.

Koopa - not to be confused with:

Krupa (Apollo 440 hit from 1996)
Gene Krupa (Drummer, after whom the above hit was named.)
Koop (Swedish-based drag jazz duo - really!)
The Cooper Temple Clause
Tommy Cooper

Labels: chart, koopa

· link

Today we have the first 'songs' chart under the new chart regulations, and what's changed, now that we can see, without exclusions, just what people are buying, in any format?

It's useful to take a look first at last week's download chart. I've picked out all the tracks that were in the download top 40 last week, but didn't appear anywhere in the overall Top 75, for various reasons. These are the tracks which would have been thought most likely to break into the top 40 today, with the restrictions lifted.

In green, I've added where they are in today's combined chart, or red if they're not in it.

Last week's
DOWNLOADS
chart position / Title - Artist Position in today's SINGLES chart.

04 Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol 9 Re-entry
10 All I Want For Christmas Is You – Mariah Carey Not in Top 75
23 Monster – The Automatic 33 Re-entry
24 Maneater – Nelly Furtado 38 Re-entry
30 You Give Me Something – James Morrison 50 Re-entry
31 You Don’t Know – Eminem/50 Cent/Lloyd Banks 32 New entry
32 Last Christmas – Wham! Not in Top 75
35 Everytime We Touch – Cascada 42 Re-entry
36 Crazy - Gnarls Barkley 30 Re-entry
37 When You Were Young - The Killers 55 Re-entry
39 Mad World – Michael Andrews feat. Gary Jules 58 Re-entry
40 A Great Big Sled – The Killers Not in Top 75

So, it's pretty much as expected. The three Christmas tracks have disappeared completely, but all the other tracks which were selling strongly on download but were excluded last week have re-entered the singles chart today. The Eminem/50 Cent/Lloyd Banks track is the exception. It becomes a first time entry at 32 as the CD release was previously sold with a free gift, which broke the former chart regulations. That freebie now has no bearing on the track's download sales, so it's allowed to enter the chart for the first time, after being out for a few weeks.

There are, as yet, no tracks which have come 'from out of nowhere' to enter the chart, but it will happen, sooner rather than later, I imagine, certainly from any major celebrity's death (although there's been no James Brown surge, which is perhaps surprising). It could also come from a track being featured prominently in a TV programme or advert. If these new regulations had been in place while The X-Factor was on, we would have seen The Proclaimers back in the Top 40. (It's at times like this that we will miss Top Of The Pops more than ever!) This was due to the MacDonald Brothers' performance of their song, 'I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)', which caused a massive surge in download sales for the original. (It happened to a lesser extent with several songs performed on The X Factor. From songs covered by the contestants to the album track that Westlife performed with Delta Goodrem, many of them appeared in the lower end of the download chart, as did Kelly Clarkson's original version of Leona's hit song.)

Below the Top 40, only three 'oldies' have made a reappearance due to being 'allowed' in again by the rule changes and none of them are really that old;

64 Numb/Encore - Jay-Z & Linkin Park (Originally no. 14 in December 2004.)
66 Promiscuous - Nelly Furtado ft. Timbaland (Number 3 in September 2006.)
75 No Tomorrow - Orson (Number 1 in March 2006.)

Of the other new entries in today's chart, both of the big ones, from Eric Prydz vs. Floyd at number 2 and U2 at number 4 were available on CD anyway this week, so they're not download new entries. It's the third highest entry, from JoJo at number 22 which has benefited from another of the rule changes. It has charted on downloads alone TWO weeks before the CD release. It would have had to wait until next week; one week before CD release, to chart under the old rules. It will therefore have to chart again next week on downloads alone, so it will be interesting to see if she can maintain the momentum, or whether the track goes down, perhaps before going back up again when the CD hits the shops. Her previous two hits made number 2 and number 8, so she'll be hoping for higher than today's entry position.

The success story of today is undoubtedly Amy Winehouse, perhaps on the back of her appearance on Jools Holland's Hootenanny on NYE. (Yes, I know, we were out, not watching the telly, but it's been repeated at least twice already at more reasonable times.) As her new single enters on downloads only at 40, the fabulous Rehab, which made number 7 back in October, continues to lurch its drunken way back up the chart, from the gutter of 37 two weeks ago, to last orders at 25 last week, to a crafty lock-in at number 20 today. But the big news for Amy is that her local off-licence is still open second album seems to have become the main beneficiary of record token shopping, leaping back up from 16 to number 2, where it has peaked before. (Mathematicians may note the significance of her products occupying numbers 2, 20 and 40, but I would have to go and put my chart anorak on if I pointed it out, so I won't.) All these sales should keep her well supplied with mascara and booze for a good while yet.

After all that, and some people's fears that the new chart would be dominated by several tracks from the same album, are there any album tracks selling strongly enough to make the Top 75? The answer is yes, but only one: 'Stick To The Status Quo' by the Cast of High School Musical squeezes in at number 74, joining their two singles in the chart (and there's a fourth track of theirs at number 90, according to James Masterton's chart commentary). So, it's not exactly an invasion yet, but it may happen one day.

Overall then, an interesting start for the new chart and Leona claims yet another record (to go with 'biggest selling download ever' and 'most downloads sold on one day') by being the first artist to top it.

Related links:
Diamond Geezer's report on the new chart.
James Masterton's chart commentary on Yahoo! Music.
Further comments from James Masterton on his personal blog.
Report from BBC News on the new chart.
The Top 75 'singles'.
The Top 200 downloads. (This page has published the top 200 downloads for many months, but they've carried on calling it the top 40 downloads, for reasons best known to Yahoo! Music.)
The new chart rules. (Official guide in downloadable PDF format.)

Labels: chart, new regulations, singles

· link

It looks like Ken Russell is about to leave the CBB house. Damn. The others will no doubt be relieved to get some sleep, but I want to see more of him.

Perhaps he can't wait to hear today's 'new' 'singles' chart, with re-entries expected from Snow Patrol, Gnarls Barkley, Nelly Furtado and Michael Andrews featuring Gary Jules. I may have to grit my teeth and listen to the Radio 1 chart show, as I am vaguely excited about this, the most unpredictable chart ever! It's even more unpredictable because there's been no Popbitch mailing this week, so I have little clue what the positions might be, or even if Leona is likely to be deposed, either by U2 or Eric Prydz vs. Floyd (as they have renamed Pink Floyd, for reasons best known to the lawyers).

We'll be back later tonight with some blinding comments on the shape of the new chart. Probably.

Must go now. I'm trying to watch Dermot's BBLB and Match Of The Day Live (in which Villa will surely go out of the FA Cup to Man United) at the same time. It's surprisingly easy with two TVs next to each other.

Labels: celebrity big brother, chart, today's TV

· link