This week's Official UK Singles Chart
This week's Official UK Albums Chart
Having been introduced to the British public a week earlier than Warner Bros. had anticipated thanks to Andie Case's inspired cover, the "real" rendition of Want To Want Me makes an immediate impact on the Official UK Singles Chart this week. The lead single from his forthcoming Everything Is 4 album flies to the top of the charts to give Jason Derulo his fourth British chart-topping single. His previous Number One singles have all come at regularly spaced intervals, In My Head in 2010, Don't Wanna Go Home in 2011 and Talk Dirty in 2013. As you might expect for a new release, the streaming figures for Want To Want Me are way down the table, but its first week paid sales of 114,000 copies is enough to send the single to the top of the charts regardless, its combined sales double those of the now slumping Cheerleader which is finally relegated to Number 2 after an extended stay at the top of the charts. [This was the first of two Number One singles this year to be indirectly inspired by Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - if you are playing close enough attention. Regardless, this is Jason Derulo's best pop moment ever].
Brand new at Number 9 this week is Martin Garrix, the still teenage Dutch producer charting for the first time in over a year as a lead artist. His new single is Don't Look Down which features a guest vocal by no less a superstar than Usher whose presence helps to make this arguably the most accessible single the producer has put his name to so far. Usher's first chart hit was in 1997 - a year before his producer was even born. The track is Garrix' third Top 10 hit in a row as a lead artist, the run spoiled slightly by his co-credit on Number 30 hit Tremor by Dimitri Vegas and Number 49 chart single Gold Skies by Sander Van Doom, both of which charted in 2014.
With the annual Eurovision Song Contest having taken place in Vienna the weekend before last it is more or less inevitable that the exposure given to the most popular songs performed at the event helps them make a chart impact. However, in contrast to the hype, the chart performance of Eurovision hits is smaller than it has been for some time, perhaps reinforcing the notion that Eurovision fans and music buyers fall into two separate camps. In the event, the only song from the contest to make any kind of impact is the winning Swedish entry Heroes by
Måns Zelmerlöw which lands at Number 11. That's at the very least six places higher than the position scaled by Conchita Wurst's Rise Like A Phoenix this time last year but the third year in a row that the Eurovision Song Contest winner has failed to reach the British Top 10. Euphoria by Loreen, the 2012 winner remains a modern day high point, hitting Number 3 three years ago this week. It is worth repeating what has now become a regular statistic, the last British Number One single produced by the contest was Gina G's 1996 UK entry Ooh Ahh, Just A Little Bit whilst the last Eurovision winner to top the British charts was Nicole's A Little Peace - way back in 1982.
The other Eurovision hits to register on the singles chart this week are the Belgian entry at 69, Russia at 97, Latvia at 135, Israel at 169 and the one-shot Australian entry performed by Guy Sebastian at 178. The British entry Still In Love With You by Electro Velvet had climbed as high as Number 114 last week but slides to 156 this week. There are therefore just seven Eurovision hits on the Top 200 chart this week - compare that with 19 a year ago. [I never understood the Electro Velvet hate, nor its poor performance in the contest. Quirky and different, it was possibly too good for Eurovision].
Having previously featured on hits by acts such as Iggy Azalea, Charli XCX, K Koke and DJ Fresh, Rita Ora this week lends her vocal skills to New York Raining by Charles Hamilton. It gives the American rapper his first ever British chart single, the track marking his own musical comeback after his early promise was derailed in 2008 by issues with depression and addiction.
A full 13 years after his 'discovery' on the original UK series of Pop Idol, Will Young scores a fourth Number One album this week as 85 Proof storms to the top the listings. In the process, he just betters The Vaccines whose new release English Graffiti clicks into place at Number 2. Once more you will note both top-selling albums by well-established acts have done so without the support of a mainstream hit single. Locked at Number 5 this week is Sam Smith's In The Lonely Hour, a record which it was belatedly noticed last week had just matched a chart feat hitherto only ever achieved by The Beatles. This week marks the record's 53rd week on the album chart - every single one of which has been spent in the Top 5.
