CHART WATCH

SINGLES : Lady Gaga remains on top of the Australian singles chart for the second week in a row, but with Pink’s new single ‘Sober’ being rushed into stores to capitalise on the ticket success of the upcoming live shows and the Australian Idol winner’s single going into the stores next week, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether she can hang on for a third week. US rapper T.I. accompanies Rihanna back up into the top five this week, just behind the new single from Kings Of Leon (they now have two top five singles) and Natalie Bassingthwaighte is knocking on the door of a top ten single with her debut ‘Alive’ as it moves up to No.11 on the back of it’s CD single release. Beyonce’s having a time of it too – a No.3 hit with ‘If I Were A Boy’ and now a No.15 hit with ‘Single Ladies’. Both tracks are on the CD single of ‘If I Were A Boy’, but given it’s not the ‘A side’, ‘Single Ladies’ is only eligible to chart digitally. Snow Patrol makes a big jump up to No.31 (up from No.44), Paramore debuts at No.36 and that’s about it!!
DIGITAL TRACKS : Digital is also the domain of Lady Gaga – she’s on top, with the rest of the top five made up of Kings Of Leon x2, T.I. and Beyonce. Speaking of Beyonce, her b-side ‘Single Ladies’ moves up an extraordinary 19 places to No.13, Snow Patrol makes another splash with the single ‘Take Back The City’ in the No.30 position and Paramore debuts at No.32 with ‘Decode’. There’s also a debut in the No.40 position from The Killers, whose single ‘Human’ should be a hell of a lot further up the chart than it is. Attention Universal Music – CD single please!!!
PHYSICAL SINGLES : Lady Gaga’s moving up here this week – up to No.3, but not strong enough to displace either Beyonce (No.1) or Jessica Mauboy (No.2). It’s here where Natalie Bassingthwaighte scores herself a top ten hit, smashing her way into the No.8 position with ‘Alive’. Ne-Yo’s ‘Miss Independent’ moves up to No.20, Empire Of The Sun moves up to No.23, Michael Paynter pOps in at No.26 and Pink’s ‘Sober’ comes in at No.32 – it had been snuck into the stores a week and a day early to capitalise on the Pink-mania currently sweeping the country. There are also physical debuts at Nos.44, 45, 46 and 50 for Miami Horror, Kings Of Leon, Sneaky Sound System and The Getaway Plan respectively.
ALBUMS : With Australia currently in the grip of Pink fever, her album ‘Funhouse’ staves off all comers this week – even big guns like Dido can’t dent Pink’s reign at the top of the chart, with her album ‘Safe Trip Home’ becoming the first Dido album not to make the No.1 position – it’s in at No.6. Nickelback is in at No.3, Beyonce manages No.8 with her new double album ‘I Am… Sasha Fierce’ and Tina Arena just misses out on a top ten berth, with new album ‘Songs Of Love And Loss 2’ debuting at No.12. David Campbell provides a bit of ‘Good Lovin’ at No.14, Seal’s ‘Soul’ begins to kick in, moving up ten places to No.17 on the back of TV advertising, while the ‘Twilight’ soundtrack debuts just outside the top 20 at No.23. We reckon you’ll be hearing a lot more about this movie and it’s soundtrack over the next couple of months. Josh Groban’s best of is in at No.32, Mudvayne’s at No.42 and Chris Isaak takes a dive post-promo tour (down 26 places) while Taylor Swift’s album ‘Fearless’ manages the No.50 position, even though tickets to her Aussie shows go on sale tomorrow.

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