Twas the Chart Watch before Christmas and all across auspOp, the No.1s were not stirring, but read on past the full stop.
Yes, while the No.1s might be blissfully unchanged just in time for Christmas, there’s still plenty of action happening in the 99 positions below, including some new entries and some new end-of-year certifications.
So read on, chums… It’s your Christmas edition of ARIA Chart Watch!
SINGLES
Absolutely no change to the No.1 spot on the ARIA singles chart, with US pop starlet Ariana Grande maintaining pole position to claim the Christmas No.1 down under.
No, it’s not as big a prize to claim as the UK No.1 each year, but we’re sure Ari will take it anyway.
But Post Malone and Swae Lee made quite the play for the top, improving four positions to No.2 with their single ‘Sunflower’. Could they bag the year-end No.1 next weekend? Keep watching to find out.
Ava Max’s ‘Sweet But Psycho’ is also in the ascendancy this week (No.5 to No.3) and though Halsey’s ‘Without Me’ drops from No.2 to No.4, it does pick up the week’s first certification; now double platinum for sales in excess of 140,000 units.
The new Mark Ronson/Miley Cyrus single ‘Nothing Breaks Like A Heart’ also picks up the sales pace again this week, jumping two places to No.6, another new peak.
And though it might be down three, the Lady Gaga/Bradley Cooper single ‘Shallow’ (from the soundtrack to ‘A Star Is Born’) finally scores itself a certification. The former No.1 smash goes from no accreditation to double platinum in just one week as Universal tweaks things pre-Christmas.
Mariah Carey’s classic ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ enters the ARIA top ten for the second time this year. It peaked at No.6 in the first week of January, but is back up five to No.10 just at the right time.
Ariana Grande scores another top 20 entry thanks to her new track ‘Imagine’ (No.15 on debut). And though fellow pop starlet Rita Ora slides four positions with her single ‘Let You Love Me’, it’s now platinum certified thanks to sales in excess of 70,000 units.
Wham’s seasonal favourite ‘Last Christmas’ is also back into the top 20 this week, leaping from No.34 to No.18.
Kian’s ‘Waiting’ dropped six spots to No.30 this time last week. Seven days on, however, and it’s back up five to No.25, just one shy of its No.24 peak thus far.
Jonas Blue’s ‘Rise’ continues its chart run and, up two to No.29 this week, it also scores a new triple platinum accreditation, meaning it’s sold in excess of 210,000 units in its 28 week chart run.
Morgan Evans’ ‘Day Drunk’ is now platinum certified (No.35), while Band Aid 30’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’ soats from No.59 to No.37.
It’s just ahead of a new gold accreditation (35,000 unit sales) for Zara Larsson’s ‘Ruin My Life’ at No.38 and a No.74 to No.40 jump for Ariana Grande’s ‘Santa Tell Me’.
Khalid scores the top 50 love with ‘Saturday Nights’ (No.54 to No.41), while Amy Shark’s ‘I Said Hi’ bobs its head back into the top 50 at the even No.50 (up six places).
Just as Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s ‘Shallow’ gets its first certification this week, so too does Lady Gaga’s ‘Always Remember Us This Way’, also from the soundtrack to ‘A Star Is Born’. That track (down from No.44 to No.51) is now gold accredited.
John Lennon’s festive favourite ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ is up from No.100 to a new ARIA chart peak of No.56.
And speaking of new peaks, Guy Sebastian’s ‘Before I Go’ also rises this week… up from No.64 to a new peak of No.57.
There’s a new peak also for NOTD’s ‘So Close’ (No.71 to No.63) and another for James Arthur and Anne-Marie’s cover of ‘Rewrite The Stars’ (No.84 to No.67). But XXXTentacion’s ‘Bad’ is gone from the top 50, having suffered a 36 place fall to No.71.
Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa’s ‘One Kiss’ is now four times platinum at No.73 (that’s 280,000 sales to you and me).
Imagine Dragons’ ‘Thunder’ rumbles to life again (No.95 to No.74) and the Rudimental track ‘These Days’ bobs its head back into the top 100 at No.76.
There’s a No.78 re-entry for Justin Bieber’s ‘Mistletoe’. There’s a new double platinum certification for A$AP Rocky’s ‘Praise The Lord (Da Shine)’ at No.83 and there’s a gold certification for Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s ‘I’ll Never Love Again’ (No.85).
After debuting at No.30 a couple of weeks back, 6ix9ine’s ‘Kika’ dropped to No.63 last week. Now it’s down another 31 places to No.94.
Who’d a thunk it that Brenda Lee’s classic ‘Rockin Around The Christmas Tree’ would be back on the Australian chart some sixty years after its release!? It makes its debut on the ARIA chart this week at No.96.
ALBUMS
Just like the ARIA singles chart, there’s no change to the top of the ARIA albums chart this week either.
The No.1 spot is still held by the soundtrack to ‘A Star Is Born’, with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.
In fact, apart from a shift from No.6 to No.5 for the soundtrack to ‘The Greatest Showman’, the entire top five is unchanged this week.
It’s the ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ soundtrack at No.2, Michael Bublé’s ‘Christmas’ at No.3 and Queen’s ‘Greatest Hits’ at No.4.
Just missing the top five on debut at this very busy time of the year is the Bruce Springsteen release ‘Springsteen On Broadway’, which enters at No.6.
The rest of the ARIA top 20 is relatively steady.
But good news for Samantha Jade, with her album ‘The Magic Of Christmas’ hitting the top 20 for the first time in final days before Santa squeezes his way down our chimneys (No.26 to a new peak of No.20).
Paul Kelly’s ‘Nature’ improves from No.33 to No.21 and the Elvis Christmas album ‘With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’ is up from No.35 to No.23.
There’s a No.27 debut for the soundtrack to ‘Spiderman : Into The Spider-Verse’ and a No.40 to No.28 jump for Triple J’s ‘Like A Version Vol.14’.
Coldplay’s ‘Live In Buenos Aires’ is down from No.18 to No.35, while the XXXTentacion album ‘Skins’ tumbles 32 places from last week’s No.8 debut.
Rüfüs Du Sol’s ‘Solace’ jumps from No.67 to No.43 and Adele’s ’25’ is up from No.86 to No.46, but XXXTentacion’s ‘?’ slides 12 to No.49. Billie Eilish’s ‘Don’t Smile At Me’ is down 14 to No.50.
There’s also a 15 place drop to No.53 for Little Mix’s ‘LM5’ and a 13 place fall to No.59 for Rita Ora’s ‘Phoenix’.
Looks like the decision to wait ’til just before Christmas to release his new album ‘Icarus Falls’ (and then to only release it digitally in the first week) wasn’t a smart one for Zayn. That album limps into the countdown at No.60.
Bon Jovi’s best-of is down 14 to No.64, but Midnight Oil’s ‘Armistice Day’ re-bounds 16 to No.74.
Not great news for The 1975, however; their album ‘A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships’ continues its slide down the Aussie countdown. It loses another 30 places this week to No.78.
Ice Cube’s ‘Everythangs Corrupt’ loses 22 to No.79 and Van Morrison’s ‘The Prophet Speaks’ is down 33 from last week’s No.49 debut.
The news is even worse for The Carpenters; their new release ‘Carpenters With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’ was flying high at No.29 on debut last week, but seven days on finds itself a huge 61 places lower at No.90.
Kodak Black’s ‘Dying To Live’ enters at a lowly No.93, Benny Blanco’s ‘Friends Keep Secrets’ is down 38 to No.99.
Thanks for checking out this week’s pre-Christmas edition of ARIA Chart Watch. Merry Christmas to you and yours!
For a full run down of the ARIA top 50s, head over to the ARIA CHARTS WEBSITE every Saturday from 5:00pm AEDT.
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