The #1 Hot 100 Song and other #1’s on Billboard for the week of October 25, 2008
After almost a decade, Britney Spears finally tops the Billboard Hot 100 for the second time with the song “Womanizer” off her forthcoming sixth studio album, Circus. Spears’ first #1 single on the Hot 100 was her debut song, “…Baby One More Time,” back in 1999. Her first-week download sales of the song were 286,000, the biggest opening-week tally by a female artist since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking digital downloads in 2003, topping Mariah Carey’s take for “Touch My Body” by just over 200 units. In addition, the song made a record-breaking jump from #96 to #1 on the Hot 100, breaking the record set by T.I.’s “Live Your Life” (featuring Rihanna), which jumped from #80 to #1 last week. “Live Your Life” has dropped to #3, but it is the Airplay Gainer, and it retains its bullet. T.I.’s other song, “Whatever You Like,” stays in the #2 position with a bullet, and is the Sales Gainer for the week. Despite the song also having a bullet, either T.I. song could easily knock “Womanizer” out of the top spot next week (I think that it will be “Live Your Life.”) Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold” inches up one spot to #5 with a bullet, but I don’t think that it is a threat to Britney or T.I. next week.
As I easily predicted, T.I.’s Paper Trail is the #1 album on the Top 200 Albums chart for a second week, despite a 69% drop-off in sales. The only other album that was a challenger was Chicago hardcore metal band Rise Against’s Appeal to Reason, which debuted at #3 with 65,000 copies (the best showing of their career so far.) I’m almost positive that Kenny Chesney’s Lucky Old Sun will be the #1 album next week. He’s still currently at #1 on the Hot Country Songs chart for a second week with “Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven.” Actress/singer Jennifer Hudson scores her first #1 as “Spotlight” climbs #2 to #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Rockers aren’t changing their minds again, because The Offspring’s “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid” is #1 on Modern Rock chart for a fourth week and Metallica’s “The Day That Never Comes” is #1 on Mainstream Rock chart for a fifth non-consecutive week. All chart information was found on Billboard.com.
After being a bad girl for a year, Britney is finally back on track…and it shows. I like the song…and the video is hot! (See it below.) Unfortunately, I don’t think that it will stay at #1 very long, but I’m glad to see her get some positive attention for once. I think that her father Jamie Parnell Spears’ influence and his role as the co-conservator of her assets (plus her multiple appearances on CBS’s “How I Met Your Mother“) did some good. Let’s hope she will keep it up!