If anyone was going to make Kelly Clarkson’s life “suck,” I’m glad it was the reunion of Eminem, Dr. Dre, and 50 Cent (since their collaboration on the title track of Eminem’s Encore) with their song “Crack a Bottle.” The song jumps from #78 to #1 (the fourth biggest jump to #1 in Billboard Hot 100 history) based on a Nielsen SoundScan record for opening week download sales of 418,000 (topped only behind “Low” by Flo Rida featuring T-Pain, which had 467,000 downloads, and “Just Dance” by Lady GaGa featuring Colby O’Donis, which had 419,000 downloads.) It’s Eminem’s second #1 (behind the Oscar-winning “Lose Yourself”), Dr. Dre’s third (behind his collaboration with BLACKstreet on “No Diggity” and his duet with 2Pac on “California Love”), and 50 Cent’s fourth (behind “In Da Club,” “21 Questions,” and “Candy Shop.”) It sends Clarkson’s song, “My Life Would Suck Without You,” to #4, and she loses her bullet. My old nemesis…”Heartless” by Kanye West, which slides up a position to #2 and has a bullet…is the only threat to the top spot next week. (more…)

Life doesn’t “suck” for Kelly Clarkson! Her song, “My Life Would Suck Without You,” spends a second week at #1 after selling 216,283 digital copies. Not only does life not suck for her on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, but the song jumps from #38 to #19 on the Airplay chart, which is the fastest leap into the top 20 of that chart that she has ever had in her career so far. It has lost its bullet back on the Hot 100, but I think that the “American Idol” first season winner will spend a third week at #1 next week. The only contenders for next week are two older songs. While “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” by Beyoncé Knowles hasn’t been on top of the Hot 100 since succumbing to “My Life” and “Just Dance” by Lady GaGa featuring Colby O’Donis, it has rebounded from #3 to #2. The pesky “Heartless” by Kanye West inches back up to #3 and has a bullet. (more…)

Wow…after last week’s complaint that January hasn’t been too interesting on the Billboard Hot 100…February is certainly changing that. The #1 song this week is “My Life Would Suck Without You” by “American Idol“ first season winner Kelly Clarkson, which replaces Lady GaGa featuring Colby O’Donis’ “Just Dance” at the top after three weeks and is the second chart topper of her career (it’s also the first one not associated with “AI.” As a matter of fact, it’s also the only #1 song by an “AI” alum not connected to the show at all. Clay Aiken’s “This is the Night,” Fantasia Barrino’s “I Believe,” Carrie Underwood’s “Inside Your Heaven,” and Taylor Hicks’ “Do I Make You Proud” all were connected to their seasons’ “AI” season finale.) It makes an amazing jump from #97 to #1 after selling 280,000 digital downloads in its first week of availability, beating the #96 to #1 record set by Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” for the largest jump to #1 on the Hot 100. It’s also Clarkson’s second time she has beaten that record, because her debut single, “A Moment Like This,” jumped from #52 to #1 in 2002…breaking the 38-year-old record set by the Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me Love,” which jumped from #27 to #1 on the week of April 5, 1964. She is the leader of any “AI” alum top any Billboard chart, because the song tops the Hot Digital Songs chart and the Hot Digital Tracks chart, bringing Clarkson’s total to 48 (Underwood is in second place with 36.) Kanye West’s “Heartless” threatens to be a contender again though for next week because…even though it dropped from #3 to #4…it has retained its bullet and is the Airplay Gainer for the week. (more…)

I guess I will have to face it…“Just Dance” isn’t going anywhere too soon.  Lady GaGa featuring Colby O’Donis’ hit is #1 for a third week with a bullet on the Billboard Hot 100. I don’t see it being in any other position next week either. The next song with a bullet is Kanye West’s “Heartless,” which is at #3 again, but I don’t see it being a threat to “Dance.” I also don’t see “Gives You Hell” by The All-American Rejects being a threat either, even though it jumped from #10 to #6 with a bullet this week. (more…)

Okay…I was wrong. “Just Dance” by Lady GaGa featuring Colby O’Donis didn’t get bounced by either “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” by Beyoncé Knowles or Taylor Swift’s “Love Story.” “Dance” has a bullet based on 213,000 downloads in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, while “Single Ladies” also retains its bullet. “Love Story,” unfortunately, dashed my hopes for a country song topping the Billboard Hot 100 by slipping one spot to #5 and losing its bullet. Now the only contenders this week are a return to #1 for “Single Ladies,” or Kanye West’s “Heartless,” the latter one of which is currently at #3 and is the Airplay Gainer for this week. (more…)

The Chart Guy is back from his “40 Blogs of Christmas” series to delve into the weekly Billboard charts. Since my last Billboard charts blog, the #1 slot has gone back and forth between “Live Your Live” by T.I. featuring Rihanna and “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” by Beyoncé Knowles. This week though, we have a new #1, and it is “Just Dance” by Lady GaGa featuring Colby O’Donis, which sold 279,000 downloads in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Now that we have a new year, we also have a new prediction for next week. “Dance” may have a bullet this week…but it took 22 weeks to get to #1 (it entered the Hot 100 on August 16, 2008 at #76.) My prediction is that either “Single Ladies” will go back to #1, or Taylor Swift’s “Love Story,” currently at #4 with a bullet, will be the first country single to top the Hot 100 since Lonestar did it with their hit “Amazed” back in 2000. (more…)