We have come to the end of our exploration of the 50 years of the Billboard Hot 100. The beginning of the last decade starts with two songs that never went to #1, but ended up winning the Year-End #1 chart of their years. It ends with a solo #1 from a singer of one of the most successful girl groups of the new millennium. Unlike the ‘90s, the 2000’s rocked a little more. It’s now time to delve into the Year-End #1’s from 2000 to 2007 (my prediction…in case you were curious…is that the #1 tune of 2008 will go to “Low” by Flo Rida featuring T-Pain, which spent 10 weeks at #1 earlier this year.) Hey…if Go-Go’s lead singer Belinda Carlisle, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, country singers Marty Stuart and Alan Jackson, Duran Duran lead singer Simon Le Bon, and Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx can all turn 50…why can’t the Hot 100? (more…)

The world has gone wacky!  Day is night, night is day, and songs that are never heard on the radio make jumps to #1.  Rihanna’s “Disturbia” stayed at #1 for two weeks, but it slips to #2 to make room for the biggest jump to #1 in Billboard history…rapper T.I.’s “Whatever You Like.”  Two weeks ago, it debuted on the Hot 100 chart at #99.  Last week, it went to #71.  This week, it jumped 70 positions to #1 with a bullet to make it the all-time biggest jump, breaking the record previously held by Maroon 5’s “Makes Me Wonder,” which jumped from #64 to #1 in May of 2007.  Part of the reason it made that jump (okay let’s face it…the only reason) is that it had huge first week digital sales of 205,000.  It’s T.I.’s first solo #1 and his second #1 overall, because he was also the featured artist on Justin Timberlake’s hit “My Love” in November of 2006.  “Disturbia” may be at #2, but it still has a bullet, so it could possibly reclaim the top spot next week.  Otherwise, the only other threat to the peak position (assuming that another song doesn’t make a huge jump to #1 based on digital downloads) is Kardinal Offishall featuring Akon’s “Dangerous,” which is currently at #5 with a bullet.  David Archuleta’s “Crush” was obviously not much of a threat, because it has fallen from last week’s position of #2 to #15, and it has lost its bullet.  Finally…to prove that I was right about last’s week rant about digital downloads’ effect on the charts (and that our chart world is backwards)…rip-off band The Hit Masters have risen from #65 to #19 with their cover of Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long,” and it is the Sales Gainer for the week.  Rock’s original version still sits at #25 (but it retains its bullet.)  It’s just sad that an inferior version of a great song should chart higher than the original (Rock has not allowed for digital downloads of individual tracks of his songs, so its place on the chart is based solely on airplay only.  The only way to download the original song is to download Rock’s entire Rock and Roll Jesus album.)  Want further proof that the world is crazy?  Another rip-off band called The Studio All-Stars are taking advantage of Atlantic Records’ decision to remove Estelle (featuring Kanye West)’s original version of her song “American Boy” from iTunes by releasing their own version, which debuts at #85 (the original version, meanwhile, has dropped from #11 to #37.)  Crazy!!! (more…)

Even though this is only the second week for the run of Rihanna’s “Disturbia,” the Billboard Hot100 chart is recording historic firsts.  As Puck reported on Thursday, “American Idol” Season 7 runner-up David Archuleta had the best debut on the charts in 18 months with his #2 song “Crush.”  The last time a song debuted in the #2 slot was in January of 2007, when Fall Out Boy’s “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race” debuted (and peaked) there.  It’s also the highest debut for an “AI” alum for a song not originally performed on the show.  Furthermore, it’s the second time that the runner-up from the show has bested the winner on the charts, since winner David Cook’s single “The Time of My Life” only peaked at #3 (though it currently sits at #28 with a bullet this week based on actual radio airplay and not just digital downloads.)  The first time that happened was when Season 2 runner-up Clay Aiken peaked at #1 with his song “This is the Night” over winner Ruben Studdard’s #2 song “Flying Without Wings.”  Where do we go from here?  “Disturbia” still has a bullet, but if “Crush” gains some airplay, it may topple Rihanna next week (it isn’t anywhere within the top 25 on the Airplay chart.)  None of the songs within the Top 10 pose much of a threat to Rihanna (except for the Archuleta song)…including the new one by Taylor Swift, whose song “Change” (from the Olympic AT&T Team USA soundtrack) debuts on the chart at #10. (more…)

The nominations for the final two categories of the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, airing September 7, were announced last week on their Friday night video show “FNMTV.”  In addition, a surprise extra category had its’ nominations announced.  I am going to give you the chart achievements of the nominated songs on the Billboard Hot 100 in the Best Rock Video, Video of the Year, and Best UK Video categories:

Best Rock Video

Fall Out Boy (featuring John Mayer) — “Beat It” (#19)
Foo Fighters — “The Pretender” (#37)
Linkin Park — “Shadow of the Day” (#15)
Paramore — “Crushcrushcrush” (#54)
Slipknot — “Psychosocial” (currently #2 on the “Bubbling Under” chart, a.k.a. #102)

Video of the Year

Chris Brown — “Forever” (currently #2)
Jonas Brothers — “Burnin’ Up” (#5)
Pussycat Dolls — “When I Grow Up” (#9)
Britney Spears — “Piece of Me” (#18)
The Ting Tings — “Shut Up and Let Me Go” (#55)

Best UK Video

Coldplay — “Violet Hill” (#40)
Duffy — “Warwick Avenue” (hasn’t charted yet in America)
Estelle (featuring Kanye West) — “American Boy” (#12)
Leona Lewis — “Bleeding Love” (#1)
The Ting Tings — “Shut Up and Let Me Go” (#55) (more…)

The #1 song for the second week on the Hot 100 is Katy Perry with her song “I Kissed a Girl.” The song is doing much better than Denver-born artist Jill Sobule’s similarly titled song (though they have different lyrics and styles), which peaked at #67 in 1995. I believe it will be number one for a third week next week as well, because the only threat to the top spot might be The Jonas Brothers‘ “Burnin’ Up,” which debuted on the chart at number five with a bullet. So far, that song is only on the chart because of digital downloads and the occasional play of the video on the Disney Channel.

(more…)