As I predicted, people want to “Live Your Life” again. The T.I. featuring Rihanna track spends a third non-consecutive week at #1 with a bullet on the Billboard Hot 100, and it remains the Airplay Gainer of the week. I’m making a bold prediction that it will stay at #1 next week. Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold” is still a threat (having moved up one spot to #3), but they are also being threatened by Kanye West’s “Heartless,” which is the Hot Shot Debut for the week at #4 (his third top 10 Hot Shot debut in 2008, following “Swagga Like Us” with Jay-Z and T.I. featuring Lil Wayne, and “Love Lockdown.”) Pink’s “So What” is no longer in play, having dropped from #3 to #6 and having lost its bullet. (more…)

Why does America want “Whatever You Like?” T.I.’s song is #1 yet again for a seventh non-consecutive week on the Billboard Hot 100…despite me giving you alternatives like T.I.’s other chart-topper with Rihanna, “Live Your Life” (currently #2 with a bullet, and is the Airplay Gainer for the week), or “Weird Al” Yankovic’s version of the song. Fortunately, it doesn’t have a bullet this week, so it will most likely be taken over by “Life” again next week. If not, then there is one other contender for next week…Beyoncé Knowles’ “If I Were a Boy” from her upcoming album I Am…Sasha Fierce (release date: 11/18/2008.) Thanks to digital downloads, the song jumps from #68 to #3 with a bullet on its third week on the chart. (more…)

Wow…this is T.I.’s week! He is at #1 again on the Billboard Hot 100…but not for the song “Whatever You Like.” His song, “Live Your Life” featuring Rihanna, makes an amazing leap from #80 to #1, making it the highest leap to #1 in Hot 100 history (”Whatever” slips to #2.) Who held that honor previously? None other than T.I. with “Whatever You Like”… when the song jumped from #71 to #1 six weeks ago. He is also the first artist to replace himself at the top of the chart since Usher did it in July of 2004, when his single “Confessions Part II” replaced his single “Burn” at #1. The honors keep rolling though… the song broke the record for highest first week digital sales ever, shifting 335,000 digital downloads to debut at #1 on the Hot Digital Songs chart, according to Nielsen SoundScan, beating Mariah Carey’s prior digital debut week high-water mark of 286,000 with “Touch My Body.” Rihanna gets some props too, because the song officially makes her the female with the most #1 songs this decade (with five), beating Beyoncé Knowles and Carey. Predictions for next week? I’m almost positive that “Live Your Life” will be #1 for a second week, because it has a bullet and it is the Airplay Gainer for the week. Their are only two possible contenders. Kevin Rudolf featuring Lil Wayne with their song “Let it Rock,” which jumps from #15 to #5 with a bullet and is the Digital Sales Gainer this week, and Christina Aguilera’s “Keeps Gettin’ Better,” which debuts on the chart at #7 (her first time debuting in the top 10) with a bullet based on digital sales of 144,000. M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” run on the chart appears to have finally petered out, because it sinks from #5 to #9 and has lost its bullet. (more…)

This week the Billboard Hot 100 is going to rock! If you don’t include her collaboration with Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, and Mýa on the 2001 cover version of Labelle’s “Lady Marmalade” from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, “So What” is Pink’s first solo #1. Thanks to digital sales of 253,000 units in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan (it keeps its bullet and is actually the Sales Gainer for the week), the rocker takes the top spot, knocking T.I.’s “Whatever You Like” down to #2 (though it retains its bullet and is the Airplay Gainer for the week.) I’m happy!! I haven’t heard it on terrestrial radio yet, but I have heard it on VH1 (which I guess is the only place that will play videos currently, now that MTV’s “TRL” is going bye-bye) and of course, here on AllNumberOneRadio.com! I also liked her performance of it on the 2008 MTV Music Video Awards. I would love to say that it will keep its position for a second week, but there are just too many contenders for next week. With the exception of Chris Brown’s “Forever,” all of the songs in the top 10 have a bullet. Not all of them are going to make it, but several of them are ready to take over. T.I. could easily slide back into its former position. M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” inches its way up one position from #5 to #4, and the Hot Shot Debut for the week is “Swagga Like Us” by Jay-Z & T.I. featuring Kanye West & Lil Wayne, which enters the chart at #5. Unlike the Disney Channel/”American Idol” acts (Jonas Brothers/David Archuleta, etc.), I think this one may stick around for a few weeks. (more…)

Since I’ve been blogging about the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards for weeks, I thought I would give you my impressions of the show.  The host, British comedian Russell Brand (the new boyfriend in this year’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall), wasn’t very funny in my opinion.  He starts off with stumping for Barack Obama and bagging on Bush.  I’m not on anyone’s side politically, but I don’t know why a comedian who can’t even vote in this country has any say at all.  He then goes on to make fun of tween dreamboat rock act The Jonas Brothers mercilessly.  He joked about their purity rings, which they each wear vowing not to have sex before marriage.  I could maybe understand him poking fun of them once…but those poor boys were picked on for most of the show!  After fellow purity ring wearer Jordin Sparks responded that “not every guy and girl wants to be a slut, OK?,” Brand sort of apologized, but he made one last jab by saying, “Promise rings, I’m well up for it. [But] a bit of sex, it never hurt anybody.”  I’m no prude or all that religious, but if the Brothers Jonas made a decision to abstain, it shouldn’t be ridiculed so heavily.  This is the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, so I wouldn’t deny Brand his right to free speech, but I think that he could have spread the snark around a little to other celebrities instead of ganging up on the J-Bros. (more…)

MTV announced last Thursday four more artists that will be performing on the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards show: Rihanna, Pink, Paramore, and T.I.  They will be joining the previously announced artists…The Jonas Brothers, Lil Wayne, and Kid Rock…onstage for the show.  Rihanna, who performed last year with Chris Brown to perform her song “Umbrella,” will most likely be performing her current chart-topper “Disturbia.”  Pink is slated to perform her new song “So What,” while Paramore will be performing “Misery Business.”  T.I. is making a return to an awards show stage after being arrested last October before the BET Hip-Hop Awards in Atlanta and accused of trying to buy machine guns and silencers; he was sentenced earlier this year to serve about a year in prison after completing at least 1,000 hours of community service.  I’m going to give you the chart history of these four performers on the Billboard charts. (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…)