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…)

Okay…I’m calmed down a little from last week’s chart craziness.  The world is making a little more sense now.  T.I.’s “Whatever You Like” spends a second week atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart with a bullet.  I can’t make the gripe this week about the song not being heard on the radio, because it’s this week’s Airplay Gainer.  Threats this week to the peak position?  It looks to me that the only significant threat is Pink’s “So What.”  It jumps from #9 to #3 this week with a bullet after selling 136,000 digital downloads.  It looks like last week’s threat, Kardinal Offishall featuring Akon’s “Dangerous,” wasn’t much of a threat at all, because it slips from #5 to #6 and loses its bullet.  M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” rises from #6 to #5 with a bullet, so that might be a threat in a week or two.  Other than that, Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” jumps from #24 to #9 with a bullet, and it is the Sales Gainer this week after selling 112,000 units.  I’ve been a growing fan of Mraz’s quirky songs over the years, so I hope it makes it…but I doubt that it will.  I’d like to see a quirky song top the chart, a la The Barenaked Ladies’ “One Week.”  Finally, in the fight between Kid Rock and The Hit Masters’ versions of Rock’s “All Summer Long”…it looks like Rock is pulling ahead, because his version jumps up two places to #23 with a bullet, while The Hit Masters’ knock-off slides from #19 to #33 and loses its bullet.  Nyah-Nyah!! (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…)

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…)

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…)

I’m sorry…but I would like to find out who is making “I Kissed a Girl” the number one song for a seventh week.  Katy Perry’s song doesn’t have a bullet this week, but I’m guessing that continued digital sales and increasing radio airplay are what is keeping it on top.  Chris Brown’s “Forever” jumps to the #2 position with a bullet, and Rihanna’s “Disturbia” moves from #4 to #3 with a bullet (selling a week-best 140,000 digital downloads.)  Both songs are still contenders again, but then I thought the same thing last week.  I’m pretty sure that Lil Wayne’s “A Milli,” which is still #6 with a bullet, is not going to make a miraculous jump to the peak position.  I’m also doubtful that The Jonas’ Brothers’ “Tonight” will do it either.  It’s actually the top debut on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week at #8 with a bullet, but their previous song, “Burnin’ Up,” was also the top debut that week, coming in at #5.  It dropped quickly after that, so I think that will be the fate for “Tonight.” (more…)

As I mentioned last week, MTV is announcing their nominees for the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards (airing September 7) two categories at a time on their Friday night video show “FNMTV.”  I am going to give you the chart achievements of the nominated songs on the Billboard Hot 100 in the Best Pop and Hip-Hop Video categories:

Best Pop Video

Danity Kane — “Damaged” (#10)
Jonas Brothers — “Burnin’ Up” (#5)
Panic at the Disco — “Nine in the Afternoon” (#51)
Britney Spears — “Piece of Me” (#18)
Tokio Hotel — “Ready, Set, Go!” (never charted in America)

Best Hip-Hop Video

Mary J. Blige — “Just Fine” (#22)
Lupe Fiasco (featuring Matthew Santos) — “Superstar” (#10)
Flo Rida (featuring T-Pain) — “Low” (#1)
Lil Wayne (featuring Static Major) — “Lollipop” (#1)
Kanye West (featuring Chris Martin) — “Homecoming” (#69) (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…)