U.S. Chart Roundup: Rihanna & Britney Spears Are #1, Kelly Rowland Shows Beyonce How It's Done

Rihanna and Britney Spears scissor their way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the remix of Ri Ri's "S&M" that The Chanting Wig's angelic voice appears on. This gives Ri her 10th chart-topping single in the U.S., and Weaveney her fifth.

Billboard points out that Rihanna achieves the shortest span between a solo artist's first and 10th #1 singles in Hot 100 history—a stretch of four years, 11 months and two weeks that began with "SOS". Meanwhile, The Chanting Wig's  "Till The World Ends" slips from its peak position of #8 to #9.

And then there's Lady Gaga's "Judas," which leaked on Friday (four days ahead of its scheduled release) and debuts at #10 on the strength of 162,000 downloads sold by Sunday. This marks that broad's ninth Top 10 single. It's a shame "Judas" seems like less of an event, because I actually think that once the dust settles on this era for Gaga, it will be regarded as a better song than "Born This Way."


Elsewhere, Jessie J's mediocre Dr. Luke trash "Price Tag" scrapes its way to #24, while her debut LP Who You Are enters the Top 200 album chart at #11. And then there's The Script, whose single "For The First Time" is so boring I'd completely forgotten it existed. But, no—there it is this week at #36.

Destiny's Child's real success story, Kelly Rowland, sees her latest jam "Motivation" debut at #55. This marks her highest placement on the Hot 100 since "Like This" reached the stunning heights of #30 four years ago.

House Of Dereon's Lucky Hack Beyonce should sit her tired wig down and be studying Ms. Kelendria's every move!

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "S&M" - Rihanna feat. Britney Spears *1 week*
2. "E.T." - Katy Perry feat. Kanye West
3. "Just Can't Get Enough" - The Black Eyed Peas
4. "Down On Me" - Jeremih feat. 50 Cent
5. "Fuck You" - Cee Lo Green
6. "Rolling In The Deep" - Adele
7. "Look At Me Now" - Chris Brown feat. Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes
8. "On The Floor" - Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull
9. "Till The World Ends" - Britney Spears
10. "Judas" - Lady Gaga *new*

Alexandra Burke Is #1 And Hurts Find Happiness On The UK Album Chart

While I'm glad Alexandra Burke has largely steered away from the deadly-dull ballad trap that many of her fellow X Factor alums have fallen into and it's super swell her Ace Of Base-y RedOne-produced single "Start Without You" has debuted at #1 in the UK this week, I'm more jazzed about the fact that Hurts' Happiness landed at a solid #4 on the Brit album chart.



Of course, raise a flag also for Brandon Flowers hitting #1 with his own debut solo album Flamingo. I'm crazy curious to see how that one's going to fly here in the U.S. when it's released this week. XOLondon did up what I'm sure is a brilliant song-by-song review of Brandon's LP, but I've thus far managed to steer clear of all leaks and write-ups. I guess I'll just be surprised once my copy of the deluxe edition arrives. Hopefully I'm not chucking it in the recycle bin come week's end.

Back on the UK singles chart, The Script's bland new dirge "For The First Time" sleepwalks its way in at #5, while the once-golden McFly have a ho-hum #6 entry with "Party Girl." Guess it's not enough to just whip your clothes off and pose for the cover of Attitude anymore. Some amount of decent music must actually now be required to maintain chart success. Better luck next time, lads.

And then there's Alesha Dixon, who, let's face, probably has her best days, hit-single-wise, behind her. There's not much about her in this era of Leona, Gaga, Ke$ha and Alexandra that really stands out. Here's hoping she can ably avoid the Sophie Ellis-Bextor curse of decent songstress/lack of fanbase. But for now, her latest single, "Drummer Boy," has debuted at #15.

The U.K. Top 10:

1. "Start Without You" - Alexandra Burke *new* *1 week*
2. "Teenage Dream" - Katy Perry
3. "Dynamite" - Taio Cruz
4. "Please Don't Let Me Go" - Olly Murs
5. "For The First Time" - The Script *new*
6. "Party girl" - McFly *new*
7. "Love The Way You Lie" - Eminem feat. Rihanna
8. "Katy On A Mission" - Katy B
9. "Club Can't Handle Me" - Flo Rida feat. David Guetta
10. "This Day" - Emma's Imagination *new*

Taylor Swift Is Probably Having Sex With Her Grammys Because "Mine" Debuted At #3

Yes, children of America, YES! Download Taylor Swift's new single "Mine" that sounds like every other Taylor Swift single ever released, and then download it AGAIN (because that way you can pretend it's her NEXT single, which will undoubtedly sound like this and the previous ones anyway)! She deserves it! You deserve it! Shove your dollar twenty-nine in the G-string that is Taylor's bank account so she can ride her Grammys three at a time in appreciation!

So anyway, Taylor's "Mine" debuts at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, and has achieved something ridiculous like the eighth highest opening for a digital single, saleswise (with 297,000 paid downloads) in just four days (it went on sale last Thursday).

A sigle that deserves to do better than "Mine" is "Take It Off" by the New Queen Of Soul Ke$ha. The music video alone would make Cecil B. Demille and Alfred Hitchcock weep. In fact, I think I hear Hitchcock hurling up a vomit geyser of failure in his coffin in the wake of the "Take It Off" video right now! (Think of The Birds, Hitch.) At any rate, the song jumps from #52 to #27, becoming her fourth Top 40 hit off Animal.

This brings us to The Script and their UK hit "The Man Who Can't Be Moved," which was released in July 2008 and peaked at #2 across the pond. Over here the song has been kicking around for about a year and finally cracks the Hot 100 at #96. And, who knows—maybe, just maybe, it'll soar to the upper reaches of the chart, giving them a second American smash, and the Irish trio will at least avoid becoming the next BBMak.

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "Love The Way You Lie" - Eminem feat. Rihanna *4 weeks*
2. "Dynamite" - Taio Cruz
3. "Mine" - Taylor Swift *new*
4. "California Gurls" - Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg
5. "I Like It" - Enrique Iglesias feat. Pitbull
6. "Airplanes" - B.o.B feat. Hayley Williams
7. "Cooler Than Me" - Mike Posner
8. "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love" - Usher feat. Pitbull
9. "Teenage Dream" - Katy Perry
10. "Ridin' Solo" - Jason Derulo

Here's JoJo Covering The Script's "Breakeven"

This is pretty hot. JoJo, my favorite Banterview subject ever who hasn't released an album since 2006 because she's been dealing with major record label drama, posted this video of herself belting out The Script's "Breakeven" (and quite impressively, I might add) on YouTube yesterday.

Moogaboo called tonight while I was writing this post, and he goes, "What, did she post her phone number in the video and say she's available for weddings and bar mitzvahs?"

Oh, Moog.