Duffy Reigns Supreme (Again): Extremely Late UK Chart Update

For the 5th consecutive week, Duffy has the top single in the United Kingdom with "Duffy" and for the second weekend in a row her album "Rockferry" holds the top placing on the album charts. What makes this week a special triumph is her competition for the top slot. The #2 single was "Better In Time/Footprints in the Sand," a double A-side for Leona Lewis and also the official Sport Relief single. Charity singles tend to do very well in the UK as evidenced by two different Comic Relief singles making the top spot. Both "Walk This Way" by the Sugababes and Girls Aloud and a comedy version of the Proclaimers' song "I'm Gonna Be" with television characters Bryan Potter and Andy Pipkin hit #1 in 2007. That combined with the massive promotional effort behind the single made "Better In Time" a formidable opponent, indeed, but Duffy managed the top slot again by the skin of her teeth.

On another note, following on the heels of her Oprah performance, "Bleeding Love" is the top single on the US iTunes chart, which tells us two things. First, never discount the power of Oprah. Leona Lewis is the real deal and may end up *gasp* actually cracking America. While Kelly Clarkson is a true international star, The X-Factor has yet to produce a major worldwide success, but Leona seems poised to change that and could well be the next Whitney. Personally, I find her bland and her music utterly sterile, but there is no denying her immense talent and she is at worst a pleasant bore.

The full Top 10 Singles look like this:
1. Mercy --Duffy
2. Better In Time/Footprints in the Sand --Leona Lewis
3. What's It Gonna Be --H two O ft. Platnum
4. Stop and Stare --OneRepublic
5. Rockstar --Nickelback
6. Fascination --Alphabeat
7. Low --Flo Rida ft. T-Pain
8. Come On Girl --Taio Cruz ft. Luciana
9. Something Good 08 --Utah Saints
10. Now You're Gone --Basshunter

Recommended: 1, 2, 6, 8, and 9

By the way, I just bought "Rockferry" and "Mercy" on iTunes. There are no excuses anymore. Jump on the Duffy bandwagon. There's still plenty of room.

The full album top ten looks like this:

1. Rockferry -- Duffy
2. Dreaming Out Loud -- OneRepublic
3. All The Right Reasons -- Nickelback
4. Spirit -- Leona Lewis
5. Back to Black (Deluxe Edition) -- Amy Winehouse
6. Seventh Tree -- Goldfrapp
7. Thriller 25 -- Michael Jackson
8. Classic Soul Hits -- The Temptations
9. This Is The Life -- Amy Macdonald
10. Version -- Mark Ronson


If Duffy is to make it 6 weeks at #1, she'll once again have to fend off some tough competition. In addition to Leona Lewis she'll have to take on:

• "Nine in the Afternoon" -- Panic at the Disco (#13 this week, it got it's full physical release on Monday)
• "Can't Speak French" -- Girls Aloud (#16 this week and was also physically released on Monday)
• "Denial" -- Sugababes (#15 this week and another Monday shop release)
• "American Boy" Estelle ft. Kanye West (Digitally released Monday, it's due for a full release on next Monday)

According to Popjustice, the mysterious midweek charts indicate that Duffy is looking good for another week at #1, but one would be foolish to count out chart juggernauts like the Sugababes and Girls Aloud. Should be interesting...

By the way, you can listen to the Chart Show live from 4 PM-7PM London Time (12 PM-3PM EDT until England springs forward at which point it will revert to the normal 11AM-2PM EDT) by going to bbc.co.uk/radio1 and clicking on "Listen Live" or you can always use the "Listen Again" tool to listen to last week's chart.