On the Charts: Jessie J Starts the Invasion
WINNER OF THE WEEK: We spent the final week of last year pretty much like everyone else: hauling the Christmas tree carcass into the alley, recycling the cardboard packing boxes and ignoring the thank-you notes we were supposed to write. Jessie J, the British pop superstar, spent that time going career-crazy: she put out the sexy-pajamas “Domino” video on December 26th, then performed an acoustic version of “Price Tag” for the U.K.’s Top of the Pops holiday special, which went viral. Last week, she received three nominations for the BRIT Awards (airing next month), and U.K. fans responded by pushing “Domino” to Number One. It’s starting to take off here, too, having jumped 14 spots to Number 13 on BigChampagne’s Ultimate Chart, which measures online buzz.
LOSER OF THE WEEK: Everybody except Adele (and Jessie J). It’s the slow time of year, so it’s time once again to lament the tiny sales on Billboard’s Top 10 album charts. Adele hit Number One, of course – more on that in a minute. Otherwise, aside from the usual Rihannas, Black Keyses, Drakes and Young Jeezys, the most notable chart news involves the David Crowder Band, a Christian act that was able to use the music-business downtime to hit Number Two with 50,000 sales of Give Us Rest. Snow Patrol’s Fallen Empires hit Number Five in its first week, selling 31,000. Don’t look too closely at the bottom of the charts, though, or you’ll singe your eyeballs. Nickelback’s Here and Now (Number Nine) sold just 19,000, and NOW 40 (Number 10) sold 17,000. They’re the first albums in Soundscan history to hit the Top 10 at less than 20,000 sold.
ADELE SELLS A LOT BLAH BLAH BLAH: Some weeks, it feels like this column could just repeat the word “Adele” 425 times. After her album 21 dominated the charts throughout 2011, it hit Number One on the Billboard charts for its 16th week, the longest run since the Titanic soundtrack’s nearly 14 years ago. Adele also sold 193,000 digital singles of “Set Fire to the Rain,” putting her atop Billboard’s Digital Songs. In a rare break from total chart domination, she managed to hit just Number Three on the most recent Ultimate Chart, but that will probably be corrected when the new installment arrives tomorrow.
LAST WEEK: Jay-Z’s “Glory” Zooms on YouTube