Zayn Malik in Best Song Ever by One Direction
You kind of have to admire One Direction for releasing a single entitled 'Best Song Ever'. Whether it's provoking their fans to agree or their detractors to kick up an enraged fuss, it's certainly bound to get people talking - even if the lyrics do actually refer to another song rather than to itself. But anyway, it's the detractors who get the last laugh, as the track stalls at No2 in this week's list.
There's no shame in a No2 single, obviously - in fact, Professor Green would probably give his right arm for that kind of position (more on him later) - but, well, there's some childish fun to be had in noticing the Best Song Ever hitting the Second Best Chart Position, isn't there? No? Just me? Fine.
Anyhoo, No2 is actually an awesome start for the boys considering the song only had its radio début two days before its release, completely skipping the conventional two-month build-up campaign. Who knows how high they would have scaled if they'd held out for an extra couple of weeks?
Avicii, after scoring the best first-week numbers for any single so far this year last Sunday, enjoys another strong frame with 'Wake Me Up' and, in fact, the race wasn't even close. With another 155,000 sales this week, he outsold Zayn, Liam, Harry, Niall and Louis by two copies to one.
All the big new releases I got excited about last week have indisputably flopped. What's going on?! Diana Vickers is the one I'm perhaps most gutted about - as divisive as her distinctive yelp is, I'm of the belief that she is an almighty force of good in the pop music world, and the appearance of her comeback single 'Cinderella' way down at No76 is disappointing. Given its total lack of radio support, I wasn't expecting a platinum-selling mega-hit; but Top 40 at the very least would have been nice. The track, though not a commercially obvious single (is that a phrase?), is a great little gem, and hopefully her September-due album Music To Make The Boys Cry will fare a little better.
Above D-Vix is Nina Nesbitt - the latest recipient of the VEVO Lift treatment - whose lovely new ditty 'Way In The World' can only crawl as far as No55, despite edging inside the Top 40 in Wednesday's midweek update. And further down - surprisingly - is Professor Green, whose 'comeback' track 'Are You Getting Enough?' can only make it as far as an astonishing No93. NINETY-THREE! Who'd have thought it?! Much as I rate and respect the Prof, this track was perhaps a bit too left-field for the masses, and there'll now be a lot of pressure on his next single to put him back in the same sales league as 'Read All About It'.
Over on the album chart, X Factor runner-up Jahmene Douglas scores a début No1 with his covers album Love Never Fails. Over recent years, the confidence shown by record label bosses in the talent show's silver medalists seems to have waned a tad... since the platinum-selling arrivals of Olly Murs and Rebecca Ferguson we've had a hastily-assembled effort from Marcus Collins and now a collection of only covers by the adorable Douglas. Still, he's got a chart-topper regardless, and good for him. Whether or not he has serious industry staying power remains to be seen.
Selena Gomez scores the second-highest new entry with her first proper solo album Stars Dance, following three releases with band The Scene. The new collection, which was led last week by single 'Come And Get It' (which this week falls 6-10), was actually at No5 on Wednesday's midweek update, but sales clearly declined sharply in the second half of the frame, and it's a sub-Top 10 finish in the end. Still, it's her first appearance in the album Top 20 in the UK, and a great start to her proper post-Disney career. If we're pitting former House Of Mouse cohorts against each-other, it seems that - for the first time in our country - Demi Lovato has won. Her album Demi peaked at No6 (it's No86 now, 10 weeks after release) and single 'Heart Attack' at No3 (currently No30 after 11 weeks), meaning that - for now at least - she can hold the crown. But that's until Miley Cyrus unveils 'We Can't Stop' next month. I don't want to argue with those pre-order numbers.