Sade's "Soldier of Love" (Epic/Sony Music Entertainment) secures a fourth week atop Billboard's European Albums chart. But there's a surprise on Hot 100 Singles where, in a close-fought race, Belgian singer-songwriter Stromae's "Alors On Danse" (Mosaert/Vertigo/Universal) jumps 13-1 to unseat Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" (RCA/Sony Music Entertainment).
"Soldier of Love" spends another week at No. 1 in France and Hungary, at No. 2 in Sweden and No. 5 in Denmark, but falls 1-2 in the Belgian region of Wallony, 2-3 in Switzerland, 3-5 in Portugal, 2-6 in Italy, 3-6 in Austria, 4-6 in Spain and 4-7 in Germany. It stays at No. 21 in the United Kingdom
"The Fame" (Interscope/Universal) is steady at No. 2 overall for Lady Gaga, despite slipping 1-2 on the U.K. chart with 35,000 new sales. In its 60th week, it's up 10-8 in Portugal but slips 4-5 in Switzerland, 6-7 in Austria and 5-8 in Germany.
Johnny Cash has a posthumous pan-European top three album, as "American VI: Ain't No Grave" (American/Lost Highway/Universal) climbs 17-3. That outdoes the No. 6 debut and peak of its predecessor, the fifth in the Rick Rubin-produced series, which had a total of three weeks in the top ten in 2006. "American VI" is down 9-29 in the United Kingdom, where last week it debuted with 16,000 sales, but compensates with debuts at No. 1 in Austria, No. 3 in Germany and No. 6 in Sweden, plus a 4-2 climb in Holland. It also holds at No. 2 in Denmark and No. 3 in Norway.
Black Eyed Peas' "The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies)" (Interscope/Universal) and Alicia Keys' "The Element of Freedom" (J/Sony Music Entertainment) are each down a place on European Albums, to No. 4 and No. 5 respectively. "The E.N.D." is steady at No.2 in Portugal and climbs 17-10 in Spain, while Keys' set is up 5-4 in Holland and remains at No. 3 in the United Kingdom, with 31,000 new sales.
There's a fresh burst of activity for Michael Jackson's "This Is It" soundtrack (Epic/Sony Music Entertainment). The release of a special 2-DVD edition sends the title back up 15-6, after improving 15-3 in France, 7-4 in Italy and 8-7 in Wallony, staying at No. 3 in neighboring Flanders. In the United Kingdom, the "This Is It" album drops 24-42, but the DVD remains top of that separate Official Charts Company DVD listing, on which Jackson's "Moonwalker" is down 2-3 as Andre Rieu's "Live In Vienna" disc debuts at No. 2.
Unheilig's "Grosse Freiheit" (Universal) holds at No. 7 overall, holding at No. 1 in Germany and No. 4 in Austria. English ingénue Ellie Goulding, who won the Critics' Choice title at the BRIT Awards Feb. 16 ahead of the release of her debut album "Lights" (Polydor/Universal), sees it debut at No. 8 on European Albums and No. 1 in the United Kingdom, with sales of 36,000. Its lead single "Starry Eyed" stays at No. 4 there.
German favorite Peter Maffay's "Tattoos (40 Jahre Maffay)" (Sony Music Entertainment) climbs back 12-9 on the aggregate chart after a 3-2 move in Germany, where it was No. 1 for three weeks last month. Muse's "The Resistance" (Helium 3/Warner Music) closes out the pan-European top ten, dipping 9-10.
Stromae, from Brussels, has been ascending Hot 100 Singles for several weeks, rising 49-25-22-13 and now reaching the summit with the help of a No. 1 debut in France, a 3-1 climb in Germany and a 16-10 rise in Austria. "Alors On Danse" won a photo finish for the European crown over Ke$ha, in the closest battle on the pan-European chart for some time.
The narrowest winning margin of recent years came early last year, when Katy Perry's "Hot N Cold" (Virgin/EMI), at No. 1, was almost inseparable from the runner-up, "Broken Strings" (Polydor/Universal) by James Morrison featuring Nelly Furtado.
DEADLINE EXTENDED: Music applications are among the most popular types of apps downloaded to today's smartphones. But which are the best of
the best? Which new music apps created in the last year are setting the stage for tomorrow's successes? Billboard's Music App Awards is the
first awards program answering these questions by showcasing and celebrating the best and most innovative new music apps defining the space today. The
deadline to submit your app for consideration is Aug 6. Click here to apply.
Share
Share on LinkedIn
