Billboard Hot 100 Analysis, 3/3/2007

1. What Goes Around...Comes Around - Justin Timberlake

Once again Timberlake + Timbaland proves unstoppable. Buoyed by his double appearance at the Grammys, Justin Timberlake rises seven spots to score his third consecutive #1 single, edging out another Timbaland-produced single, Nelly Furtado's "Say It Right." According to Billboard's Fred Bronson, "What Goes Around..." is only the second #1 hit to feature an ellipsis (...) in its title, the first being current tabloid fixture Britney Spears' debut single, "...Baby One More Time." Of course, Spears and Timberlake both got their start on the Mickey Mouse Club, which also featured one Ryan Gosling, vying for a Best Actor Oscar tonight.

2. Runaway Love - Ludacris (feat. Mary J. Blige)

Ludacris featuring Mary J. Blige rises another notch to #2 this week. This is the highest Mary J. Blige has ever charted when working with another artist, the previous best being her #3 collaboration in 1995 with Method Man, "I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need to Get By."

4. Not Ready to Make Nice - Dixie Chicks

The Grammys had a big influence on quite a few singles and albums on the Billboard charts this week, but no act benefited from the awards more than the Dixie Chicks. The country trio won all five awards they were nominated for, including Album of the Year for Taking the Long Way, which rocketed up the albums chart this week from #72 to #8, and Record and Song of the Year for "Not Ready to Make Nice," which re-enters the Hot 100 this week at #4. The song had previously peaked at #23 in May last year.

At #4, "Not Ready to Make Nice" is the highest-charting single from the band, beating their previous #7 best attained by "Long Time Gone" and "Landslide," the former being their 2002/2003 single that had been very popular at the time singer Natalie Maines made an anti-Bush comment at a concert in London. The single, which was at its 8th week at in the top 10, plummeted instantly from the country radio backlash, falling from 10 to 43 and then off.

5. Don't Matter - Akon
6. The Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani (feat. Akon)

Akon's third Konvicted singles climbs 6 spots into the top 10 this week at #5. It edges just ahead of Gwen Stefani's "The Sweet Escape," down 3 this week, which he is also featured on.

7. It's Not Over - Daughtry

With all the activity in the top 10 this week, a few singles slide back while retaining bullets, including Stefani's track and this first single from former American Idol contestant Chris Daughtry's band Daughtry. The single has proven a big hit at top 40 radio, where it's currently #3 and rising. Not a bad song, sounding along the lines of a Nickelback single, only darker.

14. Waiting on the World to Change - John Mayer

Another Grammy benefactor, John Mayer, rises 10 spots to a new peak position at #14 for "Waiting on the World to Change." The single's parent album, Continuum, won Pop Album of the Year, itself rising 19 spots back into the top 10 at #1o.