US Chart Notes

• Alicia Keys spends a second week at #1 with "No One." The track continues to grow impressively at top 40 radio too. It's currently up four spots to #4 on the Mediabase top 40, posting the biggest gain of any track.
• "Apologize" by Timbaland/OneRepublic moves back up to #2. This is its third week at #2, and the track has now spent 7 weeks in the top 3 without hitting #1. Compare that to Timbaland's #1 hit from earlier this year, "Give It To Me," which spent only four weeks in the top 3 or "The Way I Are," which only peaked at #3.
• After 6 weeks at #5, Internet sensation Colbie Caillat's "Bubbly" begins its descent. Still, for a single that didn't hit #1 here or at top 40, it's performed pretty well. Until this week at top 40 radio, the track was getting over 10,000 spins, a top feat for a #1 hit, but very rare for a #2. Timbaland/OneRepublic, who had been perched at #1 during that time, was (and still is) posting over 11,000 weekly spins at top 40 radio. I don't have access to all the data, but I wouldn't be surprised if "Apologize" posted the year's biggest weekly spin total.
• Rihanna/Ne-Yo rebound at #9 with "Hate that I Love You." The track had previously spent 3 weeks at #9 before dipping below the top 10 for the last 2 weeks. Top 40 airplay for her next single, "Don't Stop the Music," which has already been a #1 dance hit and a hit in Canada.
• Jordin Sparks moves into striking distance of the top 10 with "Tattoo," up four spots to #12 this week. If she reaches the top 10 next week, she'll become the sixth American Idol performer to earn a top 10 hit besides just their initial "victory" release (which often tend to chart very high, but spike quickly and get no airplay). Kelly Clarkson was first of course in 2003 with "Miss Independent," which she's followed with five more top 10s. Others include Ruben Studdard (#9 with "Sorry 2003"), Clay Aiken (#4 with "Solitaire/The Way"), Carrie Underwood (#8 "Before He Cheats" and #6 "I'll Stand By You"), and Daughtry (#4 "It's Not Over" and #5 "Home," and never a "victory" single).
• Country sensation Taylor Swift sees her biggest Hot 100 hit, "Our Song," move up five spots to #23 this week. It's currently #7 and rising on the country chart. Her biggest country hit so far, "Teardrops on My Guitar," was a #2 country hit earlier this year and has now crossed over at top 40, currently #25 on Mediabase. The single is no longer eligible for the Hot 100 though, as it spent 25 weeks on the chart, peaking at #33 before falling off the chart.
• Speaking of American Idol and country artists, Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" finally falls off the Hot 100 this week, after spending an amazing 64 weeks on the chart, making it the third longest charting single of all time. This week her current hit, "So Small," spends a second week at #1 on the country chart and dips five spots to #28 on the Hot 100.
• Sean Kingston enters the top 40 at #31 with his third top 40 (fourth if you count his appearance on Natasha Bedingfield's "Love Like This," up six spots to #21 this week), "Take You There," following #1 hit "Beautiful Girls" and #14 single "Me Love."
• Finally, at #36, Mary J. Blige scores her 20th top 40 single with "Just Fine," the first single from her forthcoming eighth studio album, Growing Pains. She had her first top 40 hit in 1992, "You Remind Me," which hit #29, which was followed by her first top 10 hit, "Real Love" (#7). Her biggest hits have been "Family Affair" (a #1 hit in 2001), "Not Gon Cry" (#2 in 1996), and last year's "Be Without You."