Billboard Hot 100, October 24, 2009

1. 3 - Britney Spears

Look at Britney go! "3," the new single from Spears' upcoming greatest hits set, The Singles Collection, bows at #1, the first single to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100 since Taylor Hicks' American Idol victory lap, "Do I Make You Proud" entered at #1 in the summer of 2006. Considering that Clay Aiken, Fantasia and Carrie Underwood all had #1 debuts, the last time a non-Idol-related single debuted at #1 was in December 1998 with Celine Dion and R. Kelly's "I'm Your Angel." Three is appropriately Britney's third #1 hit, coming within a year of her second #1, "Womanizer," a significantly shorter amount of time than passed between her first and second #1s. It was almost 10 years between when "...Baby One More Time" held the top spot in early 1999 and when "Womanizer" did it late in 2008.

9. Fireflies - Owl City

Owl City scores their first top 10 hit as "Fireflies" rises two spots to #9.

16. One Less Lonely Girl - Justin Bieber
21. One Time - Justin Bieber

Okay, clearly it is time to pay attention to Justin Bieber. He's a 15 year-old Canadian singer and former YouTube sensation who has made it big fast. "One Time," his first single, which is produced by Tricky Stewart, is up 5 spots to #21 this week. It's also a top 20 hit at pop radio. His new single, "One Less Lonely Girl," makes an impressive Hot 100 debut at #16.

30. It's My Life/Confessions Part II - Glee Cast (boys)
40. Halo/Walking on Sunshine - Glee Cast (girls)

That Glee is starting to catch on in a major way is being reflected now in the Hot 100, which is quite good fun if you're a fan of a) pop music, b) music charts, and c) Glee--like me. This week there are two debuts inside the top 40 from last week's episode where Mr. Schuester challenged the group to divide by gender and compete with one another in performing mashups of their choosing. The girls chose Beyonce's "Halo" and Katrina and the Waves' "Walking on Sunshine," a fun choice, and they did well, but the boys were better (in my opinion) with their Bon Jovi/Usher mashup of "It's My Life" and "Confessions." Apparently consumers agree, as the boys debut 10 spots higher than the ladies. This is the first week that two Glee tracks appear in the top 40 and the second week in a row for a Glee showing after last week's #28 placing of "Somebody to Love." Oh, and if you're not watching Glee, you really should be, as it's a fantastic show. Imagine if this show becomes really big, just think about the chart potential for the season finale performances.