UK Singles Chart, November 21, 2009

1. Meet Me Halfway - Black Eyed Peas
2. Happy - Leona Lewis

Christmas is still a month away, but it's bah humbug anyway on the British charts this week. Both the single and the album I was hoping would be #1 got beat and both pretty late in the week. At mid-week, it looked like Leona Lewis would be earning her fourth #1 hit and Robbie Williams his 9th #1 album. But late in the week, there were upsets in both cases.

Thus Black Eyed Peas earn their fourth #1 hit and the third consecutive #1 hit this year, following "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling." In a year where no less than nine artists have scored two #1 hits, Black Eyed Peas become the first to land three chart-toppers. The last artist to score at least three #1 hits within a calendar year was Elvis Presley in 2005, who topped the chart with "Jailhouse Rock," "One Night," and "It's Now or Never."

Leona Lewis has to settle for runner-up then, debuting at #2 with "Happy," the first single from her second album Echo, out tomorrow. "Happy" is Lewis's 6th consecutive top 5 single. In the end it wasn't even really that close, with Lewis selling about 86k to BEP's 100k.

5. I Need You - N-Dubz

N-Dubz land their first solo top 10 hit. Earlier this year they were featured on Tinchy Stryder's #1, "Number One." Their previous best was "Papa Can You Hear Me," which hit #19 last year.

7. 3 - Britney Spears

Leona Lewis isn't the only female pop star to miss out an a #1 this week. "3" is the new single from Britney Spears' greatest hits collection released this week. It was a recent #1 in American, but in Britain it debuts at only #7. The lack of a physical release may have contributed to its misfortune, or perhaps it just isn't as interesting a single as her more recent bigger hits like "Gimme More" or "Womanizer." This is Britney's 20th top 10 hit.

8. About a Girl - Sugababes

Sugababes debut at #8 with "About a Girl," the follow-up to recent #2 hit "Get Sexy." "About a Girl" made a brief appearance on the radio in September with former member Keisha Buchanan, but was quickly yanked while it and the rest of the album could be re-recorded with new member Jade Ewen, following Bachanan's departure. "About a Girl" is the second single from the group's upcoming 7th album, Sweet 7, which was supposed to come out this month, but has been moved to March. "About a Girl" reverses the recent trend of Sugababes albums scoring only one top 10 hit. It's produced by RedOne, the man responsible for recent hits by Lady GaGa and Little Boots.

17. You Know Me - Robbie Williams

So Robbie Williams' Reality Killed the Video Star not hitting #1 on the albums chart was the week's other major chart disappointment. Instead JLS's debut album is #1, although only selling about 1,000 more copies than Robbie. Reality is the first Robbie album not to debut at #1 since his first album (not counting his concert album, which isn't really an "album" in the strictest sense). The album's release is good news for his new single, "You Know Me," which debuts on downloads about a month ahead of its scheduled Christmas week release.

25. Cry Me Out - Pixie Lott

Also debuting in the top 40 on downloads ahead of its release is the third single from Pixie Lott, the very retro sounding ballad "Cry Me Out." Great third single. Could be a #1 contender if everyone's done buying The X Factor Finalists' remake of "You Are Not Alone," which is out tomorrow and surely surely surely to be #1 next weekend.