UK Singles Chart, December 19, 2010

1. The Time (Dirty Bit) - Black Eyed Peas
2. Whip My Hair - Willow Smith

It was tight competition for #1 this week. During the first half of the week, Willow Smith, the 10-year-old daughter of actor/rapper Will Smith and actress Jada Pinkett-Smith, looked set to hit #1 with her first single, but by Thursday, she'd been overtaken by Black Eyed Peas' "The Time (Dirty Bit)," which climbs to #1 in its fifth week on the chart. This is BEP's fifth #1 hit. Willow Smith's father, Will, hit #1 in 1997 with "Men in Black," and has quite a few top 10 hits. As part of the duo D.J. Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince he also hit #1 in 1993 with "Boom! Shake the Room."

4. What's My Name - Rihanna (feat. Drake)
(5. Only Girl - Rihanna)
(9. Who's that Chick - David Guetta feat. Rihanna)

Rihanna and Drake climb four spots to #4, giving Rihanna her 15th top 5 hit. Like last week, Rihanna has three singles in the top 10, although not consecutively this week, as "Only Girl" climbs two notches to #5 and "Who's that Chick" with David Guetta holds at #9.

11. Hold My Hand - Michael Jackson (feat. Akon)

So the first single from the first posthumous album from Michael Jackson didn't turn out to be as big a deal as I had thought it would be. It debuts at #11 this week, which is a pretty poor showing for a first single from a Michael Jackson album. "You Rock My World" from Invincible hit #2, "Blood on the Dancefloor" from the album of the same name hit #1, "Scream" from History hit #3, "Black or White" from Dangerous hit #1, "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" from Bad hit #1, "The Girl Is Mine" from Thriller hit #8, and "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" from Off the Wall hit #3.

13. Christmas Lights - Coldplay

Coldplay's Christmas single climbs 5 spots to #13. Will it be top 10 next week?

16. The Silence - Alexandra Burke

On the cusp of the crowning of the 7th winner of The X Factor, the show's fifth winner, one of its most successful, re-released her 2009 album, Overcome, with the single versions of several releases from the last year plus a handful of new tracks. "The Silence" appeared on her original album, but gets a slight rework for its single release. The track has never been a big favorite of mine, but it's decent enough, and certainly an obvious choice for a single. This is Burke's sixth single and first to miss the top 10, assuming it climbs no higher (it is unlikely that it would).

32. Better than Today - Kylie Minogue

Poor Kylie seems to see her luck with singles dry up faster and faster. With her last album, X, it wasn't until the fourth single that she missed the top 10. That was "The One," which peakedat #36. With Aphrodite, it happens with single #3, which manages to enter the chart only slightly higher than "The One," which is Kylie's lowest charting single (apart from a couple of dance singles she sings on that no one really counts).

68. Someone Wake Me Up - Joe McElderry

Oh dear. This is not good. Not good at all. Poor Joe.

Next week, barring a viral Facebook campaign, the #1 hit will surely be "Many of Horror," a remake of last year's hit single from Biffy Clyro as performed by tonight's X Factor winner, Matt Cardle.