1.(NEW) Heart Skips a Beat - Olly Murs (feat. Rizzle Kicks)
[8.(8) Down with the Trumpets - Rizzle Kicks]
The charts this week are dominated by former reality show contestants who have all moved on in one form or another, making for some interesting contrasts. On the singles chart, it was the old versus the new as Olly Murs, one of the biggest male soloists to emerge from The X Factor, battled with first Pop Idol winner Will Young, the first star among the recent slate of acts to get his start on a reality show and certainly the one with the most enduring career.
In that race, Murs is victorious, scoring his second #1 hit exactly a year after topping the chart with his first single, "Please Don't Let Me Go." "Heart Skips a Beat" is presumably the first single from his upcoming second album and it's a real charmer--by far the best song he's put out so far. I'm happy to see it at #1. This is Murs' fourth top 40 hit, his only single to fall short of that was his last, "Busy," which peaked at #45. "Heart Skips a Beat" is also a second top 10 hit for Rizzle Kicks, whose own single, "Down with the Trumpets," is still firmly planted in the top 10 at #8--its peak position where it's now spent 3 consecutive weeks.
2.(NEW) Feel So Close - Calvin Harris
David Guetta may be the reigning king of dance music these days, but Calvin Harris is still very much a going concern, scoring his second consecutive #2 hit this week, just a couple months after last single "Bounce." This is his sixth single to reach the top 3, ninth to reach the top 40.
5.(NEW) Jealousy - Will Young
So Will Young loses out on scoring a #1 hit, but frankly I'm quite surprised (in a good way) to see that "Jealousy" has done as well as it has, becoming his first top 5 hit in 5 years. The lead single from Young's last album, "Changes," was an airplay #1, but became the lowest-charting among his albums' first singles when it peaked at only #10--and subsequent singles from Let It Go charted far lower than that. So it's nice to see his chart fortunes turn around a bit, showing that there's still quite a bit of interest in the 32 year-old singer.
Over on the albums chart, the story is even better, where Young's fifth album, Echoes, debuts at #1, becoming his third chart-topper--first since 2003's Friday's Child. With Radio 1 having taken a pass on "Jealousy," and with generally less airplay than he's had in the past, it would appear that Young is being fashioned now as an albums artist, or at least an adult pop artist, which is probably perfectly fine, since he excels at it.
On the albums chart, there was yet again a contest among former reality show performers, as Joe McElderry, winner of The X Factor two seasons ago, was also set to chart with his second album. On paper, Young and McElderry are as similar as possible--both are fresh-faced, seemingly nice guys who also both happened to come out after winning their respective shows. In Young's case, this didn't hurt his career at all, in fact, it may have helped him earn a dedicated fan base, as he saw his post-Idol pop career take off quite spectacularly.
McElderry, on the other hand, didn't do so well, as his first album was pretty much a failure, getting him dropped from his label. Credit him then for re-emerging as a kind of classical pop singer, appearing on--and winning--the second season of Popstar to Operastar. Without missing a beat, his second album, Classic, a covers collection, is released less than a year after his pop debut, Wide Awake, charting at #2, higher than Wide Awake's #3 peak. Despite this seeming like a strange choice, at least for now, it appears to have been a good one.
11.(18) Marry You - Bruno Mars
Mars gets close to scoring his sixth top 10 hit, as the lovingly retro "Marry You" climbs 7 notches this week.
15.(NEW) The Death of You and Me - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
Former Oasis member Noel Gallagher's post-Oasis debut lands at #15, a fair bit better than his bandmates did when they regrouped as Beady Eye and hit #31 with "The Roller" earlier this year. This sounds very much like an Oasis song--as much as Beady Eye does as well. Although interesting that where Oasis was always good for a top 10 hit, apart, these acts can't rustle up one.
16.(21) Who's Laughing Now - Jessie J
Jessie J continues to climb with her fourth single. I think it's officially out tomorrow, so we'll see if it can become her fourth top 10.
18.(NEW) Party All Night (Sleep All Day) - Sean Kingston
Eventually the Jamaican rapper will release a third album, although I haven't read there are plans for it yet. This follows a year after his Justin Bieber collaboration, "Eenie Meenie," which hit #9.
24.(NEW) What the Water Gave Me - Florence + the Machine
Florence + the Machine was a hot breakout act in 2009 and 2010, hitting #5 with her remake of "You've Got the Love" and then #2 with a remake of that featuring Dizzee Rascal, "You Got the Dirtee Love." They also scored a hit in the US last year, with "Dog Days Are Over," which hit #21 on the Billboard Hot 100. Now Florence returns with the first single from her second album, which is due in November.
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