And I had such high hopes of staying up to date.  Ah well.  At least this number one managed two weeks at the top, so we’re kind-of-sort-of still current.  And it’s a slightly unexpected number one, because the same week saw the release of “Shame” by Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow.  That single was generally assumed to have a clear run at the top, if only for the gimmick factor of having them both appear on the same track.

But no.  The new number one is Cee Lo Green‘s viral YouTube hit, which the Official Chart Company is electing to call “Forget You.” That’s the name of the radio edit – and to be fair, judging from the iTunes chart, people are actually buying that version too, in pretty substantial numbers.  But, understandably enough, most people are going for the original.

The song does have a proper video now, but here’s the original animated-typography version.

Caution: there will be swearing once we get past the cut.

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Right – this time I really, really will bring things up to date!

This week’s number 1 is “Written in the Stars” by Tinie Tempah.  It’s on EMI, so the YouTube video isn’t embeddable, but hey, hop over there if you want to see the man himself standing on a rooftop in New York looking moody.  Or, if it works in your jurisdiction, here’s the Daily Motion version, which is also uploaded by EMI and is embeddable, because they can’t make up their bloody minds.

While we’ve had a huge turnover of number one singles this year, “Written in the Stars” is one of the top sellers, shifting 115K in its first week.

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And I was so close to catching up.  Oh well, we’ll get there eventually.

After two weeks at number 1, Alexandra Burke surprisingly dropped all the way to number 5 (though supposedly it was a very close run thing between numbers 3, 4 and 5, so she was a bit unlucky there).  The new number 1 – another one-week occupant – was “Just The Way You Are” by Bruno Mars.

In this video, you can see him flirting with a coy actress, while the video director livens things up with animated tape from a cassette.  Yes, a cassette.  Probably a bit hard to animate a wax cylinder.

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After a long run of singles that only spent a week at number 1, at last we reach a record that managed two.  (It’s unlikely to manage three, since the midweek charts show it dropping to 6.)  And yes, you guessed it, it’s connected to The X Factor.

“Start Without You” by Alexandra Burke featuring Laza Morgan.  Simon Cowell’s empire notches up its second consecutive number one – last time it was the 2009 runner-up, this time it’s the 2008 winner with the lead single from her next album.

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Continuing my slow catch-up on the singles chart…

It’s September. It’s the start of the winter TV season. And you know what that means. Yes, The X Factor is back.  Brace yourselves for the usual bombardment of tie-in singles, charity releases, records by acts vaguely associated with previous years, and songs plucked from back catalogue obscurity by a high-profile amateur cover version.

Take this week’s number one, which is “Please Don’t Let Me Go” by Olly Murs.  (It’s not embeddable, so you’ll just have to watch it on YouTube, if you want to hear it.)

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As you might have gathered, I was a bit behind on these even before going on holiday.  Since then, there’s been quite the turnover of number one singles – we’ve had a run of new releases going in at the top and then promptly dropping down the top ten, in a rather unwelcome return to the bad old days of pre-digital charts.  So, rather than try and plough through all these singles in one go, I’ll take them a week at a time.

We start with Sunday 15 August 2010, when the number 1 single was in fact a climber…

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A quiet summer for new singles seems to be leaving the way clear for a number of tracks with pre-release hype to trade the number 1 slot before rapidly flaring out.  “All Time Low” by the Wanted, with first week sales bolstered by the obligatory promotional tour targetting teenage girls, dropped to number 5 in its second week – not exactly a ringing endorsement of its broad appeal.

This week’s number 1 looks to be in a similar vein.  As the lead single from an album, it has the advantage of pre-release hype on its side (something that doesn’t work once the album is out, and the track is available for download while it’s being promoted).  And according to the midweek charts, it will be dropping to number four tomorrow.  Perhaps lower.

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Last week’s chart had almost no activity in the top 20, other than a new number 1 thanks to some reshuffling among the established singles.  This week is quite the opposite.  Five new entries, and they’re all in the top ten.  Pretty much nothing of interest is going on further down.

And the winner this week… is “All Time Low” by the Wanted.

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Well, this is going to be easy.

In a week with virtually no significant new releases – as in, the highest new entry was at number 20 – the number 1 slot is once again traded between records that have been on the chart a while.  This week, it’s “We No Speak Americano” by Yolanda Be Cool & D-Cup.

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