This is last Sunday’s chart, so we’re back up to date.  If only just.

In fact, the current number one is “Start Without You” by Alexandra Burke, holding on for a second week.  I’ll run through the other new entries anyway, though, instead of letting them build up.  There aren’t very many, to be honest, and virtually none of them are at the top.  It’s a chart mainly notable for some odd movements of songs that have been around for ages.  (“All Time Low” by the Wanted, for example, which entered at number 1 back in August and looked to be dropping sharply down the charts, has suddenly turned round and climbed back to 14.)  A couple of intriguing ones further down, though.

The highest new entry is “Impossible” by Shontelle at number 10.

You might remember her debut single “T-Shirt”, which made the top 10 last January.  At that point she was being hyped as the next Rihanna, seemingly for no better reason than that they both come from Barbados.  But  they didn’t manage to capitalise.  The follow-up single “Stuck With Each Other” missed the top 20, and the third single “Battle Cry” missed the top 40 (though to be fair, by that point the record company had given up and stopped promoting it).  Oh, and they titled her debut album “Shontelligence”, which is just unforgiveably lame.  It tanked in the UK, peaking at 147 in the album charts.  No, that’s not a misprint.

So, take two.  She does have a decent voice, so with the right material, you never know.  “Impossible” climbed in the midweeks, so maybe this time she’ll stick around.

For the next new entry, you have to go all the way down to 27, and “Last One Standing” by Example, the rapper turned electropop singer.  His fourth and smallest hit; judging from the midweeks, it won’t be around long.  The video astounds me – why would you do something that so obviously invites comparisons to “Sabotage”, a classic video that’s always going to blow you out of the water?  Bad judgment there.  As a pop song, it’s fine, but it’s not going to break from the pack.

Number 28 is “(It’s Not War) Just The End of Love” by the Manic Street Preachers – a surprisingly low entry for their first proper single in three years, and the midweeks seem to show it vanishing.  The Manics have been around since 1991, and I suspect they’re become another act who now sell albums to an established fanbase.  A few veteran acts have found their single sales nosediving in the digital era, presumably because they’re not reaching a wider audience, and their hardcore collectors aren’t interested in digital singles.  A number 28 peak would be the lowest chart placing for a proper Manics release since “Life Becoming a Landslide” in 1994.   I’d include the video, but it’s not embeddable.  It’s one of their string-driven power ballads, perfectly good but perhaps a bit familiar.

At number 30, “Misery” by Maroon 5, their ninth hit.  I’ve never really seen the appeal of these guys, to be honest, but I suppose they’ve found a niche.  The video is a textbook example of how to beat a metaphor into the ground.

Number 35 is a re-entry for “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved” by the Script, a number 2 hit from 2008, because somebody did it in an X Factor audition.  And number 36 is “Sing For The Deaf” by Missing Andy, another Must Be The Music release – the version I’ve heard before is basically an indie rock anthem, basically, but this acoustic version from their own YouTube channel is more endearing.  Once again, Sky’s talent show does deserve credit for giving some monumentally obscure acts a leg up into the charts.

At number 37, one of the strangest records of the year – “Enter the Ninja” by Die Antwoord.  It’s not just white rap – it’s South African white rap, a concept that boggles the mind all on its own.  They’re from Cape Town, and their frontman (real name Watkin Tudor Jones) is apparently some sort of combination rapper, performance artist and satirist who’s been around in South Africa for years.  He started off in a very odd-sounding group called Max Normal.tv, who apparently wore suits and delivered motivational speeches in rap format, sometimes accompanied by Powerpoint presentations.  Here’s one of their videos.

Quite. Now, he’s a maniac calling himself “Ninja”, and makes records that sound like Scooter threatening to knife people. “Die Antwoord” means “The Answer”.  Apparently, if you’re South African, it’s pretty obvious that they’re doing a white trash gimmick. Completely in character from start to finish.  How well that travels abroad, I don’t know.  But I can’t help liking this, not least for the bridge where he turns into Mark Millar. (Just after the four minute mark.)

Weird. And interesting.

And finally, at number 40, “So Big” by Iyaz. It’s been hovering outside the charts for a while and looks to be dropping straight back out again.