I’m running behind on these again, so this is the chart from the week before last – plenty of new entries, few of them particularly noteworthy.

There’s a change at the top, but unusually, it’s the return of a previous number 1 – “Just The Way You Are (Amazing)” by Bruno Mars.

I can’t say this made a huge impression on me when it first came out, but it’s proved more enduring than I’d have thought.  Sales have gained a second wind, presumably because it’s actually growing on people.  It returns to the top in its fifth week on the chart, having made an unusual 1-2-4-2-1 meander around the top 5.  It’s not unknown to return to the top after such a long gap, but it’s unusual – the last record to do it was “Hips Don’t Lie” by Shakira in 2006.

It can’t have hurt that Mars’ song was covered on X Factor by Matt Cardle, but sales had already started recovering last week, so at best it’s just a contributing . You’ll note, by the way, that we’re seeing far fewer re-entries for old songs covered on The X Factor than we did in previous years.  Presumably that’s because those sales have been diverted to downloads of the performances from the live finals – which, as I’ve mentioned before, are being withheld from the charts to avoid giving away who’s winning.  Though supposedly things might change next week, as “Stay” by Shakespear’s Sister has been selling well since Cher Lloyd sang it on Saturday.  At time of writing, it’s at number 8 on iTunes.

Needless to say, the record industry usually has its own ideas of who ought to be number 1, and things like this screw up the script.  The unfortunate act who find themselves derailed by the Bruno Mars resurgency are the Wanted, who end up at number 2 with “Heart Vacancy”.

The Wanted are an unabashed attempt to revive the boy band format, and this is their second single.  Their debut, “All Time Low”, entered at number 1 in August, and promptly dived to number 5 the next week.  “Heart Vacancy” plunged to 9 in its second week on the chart.  Entering high and plummetting is traditionally a sign that you’re selling to a hardcore fanbase but your songs aren’t crossing over to a wider audience.  While the Wanted have been very effectively marketed to a core audience of young girls, they’re less obviously appealing to… well, anyone else.  That said, it’s not impossible to bridge the gap – Take That managed it, so did East 17 back in the day.  And there’s some reason to think that the Wanted’s problem is more with the presentation than the material.  Instead of vanishing completely, “All Time Low” has been floating around the top 40 for fourteen weeks now – it dropped as far as 36 two weeks ago, but it’s now climbed back to the mid-twenties.

The other new entries from last week:

• “Firework” by Katy Perry at number 5.  By her standards, her ninth hit is an “if I can be serious for a moment” song in which she tells us that everything will be fine.  The video even has what seems to be a kid undergoing chemo.  Being a Katy Perry video, it also has Katy Perry firing sparks from her breasts.  To give credit where it’s due, it’s a song that could easily be intolerable, but it’s catchy if a bit over-earnest.
• “2012 (It Ain’t The End)” by Jay Sean featuring Nicki Minaj at number 9.  Sean’s tenth hit, and I’m slightly surprised to realise he’s been around since 2003.  I wasn’t aware that many people were predicting the eschaton for next year, but Sean thoughtfully assures us we needn’t worry.  It’s a bit Black Eyed Peas, basically.  Singer Nicki Minaj is a serial collaborator in America – Wikipedia lists nine singles where she’s appeared as a featured guest this year alone – but this is her first chart credit in Britain.
• “Best Behaviour” by N-Dubz at number 10.  Rather sappy new single from the rap/pop crossover outfit.  Def Jam is going to try and launch them in America, and this is one of the new tracks recorded for their US debut (which is mainly going to be a best-of compilation).  Just think, soon America could be full of people dressed like Dappy.  No, perhaps not.  This dropped in the second week, so it’s not going to be one of their bigger hits.
• “Just a Dream” by Nelly at number 11.  Wow, is he still going?  This is Nelly’s 21st UK hit, but it’s also his biggest since his guest appearance on “Nasty Girl” by the Notorious B.I.G., a number 1 back in 2006.  Half the rappers in America were on that record, though, and to find a bigger hit with him as the lead artist, you’re going back to “N Dey Say” (number 6 in 2005 – it’s the one that recycled the PM Dawn sample).  This climbed to number 8 in its second week, and it’s certainly better than average R&B.
• “My Wicked Heart” by Diana Vickers at number 13.  Third hit from the former X Factor finalist who had the good fortune not to win, and went off to a pretty respectable career in the West End.  Her record sales are a bit erratic – debut “Once” was a number 1 hit, follow-up “The Boy Who Murdered Love” sputtered to 36.  They’re repackaging the album, and this is one of the added tracks.  It’s… well, it’s very strange.  It starts off a bit wonky, it throws in random stabs of brass, and then it suicidally lifts half the chorus of “Under the Bridge” without credit, which I’m amazed her record label didn’t call her on.  (The lawyers have supposedly been in touch.)  For all of that, though, I like this one, just for its sheer bloodyminded lopsidedness.  It’s certainly not been made to formula.
• “Mine” by Taylor Swift at number 30.  After “Love Story” got to number 2 last February, Taylor Swift has struggled for a follow-up in the UK, and this is only her third UK top 40 hit (three other singles have missed the chart entirely in the same time).  UK radio doesn’t much care for anything with country influences.
• “Cross My Heart” by Skepta featuring Preeya Kalidas at number 31.  Skepta’s third single certainly goes back to his grime roots with some of the cheapest synth strings I’ve heard in ages.  Preeya Kalidas is a soap actress now trying to get into music.  Strangely enough, this is not her first UK hit – in 2002, she reached number 38 with “Shakalaka Baby”, a song from the musical Bombay Dreams.  If India entered the Eurovision Song Contest…