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Reality Star Will Young Clocks Third No. 1 on U.K. Charts

by Paul Sexton, London  |   August 29, 2011 10:01 EDT
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Will Young

Former reality show winners rule the new U.K. sales charts, in a double victory for Sony Music Entertainment. Original "Pop Idol" victor Will Young's "Echoes" album (RCA/Sony) entered at No. 1 and his "Jealousy" single at No. 5,  while 2009 "X Factor" runner-up Olly Murs leads that singles chart with "Heart Skips A Beat" (Syco Music/Epic/Sony), featuring pop/hip-hop duo Rizzle Kicks. Joe McElderry, who beat Murs to win that 2009 series and is now signed to Universal's UCJ label, opened at No. 2 with his "Classic" album.

 

It's ten years to the month since the first audition for "Pop Idol" by Young, who now registers his 10th solo U.K. top ten single and third No. 1 album. He topped the record survey with his 2002 debut "From Now On" and "Friday's Child" the following year. Murs hit the singles chart summit in September last year with "Please Don't Let Me Go" and followed it with "Please Don't Let Me Go," a No. 4 hit. "Heart Skips A Beat" sold over 100,000 copies last week to lead the new chart, according to the Official Charts Company. McElderry scored a No. 1 single after his "X Factor" triumph in December 2009 with "The Climb" and then a No. 3 album late last year, "Wide Awake," before switching to UCJ.

 

The new entries by Young and McElderry forced Adele's "21" (XL Recordings) out of the top two for the first time in its entire chart life, breaking a sequence of 30 consecutive weeks. Grime/rap star Wretch 32 followed last week's No. 1 debut for his "Don't Go" single (Levels/Ministry of Sound), featuring Josh Kumra, with a No. 4 start for the album "Black and White." Adele's previous album "19" is steady at No. 5.

 

There were two further top ten album newcomers, Barbra Streisand's "What Matters Most" (Sony Music) at No. 7 and British rock band Hard-Fi's "Killer Sounds" (Necessary/Atlantic/Warner Music) at No. 9. U.S. rapper Game's "The R.E.D. Album" (Geffen/Universal) entered at No. 14.  "Now! That's What I Call Music 79" (EMI/Virgin/UMTV) leads the way on the compilation chart for a fifth week.

 

Below Murs on the singles chart, Scottish DJ-artist Calvin Harris arrived at No. 2 with his latest hit "Feel So Close" (Columbia/Sony Music Entertainment). "Moves Like Jagger" (Octone/A&M/Universal) by Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera held at No. 3 as the Wretch 32 single fell to No. 4. Bruno Mars climbed 18-11 with "Marry You" (Elektra/Warner Music), former Oasis songwriter Noel Gallagher and his High Flying Birds entered at No. 15 with "The Death of You and Me" (Sour Mash), Jessie J's "Who's Laughing Now" (Lava/Universal Island) improved 21-16 and Sean Kingston's "Party All Night (Sleep All Day)" (Beluga Heights/Epic?Sony Music Entertainment) debuted at No. 18.

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