An acoustic ballad by two former street performers known as Nizlopi upset the odds by beating regular chart-toppers Westlife to No. 1 on the new U.K. singles chart, as “JCB Song” shifted 81,660 copies. Meanwhile, Eminem’s “Curtain Call” compilation (Interscope) snagged a third week atop the album chart.
The Christmas charts will be announced by the Official U.K. Charts Co. next Sunday, Christmas Day, but Nizlopi (the duo of Luke Concannon and John Parker, have put themselves in the running with “JCB Song” (FDM). Their chief competition will be “That’s My Goal” by Shayne Ward, who on Saturday night was voted the winner of ITV’s “The X Factor” talent series and will have a single rush-released on Wednesday (Dec. 21).
“JCB Song” was co-written by singer-songwriter Concannon and double bassist and “human beatbox” Parker about Concannon’s childhood, and has been gaining considerable media attention in recent weeks. Consequently, the track managed to outsell this week’s conventional favorite for No. 1, Westlife’s remake of Diana Ross’ 1991 hit “When You Tell Me That You Love Me.”
Three other singles debuted in the pre-festive top 10, with novelty act Crazy Frog’s “Jingle Bells”/”U Can’t Touch This” (Gut) new at No. 5. Robbie Williams’ “Advertising Space” (Chrysalis), the latest single from his “Intensive Care” album, opened at No. 8 and boy band McFly notched another top 10 hit with the double-sided “Ultraviolet” and “The Ballad of Paul K” (Universal Island) at No. 9. Mariah Carey’s “Don’t Forget About Us” (Def Jam/Universal Island) just missed the top ten, debuting at No. 11.
The top three of the album chart was unchanged, with the Eminem set at No. 1 again ahead of the Williams album, while Westlife’s “Face to Face” (S/Sony BMG) held at No. 3. James Blunt’s “Back to Bedlam” (Atlantic), which is seven-times platinum in the U.K. for shipments of 2.1 million copies, rebounded 7-4.
There were no new entries in the top 40 and the top debut was a modest No. 48 opener for Mary J. Blige’s “The Breakthrough” (Geffen).
Madonna retains her supremacy on both the European Top 100 Albums chart and the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles survey, as the top three on both of Billboard’s composite sales charts for the region are unchanged. Her “Confessions on a Dance Floor” (Warner Bros.) rules for a fourth week on the album survey while “Hung Up” is in a fifth week atop the Eurochart.
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