Magic! have switched places with the artist formerly known as Cheryl Cole at the top of the UK singles chart; climbing a place to nab their first Number 1 single.
'Rude' has already topped listings in several countries around the world, and this week 16% of its chart performance was made up of audio streams - the highest proportion for any No1 since streams were merged with sales last month.
Magic! are No1 (WENN)
Behind that, Chezza drops down to No2 with 'Crazy Stupid Love', edging out ZHU's 'Faded' at No3. Britain's Got Talent finalists Bars & Melody are new at No5, one spot behind the perpetually popular 'Ghost' by Ella Henderson; now in its 8th week inside the Top 5 at No4.
Further down, breaking artist Melissa Steel bows at No10 with 'Kisses For Breakfast'. The 20-year-old is represented by Insanity Management, who also look after everyone from DJ Fresh to Made In Chelsea's Andy Jordan, and this first single in her own right easily surpasses the performance of her featured spot on Kove's 'Way We Are', which made it as far as No30 earlier this year.
Two songs called 'Home' struggled to catch on in the end, despite making Top 40 appearances in Wednesday's midweek update: Naughty Boy's latest arrives at No45 and Leah McFall - she of former The Voice fame - makes an appearance at No56 alongside former mentor will.i.am. Both, however, performed better than poor Pixie Lott. The excellent 'Lay Me Down' is arguably one of the strongest singles of her career to date, but minimal support from radio and TV playlisters has resulted in it failing to dent the Top 100 at all - a bad sign ahead of the release of her new, eponymous album (out today). Her previous low was a No20 peak for 'Gravity' back in 2010, but things are now looking very ropey for her indeed - let's hope her label give her a decent shot at turning it around.
Pixie Lott is struggling (WENN)
Over on the album chart, Ed Sheeran clocks up a sixth week in charge with 'x' [multiply], with biggest midweek challenger Eric Clapton settling for No3 with The Breeze; one spot behind the one and only Dolly Parton.
Two other new entries make it to the Top 10: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers debut at No7 with Hypnotic Eye, while girlband Neon Jungle arrive at No8 with Welcome To The Jungle. While we don't have exact sales figures to hand, that placement is higher than any Saturdays set has ever achieved, bar their 2010 "mini" collection Headlines (No3). The bands don't have much in common sonically, but in the competitive worlds of boybands and girlbands, it's interesting to see how they match up.
Neon Jungle have a Top 10 album (WENN)
Finally, a word for poor Cher Lloyd, who just can't seem to catch a break at the moment. Sorry I'm Late, her really quite good second album, makes its UK landing at No21 despite peaking in the Top 5 on iTunes upon its release. That underwhelming position is nine spots lower than its US peak back in May, and 17 lower than her (inferior) debut Sticks + Stones (No4 in 2011). Like with Pixie Lott, we hope her label give her a good chance to recover before doing anything drastic. Perhaps a performance on The X Factor would help things along...?
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