Something happened awhile back, in the fall, which seemed a bit odd and now, in retrospect, was the beginning of a troublesome pattern for Kylie Minogue. I'm referring to the U.K. chart position of "2 Hearts," which by all rights should have been a return to former #1-peaking glories for the dimunitive Aussie diva given her life's circumstances in recent years. Even a #2 position would have been somewhat of an acceptable "welcome back" nod to the singer. However, "2 Hearts" landed at #4, and that was that.
Don't get me wrong -- "2 Hearts" as a comeback single was a godawful choice, especially given the other pop treasures lurking on X. But that never stopped "Slow" from topping the U.K. chart (or, hell, even "Tears On My Pillow").Then there was the odd marketing of mainland Europe getting "In My Arms" as a single in February while Britain got "Wow" (perhaps because she had performed "Wow" on the X Factor finale and it had prematurely charted in the Top 40?). "Wow" fared almost as well as "2 Hearts," hitting #5 when all was said and done.
So now the U.K. finally sees a proper single release for "In My Arms," a song which should have been a no-brainer choice for the first release off X. This week it enters the Top 10 at #10, a position Kylie's only ever peaked at once -- back in December 2000, with "Please Stay."That's a cryin' shame, because "In My Arms" deserves much better than #10. Hell, "In My Arms" deserves #1! It's got everything you'd want or expect from a Kylie Minogue single, and seeing "2 Hearts" and even the ill-suited Mims-addled "All I See" (in the U.S.) get priority over "In My Arms" is a crime against pop!
Now, there are a lot of factors at hand, such as the charts not being calculated today the same way they were, say, 10 or even five years ago, and it's generally a younger demographic downloading singles and influencing the charts and blah, blah, blah. But that doesn't really jive when you look at the ancient transvestite Madonna, who is currently at #1 for a fourth week. Of course, there is a slight more youth appeal to "4 Minutes," as it's got Justin Timerlake, etc. attached.So, are we just all tired of Kylie at this point? Do we still love her but not enough to pick up every release of hers that's tossed out there? That's usually what happens with your favorite artists when you "grow up." I know personally I used to grab all Kylie's import singles, as recent as Fever, but not so much anymore. Or maybe it's also a little bit of being a music fan in the Internet age. What current song or mix isn't instantly accessible for free these days?
Who knows. Maybe the real question is whether Kylie will go the the inevitable route with her next album...and work with Timbaland?
The U.K. Top 10:
1. "4 Minutes" - Madonna Feat. Justin Timberlake *4 weeks*
2. "Wearing My Rolex" - Wiley
3. "Black And Gold" - Sam Sparro
4. "Heartbreaker" - Will.I.Am
5. "Love In This Club" - Usher Feat. Young Jeezy
6. "American Boy" - Estelle Feat. Kanye West
7. "Cry For You" - September
8. "Violet Hill" - Coldplay *new*
9. "Low" - Flo Rida Feat. T-Pain
10. "In My Arms" - Kylie Minogue *new*