This year has seen the return of pop to the upper reaches of the U.S. charts like no other in this decade—from Rihanna to Pink to Chris Brown and now Britney Spears.Oh, Britney. What a long haul its been for you. And to think, last year you were gooned out of your mind with a shaved head, a pink wig and slimebags like Sam Lufti and Adnan Ghalib ramming your cookie.
It's strange to think that "Womanizer" has become only the second single for Britney to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Ironically, we're one week shy, to the day, of when "...Baby One More Time"—her debut single and first #1—was released in the U.S. ten years ago.
I can vividly recall the day I stood in Walden Books reading Billboard in August 1998 and saw a small article on a 16-year-old American girl named Britney Spears who'd flown to Sweden to record songs with Max Martin. I just kind of figured "...Baby One More Time" would be another flop in the already overcrowded market of pop music at the time.By January 1999, Britney was #1. Ten years later, does D'luv wish another song of hers had gone to the top somewhere along the way...something other than "Womanizer"? Sure.
In fact, "Stronger" and "Born To Make You Happy" are the be-all and end-all Britney songs in my book.
But to be honest, I've sort of given up resisting "Womanizer." I've played it enough times where it's been ingrained into my mind. It's like a surgeon took a scalpel, sliced open my forehead and rammed the lyrics into my brain matter using a plunger.Now I walk around listening to it on my iPod with a little extra skip in my step, bobbing my head up and down and salivating into a cup. Hush, just stop. There's nothing you can do or say.
The track impressively made a record jump from #96—where it debuted last week on airplay alone—after digital sales of 286,000.
So congratulations, Britney; when all is said and done, we probably really couldn't have heralded the return of pop without you.
On the flip side, Christina Aguilera might wanna pop an extra Xanax today—"Keeps Gettin' Better" debuted strongly enough at #7 last week, but now drops to #17.And while I'm on a roll admitting things, is it wrong that I kind of like Leona Lewis' "Better In Time" (which climbs to #11)? Maybe just a little?
Keep bleeding, luvs.
The U.S. Top 10:
1. "Womanizer" - Britney Spears *1 week*
2. "Whatever You Like" - T.I. *sales gainer*
3. "Live Your Life" - T.I. feat. Rihanna *airplay gainer*
4. "So What" - Pink
5. "Hot N Cold" - Katy Perry
6. "Disturbia" - Rihanna
7. "Let It Rock'" - Kevin Rudolf feat. Lil Wayne
8. "Can't Believe It'" - T-Pain feat. Lil Wayne
9. "Miss Independent'" - Ne-Yo
10. "Paper Planes'" - M.I.A
