U.K. MIDWEEKS: SHOWMAN SOARS AGAIN
The Greatest Showman has returned to the top of the Official Albums chart in the U.K. at this week’s halfway stage, with The Carpenters currently claim the highest new entry. Over on singles, Ariana Grande and Ava Max are competing for #1.
Should The Greatest Showman soundtrack (Atlantic) hold on to its lead, Friday will be its 22nd non-consecutive week at #1. Its closest competitor is Roy Orbison and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s Unchained Melodies (Sony Music CG) rising four slots to #2. The Carpenters start at #5 with another album recorded with the RPO, Carpenters (UMC). Coldplay’s Live in Buenos Aires (Parlophone) is also new at #7.
On the Official Singles midweeks, Grande is heading for her sixth week at #1 with “thank u, next” (Island). The track is 3.8k combined sales ahead of Max’s “Sweet But Psycho” (Atlantic) at #2.
Mark Ronson and Miley Cyrus have moved up seven to #3 with “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart” (Columbia), and Mariah Carey has broken into the Top 5 with “All I Want for Christmas is You” (Columbia) at #5.
That leads a pack of festive songs climbing up the chart, including Wham!’s “Last Christmas” (RCA) at #7, The Pogues f/Kirsty MacColl’s “Fairytale of New York” (Warner Bros.) at #10, Band Aid’s “Do They Know it’s Christmas?” at #16, and Michael Buble’s version of “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” (Reprise) at #17.
This week’s highest new entry looks set to come from XXXTentacion with “Guardian Angel” (Bad Vibes Forever) from his posthumous album, Skins, at #21.
