Chart Watch: Waiting For Gaga

Lady Gaga

has two songs in the top 10 on this week's Hot 100. "Dope" debuts at #8, while "Applause" holds at #10. So the early word that Gaga's new album, ARTPOP, is expected to sell in the 250K to 275K range this week was disappointing. That would put the album in the same range as Katy Perry'sPrism (286K) and Miley Cyrus'Bangerz (270K), which had the biggest and second-biggest sales openings of 2013 by a female artist. That's not bad company to be in, but it's a far cry from Eminem'sThe Marshall Mathers LP 2, which sold 792K this past week (proving that such dizzy sales totals are still achievable.)

"Applause" was released just a week after Perry's "Roar," which has sold more than twice as many copies (3,632,000 compared to 1,690,000). "Applause" has probably suffered by comparison. Both songs are hits. It's just that one is a big hit and the other is a monster hit.

Here's something that may surprise you: "Dope" sold just 31K copies this week (and ranks #60 on Hot Digital Songs), while "Applause" sold just 4K copies this week (and isn't listed at all on the 200-deep Hot Digital Songs chart) How can this be? The songs' sales sank this week because many fans opted to take advantage of iTunes' Complete My Album program. When they do that, their earlier song purchases are deducted from the songs' current week totals. ("Applause" had been selling about 80K a week the past two weeks.)

Another Gaga song, "Do What U Want" (featuring R. Kelly) rebounds from #58 to #48 in its third week. The song has climbed as high as #13.

Lorde's

"Royals" tops the Hot 100 for the seventh straight week. The song is already #10 on Nielsen SoundScan's running list of the best-selling songs of 2013. Lorde, who turned 17 last week, will be the youngest artist to have a song in the year-end top 10 since Miley Cyrus, who was also 17 when "Party In The U.S.A." wound up as the #6 song of 2009. (Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown were both 19 at the end of 2008, when their hit collabo "No Air" wound up as that year's #9 song.)

"The Monster" by Eminem featuring Rihanna jumps from #3 to #2 in its second week. Usually, songs that debut high drop in their second week. The fact that this moved up is a tip-off that it is probably destined to reach #1. The song logs its second week at #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

"The Monster" leaps from #31 to #12 on the Radio Songs chart, which measures airplay across all formats. Billboard's Gary Trust notes that this is Eminem's highest ranking on that chart since his previous collabo with Rihanna, "Love The Way You Lie." A coincidence? I don't think so. I think I could have a hit if I got Rihanna to sing on it.

Eminem has four other songs on this week's Hot 100. "Rap God" rebounds from #17 to #13, "Berzerk" drops from #15 to #19, Survival" drops from #16 to #31 and "Beautiful Pain" (featuring Sia) debuts at #99.

Avicii's

"Wake Me Up!" holds at #5 for the second week. It has climbed as high as #4. It's #1 on Dance/Electronic Songs for the 10th week. Just three more weeks and it will tie "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams for the longest run at #1 in this chart's history. (The chart originated just this year, but a record's a record!)

OneRepublic's "Counting Stars" jumps from #9 to #7. It's the group's highest-charting single since Timbaland's "Apologize" (on which it was featured) spent four weeks at #2 in late 2007. It has climbed higher than "Good Life," which reached #9 in July 2011.

Here's the low-down on this week's top 10 songs.

The Top Five: Lorde’s "Royals" holds at #1 for the seventh week in its 19th week on the chart. This is its 11th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #2 (186K)…"The Monster" by Eminem featuring Rihanna jumps from #3 to #2 in its second week on the chart. This is its second week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #4 (150K)…Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" dips from #2 to #3 in its 12th week on the chart. This is its ninth week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #7 (121K)…Katy Perry’s "Roar" holds at #4 for the second week in its 14th week on the chart. This is its 13th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #5 (136K)… Avicii’s "Wake Me Up!" holds at #5 for the second week in its 20th week on the chart. This is its 12th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #6 (126K).

The Second Five: "Hold On, We’re Going Home" by Drake featuring Majid Jordan rebounds from #7 to #6 in its 14th week on the chart. This is its 10th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #14 (78K)… OneRepublic's "Counting Stars" jumps from #9 to #7 in its 21st week on the chart. This is its third week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #3 (152K)…Lady Gaga's "Dope" is the week's highest new entry at #8. It's her 13th top 10 hit. Digital sales rank: #60 (31K)…Imagine Dragons' "Demons" dips from #8 to #9 in its 29th week on the chart. This is its third week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #10 (110K)… Lady Gaga’s "Applause" holds at #10 for the second week in its 13th week on the chart. It has been in the top 10 the entire time. Digital sales rank: not charted (4K).

One Direction's

"Story Of My Life" drops from #6 to #11. The boy band's previous hit, "Best Song Ever," tops the 1 million mark in digital sales this week. It took its sweet time getting there (16 weeks). It's the group's fourth million-seller, following "What Makes You Beautiful" (which is up to 4,397,000), "One Thing" (1,486,000) and "Live While We're Young" (1,248,000).

Passenger's "Let Her Go" holds at #12 for the second week in its 15th week. Passenger is the stage name of British singer-songwriter Michael David Rosenberg. Digital sales rank: #9 (118K)…"Timber" by Pitbull featuring Ke$ha vaults from #20 to #15 in its fifth week. Digital sales rank: #8 (119K).

"Say Something" by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera is the week's second highest new entry at #16. A Great Big World (a pop duo from New York) performed the ballad with Aguilera on The Voice on Nov. 5. The two acts subsequently recorded a collabo version, which accounts for 86% of the song's digital download sales this week. The song vaults from #149 to #1 in its second week on Hot Digital Songs. It sold 189K copies this week. Alas, that's the lowest tally for a song at #1 on this chart in nearly a year (since Rihanna's "Diamonds" hit #1 with sales of 171K).

Katy Perry's "Unconditionally" jumps from #25 to #21 in its third week.

"We Were Us" by Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert vaults from #55 to #26 in its ninth week. It jumps to #1 on Hot Country Songs, displacing Luke Bryan's "That's My Kind Of Night" (which had held the top spot for 12 weeks). This is Urban's 15th #1 country hit; Lambert's fourth. Urban reached #1 with one previous collabo ("Start A Band," a 2008 pairing with Brad Paisley)…Many country hits make strong upwards moves this week, the result of exposure from last week's CMA Awards. Lambert's husband, Blake Shelton, also sprints into the top 30. "Mine Would Be You" jumps from #38 to #28 in its 15th week.

The Neighborhood's "Sweater Weather" jumps from #33 to #29 in its 22nd week…Taylor Swift's "Red" vaults from #76 to #32 in its 19th week. The song has already climbed as high as #6…"Stay The Night" by Zedd featuring Hayley Williams jumps from #51 to #34 in its eighth week.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis land their fourth top 40 hit as "White Walls" (featuring ScHoolboy Q & Hollis) jumps from #49 to #39 in its eighth week…Tim McGraw's "Southern Girl" jumps from #52 to #42 in its 16th week.

Beyonce's

"Get Me Bodied," a song from her 2006 album B'Day, re-enters the chart at #46. This represents a new peak for the song, which climbed as high as #68 in August 2007. This marks the second time in six weeks that an old song from a former #1 album has had a resurgence. In October, Kanye West's "Gone" (featuring Cam'ron & Consequence) debuted at #18. It was from his 2004 album Late Registration. In today's volatile chart world, anything's possible.

Florida Georgia Line's "Stay" jumps from #62 to #47 in its fourth week…Eric Church's "The Outsiders" rebounds from #95 to #51 in its third week. This puts it right back where it debuted two weeks ago.

Justin Bieber's "Bad Day" debuts at #53. It's the fifth in his Music Mondays series. Next up: "All Bad." (Seriously.)…Cassadee Pope's "Wasting All These Tears" jumps from #69 to #60 in its 10th week…The Band Perry's "Don't Let Me Be Lonely" jumps from #81 to #67 in its fourth week.

James Wolpert's

version of Joni Mitchell's "A Case Of You" debuts at #72. Wolpert is a contestant on The Voice. This is the second cover version of this song to make the chart. Frank Stallone (the brother of you-know-who) took it to #67 in 1980. The song first appeared on Mitchell's classic 1971 album Blue. Mitchell had only one Hot 100 hit from that album ("Carey," which reached #93), but two songs from the album have gone on to become chart hits for other artists. In addition to "A Case Of You," Sarah McLachlan took "River" to #71 in 2006.

Britney Spears' "Perfume" debuts at #76. It's from her eighth studio album Britney Jean, which is due Nov. 29. The first single from the album, "Work B**ch!," peaked at #12.

Luke Bryan's "Drink A Beer" debuts at #79. It's from Crash My PartyLady Antebellum's "Compass" debuts at #87. The song will be on a deluxe reissue of their fourth studio album Golden…"Everybody's Got Somebody But Me" by Hunter Hayes featuring Jason Mraz debuts at #91. It's from Hunter Hayes: Encore Edition…"Let Me Go" by Avril Lavigne featuring Chad Kroeger re-enters the chart at #100. The song has climbed as high as #78.

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