Rihanna bests Archuleta to stay atop singles chart

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-22 09:57

Singer Rihanna performs at the MuchMusic Video awards in Toronto, June 15, 2008. [Agencies]

Barbadian pop singer Rihanna begins a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with "Disturbia," but she barely fended off the best chart debut in more than 18 months, in the form of David Archuleta's "Crush."

Archuleta's track sold 166,000 downloads in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and opens at No. 2.

The last song to debut so high on the chart was Fall Out Boy's "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" in late January 2007. "Crush" also scores the best opening by an "American Idol" finalist with a song not performed on the show.

Chris Brown's "Forever" slips from No. 2 to No. 3 on the Hot 100, with Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" down one rung to No. 4 and Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" trading places with M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes," placing them at Nos. 5 and 6, respectively. Kardinal Offishall's "Dangerous" featuring Akon remains at No. 7.

Rihanna's "Take a Bow" drops from No. 4 to No. 8, while Ne-Yo's "Closer" inches up one notch to No. 9. Taylor Swift lands at No. 10 with "Change," one of five songs to debut this week from AT&T's "Team USA Soundtrack." The cut sold more than 131,000 downloads.

Kenny Chesney scores his first top 50 debut on the Hot 100 with "Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven" at No. 41. The lead single from his fall album, "Lucky Old Sun," sold 30,000 downloads.

Opening at No. 65 this week on the Hot 100 is Hit Masters' cover of Kid Rock's "All Summer Long," thanks to download sales of 37,000. Kid Rock's original version is not available digitally but as a result of increasing airplay jumps from No. 28 to No. 25.