Music

Jay-Z's "Empire" reigns again on singles chart

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-12-04 10:29

Jay-Z's

Alicia Keys (R) and Jay-Z perform "Empire State of Mind" at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards in New York, September 13, 2009.[Agencies]

NEW YORK –Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' "Empire State of Mind" held at No. 1 for a third week on the Billboard Hot 100, increasing its lead over Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance," which remained in the No. 2 spot.

Sparked by the pair's live performance on ABC's November 22 broadcast of the American Music Awards, "Empire State of Mind" also took the chart's Digital Gainer honors with 202,000 downloads.

Ke$ha's "TiK ToK" continued its climb, moving from No. 5 to No. 3, while Owl City dipped one to No. 4 with "Fireflies" and Iyaz returned to the top five with "Replay," up one to No. 5.

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In the second half of the top 10, Jason DeRulo fell from No. 4 to No. 6 with "Whatcha Say," and Black Eyed Peas brought "Meet Me Halfway" back into the top 10 for the first time in five weeks, leaping from No. 12 to No. 7 and matching the track's previous peak.

"Sexy Chick," French DJ David Guetta's single featuring Akon, landed the chart's Airplay Gainer tag, though it moved down a spot to No. 8. Jay Sean's "Down" climbed one to No. 9 move, trading places with Britney Spears' "3," which dipped to No. 10.

Lady Gaga and Beyonce's new collaboration is also the chart's top debut: "Telephone," from Gaga's new "The Fame Monster" set, opened at No. 30. The song is one of two debuts on the list for each artist; Lady Gaga's "Speechless" entered at No. 94, while Beyonce arrived at No. 65 with another Gaga collaboration, "Video Phone." The song appears on the deluxe edition of Beyonce's "I Am ... Sasha Fierce" and on iTunes as part of a three-song digital single along with two other new tracks.

Other beneficiaries of American Music Awards exposure included Rihanna, who soared from No. 80 to No. 19 with "Hard"; "Give It Up to Me" by Shakira, which moved from No. 61 to No. 29; and Adam Lambert, who proved that any publicity is good publicity, with "For Your Entertainment" re-entering at No. 61. It was Lambert's performance of that song at the AMAs that caused a furor because his stage antics included simulating oral sex and kissing a male keyboard player.

Susan Boyle placed two tracks from her record-setting debut album on the chart. Title cut "I Dreamed a Dream" started at No. 62, and her cover of the Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses" came in at No. 98.

Another notable debut was Christian vocalist Francesca Battistelli's "It's Your Life" at No. 95. The song was featured on the November 23 series finale of TLC's "Jon & Kate Plus 8," increasing its download take by 440 percent. Battistelli also posted the best album sales week of her career, as "My Paper Heart" moved 13,000 (No. 97 on Billboard 200), more than double its best sum from this past May.