Rihanna had seven different songs appear on the THO 100 in 2008, with two of them reaching #1. She therefore is the runaway winner in our chart of the Top Artists of 2008. "Don't Stop The Music" spent five weeks atop the chart while "Disturbia" added four. Only the combination of Madonna and Justin Timberlake spent more weeks at #1 in 2008, with their hit "4 Minutes." Rihanna was #3 on the 2007 artist chart.
Madonna & Justin Timberlake's "4 Minutes" might have spent the most weeks at #1 (10) on the THO 100 in 2008, but due to sheer staying power, Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" is THO's #1 Song of 2008. The Top Songs of 2008 chart is based on chart positions for all 2008 THO weekly charts, with an inverse exponential point system. "Viva" barely edges out Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love." If "Bleeding Love" had its full chart life in 2008, it would have been #1 for the year, but it was released in 2007 and even made #50 in the Top Songs of 2007 chart. Lewis was the only artist to have two songs place in the top 10, with "Better In Time" at #10. Rihanna had songs at #5, #12, #14, #48, and #73. She might be a frontrunner for the Top Artist of 2008, which will be published soon... MGMT had three songs on the chart, and two of them back-to-back at #52 and #53.
Not much happened this week at the top end of the THO 100, as the top 5 songs maintained their same positions as last week. But crashing into the top 10 in only her third week on the chart is Leona Lewis. Her new single "Run" is receiving almost no airplay in the United States, yet the song is so popular elsewhere that it made the top 10 of many personal chart lists. Two weeks ago it was the highest debut at #34 and this week it moves from #16 to #10. A possible future number one song on THO? Maybe... especially since four of the top five lost points this week, while Britney's #1 single "Womanizer" made a very small gain. Enjoy the chart this week!
New songs recently receiving airplay on Dance radio stations in the U.S.:
Fall Out Boy - Folie A Deux
Many music fans in the United States may not be familiar with Girls Aloud, but across the ocean in the U.K., they are argueably the most successful group of the past six years. They were formed on the reality show Popstars: The Rivals in 2002. On the official U.K. charts, they've had 19 top ten hits and four number ones. On the THO chart, they've been almost as successful, although their lack of attention in the U.S. kept them out of the top ten until late 2007. Now their last three singles have hit the top ten, and this week they enter the chart at #84 with "The Loving Kind." Maybe they will someday reach the same level of success in the United States as they have elsewhere. It would be a shame for one of the most successful groups in U.K. chart history to be unknown to so many music fans.
