Week of July 26, 2009

One of the fun parts of personal charting is to see how songs from disparate musical styles play back to back. That's clear from the five songs in spots 35 through 31 this week. At 35 is the former No. 1 modern rock ballad "Second Chance" from Shinedown. Next up is "Más," the first Spanish-language entry for Nelly Furtado. The Portuguese Canadian performer is a musical chameleon, hitting the charts with pop ("I'm Like a Bird," No. 2, 2001), R&B/hip-hop ("Promiscuous," No. 12, 2006; "Say It Right," No. 3, 2007) and duet ballads with country singer Keith Urban ("In God's Hands," No. 20, 2008) and English pop/soul singer James Morrison ("Broken Strings," No. 1, earlier this year).

At 33 is "Losing My Religion," the dance remake of R.E.M.'s No. 1 song of 1991 by Colton Ford. The former adult film star has placed five songs in the Top 40 in the past two years, with his first, "The Way You Love Me," being his biggest. Given that song's No. 32 peak and this week's 39-33 move, it's likely he'll have a new personal best.

Country singer George Strait debuts at No. 32 with "Living for the Night." It's his second hit to cross over, following "Run," which hit No. 1 in 2002. And at No. 31 is the adult top 40 ballad "Come Home," a collaboration between chart-topping newcomers OneRepublic ("Apologize") and Sara Bareilles ("Love Song"). It moves up six this week.

One last note for this week: Artists have had hits with songs titled "One" (Three Dog Night, U2) and songs titled "The One" (Elton John). But how many artists have had hits with both titles? One (of course!). That would be Mary J. Blige, who debuts this week at No. 40 with her duet with Drake, "The One." A few years back, Blige hit No. 3 with her remake of U2's "One," featuring U2 on the track.