Week of July 5, 2009

At No. 1 this week is the fast-rising ballad "Permanent" by David Cook, the man who was named "American Idol" for the 2008 season. Cook becomes the second "AI" winner to hit No. 1 on my charts, following season one winner Kelly Clarkson. Her "Never Again" hit the top in 2007. (I took time off personal charting between 2003 and the middle of 2006; during that time, I liked several songs by "AI" winners including Clarkson's "Miss Independent" and "Breakaway" and Fantasia's "I Believe." Those three would likely have gone to No. 1.) Most of the other "AI" champs have failed to make much headway on my surveys, though Jordin Sparks did go to No. 3 last year with "One Step at a Time."

One step below Cook is the group Carolina Liar, holding at No. 2 for a fourth week with "Show Me What I'm Looking For." According to its Web site, the group features Chad Wolf on guitar and lead vocals, Johan Carlsson on keyboards, Rickard Goransson on guitar, Erik Haager on bass, Jim Almgren Gandara and Max Grahn. Apparently, Wolf lived in South Carolina for a time (the bio isn't very well written, so it's not certain); most of the other members of the band are from Scandinavia. In the past two years, no song has spent as much time at No. 2 without hitting No. 1; Leona Lewis took "Run" to No. 2 for four weeks earlier this year before making the top. (Five songs in the past 18 months -- Chris Brown's "Wall to Wall," James Otto's "Just Got Started Lovin' You," Pink's "So What," Blessid Union of Souls' "Could've Been With You" and Susan Boyle's "I Dreamed a Dream" -- spent three weeks at No. 2 without hitting No. 1). Will Carolina Liar be able to move one more position? We'll see next week.