Week of January 2

A couple of debuts for the first weekly chart of 2011. Bruno Mars follows his No. 1 hit, "Just the Way You Are" (still in the countdown) with "Grenade" at No. 38. The song has already gone to No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100. And Duffy debuts at No. 39 with "Well, Well, Well," her first hit on these surveys since "Warwick Avenue" went to No. 1 in early 2009.

Neon Trees has another good week on the charts. In addition to holding at No. 1 with debut hit "Animal," the group moves 29-20 with "Wish List," the seasonal follow-up.

Meanwhile, Ricky Martin and Joss Stone make a strong bid to unseat "Animal" next week, as "The Best Thing About Me Is You" moves 9-2. If they succeed, that will mark the first No. 1 on my charts for each artist. We'll see in the weeks to come.

Week of December 26

The final week of 2010 brings the 34th No. 1 song of the year, Neon Trees' "Animal." It's the 11th charttopper this year from a group; duos accounted for seven, while the remaining 16 belonged to solo performers. Of the groups to hit No. 1 in 2010, two country acts were the hottest: Lady Antebellum took "Need You Now" and "Our Kind of Love" to the top, while the Zac Brown Band went to No. 1 with "Free" and its collaboration with Alan Jackson, "As She's Walking Away." Neon Trees could join this clique of hot groups if "Wish List" continues its chart climb; that song moves 33-29.

Country singer Jason Aldean has not had a Top 40 crossover until this week, as a team-up with the first American Idol, Kelly Clarkson, enters at No. 39. "Don't You Wanna Stay" marks Clarkson's first appearance since "I Do Not Hook Up" went to No. 13 last year.

Meanwhile, Enrique Iglesias notches his third Top 40 hit this year with "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" at No. 40. Like his other two hits, this one is a collaboration -- this time, with Ludacris and DJ Frank E. "I Like It" featured Pitbull, while "One Day at a Time" featured Akon. (A fourth track, "Heartbeat" featuring Nicole Scherzinger, was chartbound for six weeks but never cracked the Top 40.)

So ends another chart year. Enjoy the Top 100 of 2010 and we'll see you in 2011. Happy New Year!

Week of December 19

At the top of the charts this week, one former "American Idol" participant replaces another, as season eight's Danny Gokey makes way for season three's Fantasia. "The Thrill Is Gone," by Fantasia featuring Cee-Lo Green, moves 2-1, making the first official No. 1 hit on my charts for Fantasia ("I Believe" came during the chart hiatus of the middle part of the 2000s) and the fourth for Cee-Lo Green (following his collaboration with Santana and Lauryn Hill in 2000, Gnarls Barkley in 2006 and "Forget You" just five weeks ago).

Meanwhile, season nine "Idol" runner-up Crystal Bowersox makes her chart debut this week. "Speak Now" enters at No. 39 from her major-label debut CD, "Farmer's Daughter."

Debuting at No. 38 with the throwback R&B ballad "How Do I Tell Her?" R. Kelly joins a run of adult R&B artists in this week's countdown, including El DeBarge, Jazmine Sullivan, Sunshine Anderson, Eric Benet, Fantasia and Cee-Lo Green. That list is almost as long as the list of country crossovers that amassed the past month and a half: Danny Gokey, Darius Rucker, Trace Adkins, Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw, Reba McEntire, Keith Urban and Christian Kane.

Still, the highest of this week's debuts, at No. 37, belongs to neither country nor R&B, but smooth jazz/AC. Saxophonist Dave Koz earns his first Top 40 chart hit with a remake of "This Guy's in Love With You." The artist who originally scored nationally with the song in 1968, Herb Alpert, is a guest on Koz's remake. (You'll hear his distinctive trumpet near the end of the Koz version.) This marks Alpert's first time in the Top 40 since 1987, when he and Janet Jackson went to No. 1 with "Diamonds."

End of the year chart for 2010

Ladies' night (times 365): For the first time in my chart's history, women or women-led acts lock down the top five songs of the year. Katy Perry leads the charge, with "Teenage Dream" at No. 5 and her collaboration with Snoop Dogg, "California Gurls," the year's top hit. The last act to put two songs in the Top 5 for the year was Darius Rucker in 2008 ("Don't Think I Don't Think About It" and "History in the Making").

Newcomer magic: Six of the Top 20 songs of the year are from artists with their first chart hit: V.V. Brown, the Zac Brown Band, Rie Sinclair and Friends, the Bird and the Bee, Nikki Yanofsky and Taio Cruz featuring Ludacris. All six of those songs went to No. 1 on the weekly charts.

The power of longevity: Though there were 33 songs to rise to the top in the 2010 chart year (mid-December 2009 to mid-December 2010), songs didn't have to go to No. 1 to rank high in the year-end countdown. The two strongest non-No. 1 hits were Daughtry's "Life After You" (No. 29) and Daniel Merriweather's "Not Giving Up" (No. 30). "Life After You" hit No. 2 in March; "Not Giving Up" hit No. 3 in May and June, but spent 20 weeks in the Top 40.

A comeback year: In addition to Snoop Dogg having his best year ever (besting his No. 5 appearance with Angie Stone on "I Wanna Thank Ya" in 2004), several artists returned to the charts for the first time in a decade, including the Steve Miller Band ("Sweet Soul Vibe," No. 59), the Doobie Brothers ("A Brighter Day," No. 84) and Michael Bolton ("Murder My Heart," No. 91).

Week of December 12

In the final week of the 2010 chart year (mid-December 2009 to mid-December 2010), lots of action this week to talk about -- much of it due to two acts: Neon Trees and Cee-Lo Green.

Neon Trees not only makes another strong move, 9-3, with its debut hit "Animal," but also follows up with a debut at No. 39. "Wish List" was promoted a few weeks ago on iTunes as a free holiday download, but the song really isn't so much a holiday tune as a strong follow-up to "Animal" that happens to use holiday imagery. We'll see how it does in the weeks to come, especially after Dec. 25.

And Cee-Lo Green now has three of the top 40 songs of the week. As his former No. 1, "Forget You," slides to No. 30, he makes a bid for a chart-topping follow-up via his guest appearance on Fantasia's "The Thrill Is Gone," up 5-2. Meanwhile, he has the highest debut of the week with "Fool for You," a track from his CD "The Lady Killer" that features backing vocals from Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind & Fire. "Fool for You" begins at No. 36.

Eleven artists move up five or more positions this week, the strongest total in a few months. That includes the new No. 1 hit, Danny Gokey's "I Will Not Say Goodbye," which leaps from No. 6. Gokey's hit takes the top in its 16th chart week -- tying it with Robbie Williams' "The Last Days of Disco" and Barenaked Ladies' "Summertime" for the year's slowest rise to the top. (The Bird and the Bee's "Heard It on the Radio" was No. 1 in its 17th week, but that was the song's second time at No. 1; it first hit the top in its 10th week.)

The week's biggest mover? Michael Jackson, whose duet with Akon, "Hold My Hand," sprints 33-22. If it keeps at this pace, it could become the singer's second posthumous No. 1 after last year's "This Is It."

Week of December 5

Other than the strong chart move for Neon Trees' "Animal" (18-9) and a return to No. 1 of Brendan James' "The Lucky Ones," not too much chart action this week, so let's concentrate on the two debuts. Both are by R&B/pop male solo singers who have been away from the charts for a while.

El Debarge's last appearance on the survey was 20 years ago, when he was part of the collaboration that took "The Secret Garden" to No. 4. This week, he enters at No. 39 with "Heaven," a track from his new collection, "Second Chance."

And at No. 35, Eric Benet returns to the charts with "Never Want to Live Without You." The Stylistics-sounding tune is from his new album, "Back in Time," a collection mostly of new songs that sound very much like soul/R&B classics from the 1970s. Benet was last in the countdown with "Spend My Life With You," a duet with Tamia that went to No. 13 at the beginning of 2000.

Week of November 28

The new charts are up a bit early because of the holidays (Happy Thanksgiving!), so here are the highlights for this week:

A year ago, he topped the charts with his posthumous hit "This Is It"; now, Michael Jackson is back with a collaboration with Akon, "Hold My Hand," at No. 35, this week's top debut. "Hold My Hand" is the introductory single from the legendary singer's collection of unreleased material, "Michael."

Cher hasn't been in the survey since 2002, when "(This Is) A Song for the Lonely" went to No. 1. She's back this week at No. 36 with the aptly named "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me," a ballad from the soundtrack of her new movie "Burlesque," starring Christina Aguilera.

Michael Buble earns his first Top 10 hit as "Hollywood" moves 11-9. Buble's biggest hit previously was "Everything," which hit No. 11 in 2007.

Bruce Springsteen's vintage track "Spanish Eyes" is off to a good start, up nine to No. 31. It's the week's biggest mover.

Country singer Trace Adkins ties his highest chart position to date, as "Between the Rainbows and the Rain" moves 6-3. He went to No. 3 in 2007 with "I Wanna Feel Something."

By moving 2-1 with "Just the Way You Are," Bruno Mars becomes the ninth artist this year to reach the top spot with his first chart hit. The other eight? Rie Sinclair & Friends, V.V. Brown, Lady Antebellum, Taio Cruz, The Bird and the Bee, Zac Brown Band, Nikki Yanofsky, and last week's charttopping artist, Brendan James.

Week of November 21

It was only two weeks back that Katy Perry dropped out of the Top 40 with her original version of "Teenage Dream," but the cast of the TV series "Glee" puts the song back on the charts this week at No. 36. It's the second "Glee" remake to hit my charts, following "What It Feels Like for a Girl" (No. 28 in May).

Another debut song, at No. 40, was originally recorded in 1978 but unreleased until last week when Bruce Springsteen released the CD "The Promise." It's a collection of tracks recorded between his albums "Born to Run" and "Darkness on the Edge of Town." "Spanish Eyes" becomes Springsteen's first Top 40 hit since his live remake of "Expressway to Your Heart" hit No. 13 last year.

At the top of the charts, Brendan James moves 4-1 with his first hit, "The Lucky Ones," while Bruno Mars breathes down his neck, as his debut hit, "Just the Way You Are," moves 5-2.

The Scissor Sisters took the title of their hit track "Skin Tight" seriously. It and Daughtry's "One Last Chance" have been adjacent for 17 of their 19 weeks on the survey. This week, the two songs slide to positions 33 and 34, respectively.

Week of November 14

The action on this week's survey is pretty much limited to the Top 15 and the bottom two, as most songs between positions 16 and 38 move no more than two places from last week.

Of the week's two debuts, "A Warning for the Heart" at No. 40 is the fifth Top 40 hit for Sunshine Anderson. The R&B singer's debut hit in 2001, "Heard It All Before," is still her biggest, having hit No. 1.

Keith Urban's latest, "Without You," is the week's other debut at No. 39. It's the fourth different Top 40 song to share that title since 1980, with Tina Turner and Mariah Carey (covering the classic Nilsson hit) sharing the distinction. The last was the No. 1 Franke and the Knockouts hit from 1982, which was subtitled "(Not Another Lonely Night)." In addition, Billy Ocean spent one week chartbound in 1986 with his own "Without You," a track from the album "Love Zone." (Ocean was the king of songs with those two words, having originally hit in the United States with "Love Really Hurts Without You" and having finished his hit streak on my charts in 1993 with "Everything's So Different Without You.")

At the top of the charts this week, Cee-Lo Green has a strong week with his solo hit, "Forget You," moving 4-1, and his duet with Fantasia, "The Thrill Is Gone," moving 13-8. Songwriters Brendan James and Bruno Mars are vying for a future No. 1 spot, as their respective hits, "The Lucky Ones" and "Just the Way You Are," move 10-4 and 13-5. And the Scissor Sisters plummet 2-14 with "Skin Tight," a bigger drop from the top five than the two leading candidates from earlier this year, Barenaked Ladies' "Summertime" (which fell 1-11) and Enrique Iglesias featuring Pitbull's "I Like It" (which fell 3-13).

Week of November 7

After last week's debut-light survey, this week makes up for lost time, with seven new songs between positions 40 and 34. A couple of names long away from the Top 40 return this week. Ricky Martin, last seen in 1999 with the No. 11 "She's All I Ever Had," enters at No. 39 with "The Best Thing About Me Is You," a duet with Joss Stone. And one position below Ricky and Joss are Huey Lewis and the News. The veteran pop/rockers debut at No. 40 with "Just the One (I've Been Looking For)," a track from their new release "Soulsville." "Soulsville" is a collection of bluesy covers of Memphis-spawned hits; "Just the One (I've Been Looking For)" was originally recorded by Johnnie Taylor for the Stax label. Huey and the boys were last in the survey in 1991 with "Hit Me Like a Hammer." That was the last of their string of 13 Top 10 hits, which began in 1982 with "Do You Believe in Love?"

Two other debut songs are records that have earned considerable airplay on adult Top 40 and adult alternative radio this year. "Animal" is the very 1980s-sounding hit by Neon Trees, a group out of Utah. It debuts at No. 35. One notch below it is "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" by the Script, the Irish trio of Danny O'Donoghue, Mark Sheehan and Glen Power; this single sounds like the best late '80s and early '90s singles from Sting.

At No. 34, this week's highest debut is Tim McGraw's latest, "Felt Good on My Lips." This is definitely the poppiest song he's charted with, but it's part of a strong chart week for country songs and artists crossing over to the Top 40. Elsewhere, there are hits from Darius Rucker, Danny Gokey and three hits in the Top 10 including the new No. 1, Lady Antebellum's "Our Kind of Love."

Week of October 31

Only one debut this week, but it has an interesting back story. "Wake Up, Everybody" was originally a No. 1 R&B and Top 20 pop hit nationally for Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes in 1976. More recently, the song was covered by John Legend & The Roots, along with Common and Melanie Fiona. That version hit No. 33 back in September. A few weeks ago, I saw the documentary "Waiting for Superman," which features the Legend version over the closing credits. It reminded me not only how much I like the song, but also how underwhelming I thought the remake was. As much as I like John Legend, his smooth sounds didn't fit the urgency of the lyrics the way Teddy Pendergrass' gritty vocals did. So this week, the original "Wake Up" storms back onto the survey at No. 34, one notch lower than the peak of the remake. We'll see where it goes from here.

Elsewhere, Nelly notches a No. 1 hit with "Just a Dream" moving 6-1. Other hits making a splash this week include Seal's "Weight of My Mistakes" (35-26), Darius Rucker's "This" (36-27) and Bruno Mars' "Just the Way You Are" (27-16, the week's biggest mover).

Week of October 24

This week is a big week of chart movement, with five new songs in the Top 40 and five new songs in the Top 10.

Of the new entries to the Top 10, Nelly places highest with "Just a Dream" moving 12-6. The St. Louis native most recently appeared on the chart with Janet Jackson on "Call on Me" (No. 17, 2006), but his two biggest hits fell during the period when my weekly charts were on hiatus. Both "My Place" featuring Jaheim and "Over and Over" featuring Tim McGraw were hits in 2004; though I didn't post weekly charts at the time, I did create year-end surveys, and both songs placed in the year-end top 15. "My Place" was No. 11, while "Over and Over" was the year's top song.

The country crossover ratio in the Top 10 continues at the same pace as last week as new Top 10 crossovers from Reba McEntire ("Turn on the Radio," 13-9) and Trace Adkins ("Between the Rainbows and the Rain," 14-10) replace descending hits from Darius Rucker and the team of the Zac Brown Band and Alan Jackson.

By moving 16-8 with their take on the George Harrison composition "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," Yo-Yo Ma notches his first Top 10 hit, India.Arie her sixth, and Santana his/their seventh (that total includes credits for the group and for leader Carlos Santana). One of those was the No. 1 collaboration "Do You Like the Way?" in 2000, which also featured the artist who moves 15-7 with "Forget You," Cee-Lo Green.

Five debuts this week feature artists familiar to the survey: Shakira, Seal and Darius Rucker as well as the duo of Elton John and Leon Russell and former Barenaked Ladies singer Steven Page. "Never Too Old (to Hold Somebody)" at No. 39 comes from the new CD "The Union," the first album collaboration between the veteran musicians who had commercial peaks in 1975 -- Russell with the Top 20 hit "Lady Blue," and John with No. 1 hits in "Philadelphia Freedom," "Island Girl" and "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" as well as a Top 5 hit in "Someone Saved My Life Tonight." Page, meanwhile, has his first solo Top 40 hit, coming only a couple of month after BNL had their first non-Page No. 1 song, "Summertime."

Week of October 17

Not much movement at the top of the chart -- the only big mover in the top 20 is Brendan James' "The Lucky Ones" (26-20) -- so we'll concentrate on the songs in the lower portion of the chart this week.

Four debut songs are topped by Bruno Mars' first hit on my charts. "Just the Way You Are" enters at No. 35. The song is already the No. 1 hit on Billboard's Hot 100, where Mars has had success in collaborations with other artists this year. Another act doing well on the Hot 100 is the group the Far East Movement, right behind Mars with "Like a G6" at No. 2. On my charts, the group's collaboration with singer Keri Hilson, "Don't Look Now," enters at No. 40.

Rihanna, who just slipped out of the countdown two weeks ago with her collaboration with Eminem, "Love the Way You Lie," is back with a solo hit. "Only Girl (in the World)" debuts at No. 38. It's her fourth chart appearance this year; besides the Eminem duet, she's hit with "Russian Roulette" (No. 14 in January) and "Redemption Song (for Haiti Relief)" (No. 11 in April).

The last of the new songs this week is "What Do You Got?" at No. 39. It's Bon Jovi's follow-up to the Top 20 "Superman Tonight." The group's appearances on my chart go back to 1986, when "You Give Love a Bad Name" hit No. 11. I remember seeing the band open for .38 Special in 1986 and reviewing the show as "the stuff of which homeroom conversations are made." They've come a long way since then ...

Week of October 10

Three debuts this week, capped by the chart return of the late John Lennon. The slain singer-songwriter would have turned 70 this year, and to mark his birthday, his solo catalog is being re-released in remastered and reworked versions. From the "stripped down" version of his 1980 CD "Double Fantasy" comes the 2010 remix of "Watching the Wheels" at No. 34. The studio single version hit No. 8 in 1981. Lennon's last solo appearance was in 1984 when "Nobody Told Me" also hit No. 8; with The Beatles, he most recently appeared in 2007 when three of the group's compositions -- "Drive My Car," "The Word" and "What You're Doing" -- were remixed into a medley for the Cirque du Soleil show "Love." That medley hit No. 13.

At No. 37 with "Shame" are two former members of another successful British export, though not nearly as popular as the Fab Four. Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow both got their start in Take That, a vocal group that only had one U.S. hit -- "Back for Good," which hit No. 2 in 1995-96. Since then, neither artist has had massive success in the U.S., although both have done well in the U.K. Barlow made minor waves with "So Help Me Girl" in 1997; Williams has been more successful with dance and pop fans, with his biggest Billboard Hot 100 hit being the 2000 ballad "Angels." On my charts, he's done considerably better; "Angels" is but one of three No. 1 songs. The most recent came earlier this year -- "The Last Days of Disco."

Another collaboration produces the debut at No. 40. "Picture Window (Pop Version)" is from singer-songwriter and pianist Ben Folds, working with author and screenwriter Nick Hornby ("High Fidelity"). Hornby wrote the lyrics and Folds wrote the music for 11 tracks on the new collection "Lonely Avenue." "Picture Window" marks Folds' first time in the top 40 since his team-up with Regina Spektor on "You Don't Know Me" hit No. 6 in early 2009.

Elsewhere: MercyMe hits No. 1 with "Back to You," the group's first official charttopper (the breakthrough hit "I Can Only Imagine" was released in 2003 during my chart's hiatus). ... David Gray is trying for his seventh No. 1 as "A Moment Changes Everything" moves 6-2 ... One-third of the top 15 songs this week are country crossovers, with Trace Adkins, Reba McEntire, Darius Rucker and Lady Antebellum joining the former No. 1 hit from the Zac Brown Band featuring Alan Jackson.

Week of October 3

All three of this week's debut songs feature artists who haven't been on the charts in years. At No. 40, "Somebody to Love Me" is the first hit for Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. Ronson is best known in the United States as producer of Amy Winehouse's breakthrough hit, "You Know I'm No Good." "Somebody to Love Me" features lead vocals from Boy George, making it his first appearance on the charts in almost 15 years; in early 1996, the title track from his CD "Cheapness and Beauty" hit No. 24.

One notch above Ronson is Phil Collins, whose "Going Back" is his first Top 40 appearance since "You'll Be in My Heart" hit No. 25 in 1999. ("Can't Stop Loving You" in 2003 fell during the chart's inactive period.) "Going Back" is the title track of Collins' recently released collection of mostly Motown remakes.

And at No. 35 is "A Brighter Day," the first track from the Doobie Brothers to hit the surveys since 1989. That's when the group had its last Top 10 hit, "The Doctor," which went to No. 2. Like that hit, this one features lead vocals from original Doobie lead singer Tom Johnston; of the songs on their new CD, "World Gone Crazy," only one features vocals from later lead singer Michael McDonald (and that appearance is more of a guest vocal).

At the top of the charts, the Zac Brown Band and guest Alan Jackson move 2-1 with "As She's Walking Away." This marks Jackson's first trip to the top since "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)" in 2002. He came close in 2007 when "A Woman's Love" went to No. 2 for three weeks. The band is hot this week, with their latest CD debuting at the top of the Billboard 200 album charts.

Week of September 26

Katy Perry bounces back for a third nonconsecutive week at No. 1 with "Teenage Dream." Her song is the fourth charttopper in 2010 to come back for another go-around; the previous three were V.V. Brown's "Shark in the Water," The Bird and the Bee's "Heard It on the Radio" and the Zac Brown Band's "Free." Zac and his band, meanwhile, move 3-2, trying to unseat Katy with "As She's Walking Away," a collaboration with Alan Jackson.

Other chart news this week from superstar collaborations: The biggest mover is "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" from Santana, India.Arie and Yo-Yo Ma, 40-29. Meanwhile, both Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull score concurrent Top 10 hits. Both artists are featured on "I Like It" at No. 5, while Pitbull teams up with Usher on No. 6, "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love," and Iglesias pairs with Akon on No. 10, "One Day at a Time."

As a collaborator and as a solo artist, Cee-Lo Green has a strong week. With Fantasia, he moves 31-26 with "The Thrill Is Gone." Solo, he sprints 27-21 with "Forget You."

Of this week's four new entries, the highest is by a newcomer, Brendan James, a New Hampshire native and UNC-Chapel Hill graduate. "The Lucky Ones" enters at No. 37. On the other end is an artist who began national popularity in the late 1950s with his brothers on what has become a wedding-reception classic, "Shout!" Ronald Isley debuts at No. 39 with "No More." It's his first solo hit; outside the Isley Brothers, he went to No. 1 in collaborations with Rod Stewart ("This Old Heart of Mine," 1990) and R. Kelly ("Down Low (Nobody Has to Know), 1996).

Week of September 19

A year ago this week, Uncle Kracker was finishing up his run at the top with the song that eventually became the No. 1 song of 2009, "Smile." This week, he lands his third chart-topper in 12 months, as his duet with Kid Rock, "Good to Be Me," moves 2-1. ("Another Love Song" hit the top in the spring.) "Smile" is on its way out of Billboard's Hot 100, falling out of the Top 40 this week after a No. 31 peak on its second chart go-around. (This second Hot 100 run was fueled by a Top 10 country peak and a No. 1 run at Adult Contemporary.)

But the artist who is making the biggest splash this week is Cee Lo Green. As his duet with Fantasia, "The Thrill is Gone," moves 36-31, he leapfrogs in at No. 27 with "Forget You." It's the clean version of a hilariously vulgar song with a fabulous neo-soul groove that earned 3 million views on YouTube in its first week. Billboard calls "Forget You" the inferior edit but I actually think it works just fine. It should become a monster radio hit along the lines of Cee Lo's 2006 work as part of Gnarls Barkley, "Crazy."

The other debut, at No. 40, is also intriguing, but moreso for the odd combination of artists. Carlos Santana, who has hit the Top 40 with more collaborators than just about anyone in the past dozen years, is back, remaking the George Harrison composition "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Santana is joined by neo-soul singer India.Arie and classical cellist Yo Yo Ma. It'll be interesting to see whether this Santana combination does as well as No. 1 collaborations with Rob Thomas, Michelle Branch and ... Cee Lo Green, who joined Santana and Lauryn Hill in 2000 on "Do You Like the Way?"

Week of September 12

Let's take a look at this week's new No. 1 song, biggest movers and debut songs.

The new chart-topper is "Misery" by Maroon 5. It's the band's third official No. 1 hit, following "Makes Me Wonder" in 2007 and "If I Never See Your Face Again" (featuring Rihanna) in 2008. The band had several hits from its debut album that came out during my chart's dormant period -- songs such as "Harder to Breathe," "This Love" and "She Will Be Loved." "Misery" is the first hit from the group's forthcoming album "Hands All Over."

Three of the week's biggest movers are from artists coming off recent Top 10 hits. MercyMe follows "All of Creation" with "Back to You," which leaps 22-12. David Gray's follow-up to his No. 1 duet with Annie Lennox, "Full Steam," is "A Moment Changes Everything" (23-14). And the Zac Brown Band is trying for back to back No. 1's, following "Free," as the group's collaboration with Alan Jackson, "As She's Walking Away," sprints 10-4. Meanwhile, jumping from 40 to 30 is "Not Broken," the latest from the Goo Goo Dolls. That group is making a bid for its first Top 10 hit since "Here Is Gone" went to No. 7 in 2002.

Of the three debuts this week, the most noteworthy is "Hey You," the first Top 40 hit in 20 years for Heart. In 1990, the group hit No. 24 with "Stranded." The group, led by sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson, was a top album-rock act in the 1970s, but they had a comeback as a power-pop band in the 1980s, when they scored a No. 1 hit in 1985 with "Never." "Hey You" is from their new CD "Red Velvet Car."

Natasha Bedingfield is back at No. 38 with "Touch," her first hit in about a year and a half, when "Soulmate" hit the Top 10. And Sara Bareilles isn't letting much time pass; while her former No. 1 "King of Anything" is still in the Top 10, she debuts with another cut from the CD "Kaleidoscope Heart." The nostalgic-sounding "Gonna Get Over You" enters at No. 39.

Week of September 5

For the past decade, featured artists have been a dominant force on Billboard's Hot 100. The main contributor to the phenomenon is the rise of rap and hip-hop, which frequently exposed new artists to listeners through guest appearances on releases by more established artists. Today, that formula isn't quite so typical, as guest artists are just as likely to be as famous as the artists they're supporting. In addition, the practice has spread beyond rap and hip-hop to traditional R&B, pop/rock and even country.

This week on my charts, featured artists make up almost 25 percent, with seven of the nine songs that include featured artists placing in the Top 12. The songs span a wide range of styles: dance with rap (Pitbull featured on songs by Enrique Iglesias and Usher), R&B/rock (Velvet Revolver featured on Macy Gray's "Kissed It") and even country/rock (Kid Rock featured on Uncle Kracker's "Good to Be Me" and Alan Jackson featured on the Zac Brown Band's "As She's Walking Away").

A featured artist also appears among this week's three debuts. Cee-Lo, who previously has been part of the No. 1 act Gnarls Barkley ("Crazy," 2006) and a featured artist on Santana's "Do You Like the Way?" (No. 1, 2000), is back as a featured artist on Fantasia's "The Thrill Is Gone" at No. 38.

Of the other two new entries, Owl City avoids being a one-hit wonder, with "To the Sky" at No. 39; a year ago this week, debut hit "Fireflies" entered the Top 20. And the Goo Goo Dolls enter at No. 40 with "Not Broken," making the charts for the first time in four years. That's when "Stay With You" hit No. 19.

Week of August 29

This week's chart activity is dominated by two rap artists. Rapper Pitbull pulls off the feat of earning his first two Top 10 hits in the same week, with his guest appearances on Enrique Iglesias' "I Like It" (14-9) and Usher's "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" (15-10).

Meanwhile, Eminem earns his first Top 40 hit on my charts, as his duet with Rihanna, "Love the Way You Lie," debuts at No. 36 in its clean version (explicit language edited out). I've struggled with charting this song because the first time I heard it a couple of months ago I wondered whether it was exploitative, given Rihanna's personal history with domestic violence. But over time, as I've listened to the lyrics, the song has resonated with me as an honest portrayal of the emotional tinderbox of an abusive relationship. It's certainly caught on with U.S. buyers and listeners, as it's reigned at the top of Billboard's Hot 100 for a month and a half.

Elsewhere on the charts: Donna Summer earns her sixth Top 40 hit of the 21st century with "To Paris With Love" at No. 40. Her biggest, "Stamp Your Feet," was the No. 1 song of 2008; John Mellencamp returns with "Save Some Time to Dream" at No. 39. He's placed 32 songs in the Top 40 in the past three decades, with his most recent No. 1 being 1997's "Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)." And Michael W. Smith enters with "Save Me From Myself" at No. 37, his first hit since the rebound "I Will Be Your Friend" went to the top earlier this year.

At the top of the charts, Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" caps its five-week sprint by moving 2-1. That rise was almost as fast as her chart activity with "California Gurls"; the Snoop Dogg duet (which falls out of the Top 40 this week) went to No. 1 in four weeks.

Week of August 22

At the top of the charts, an interesting battle between two of the top female pop/rock singers of the past couple of years. Sara Bareilles moves 2-1 with "King of Anything," scoring her third No. 1 (after "Love Song" and "Love on the Rocks") in the past three years. But right behind her is Katy Perry, hoping to earn her third No. 1 in the past three years with "Teenage Dream." This week, the follow-up to "California Gurls" sprints 11-2.

Of this week's three debuts, country singer Trace Adkins has the highest, with "Between the Rainbows and the Rain" at No. 36. It's a track from his new release, "Cowboy's Back in Town," and it becomes his first Top 40 crossover since 2007. That's when "I Wanna Feel Something" went to No. 3 for two weeks.

Nelly enters at No. 37 with his latest, "Just a Dream." With hits such as "Dilemma" (featuring Kelly Rowland), "My Place" (featuring Jaheim) and "Over and Over" (featuring Tim McGraw) all falling during the period when my charts were inactive, this marks only his second Top 40 appearance. In late 2006, shortly after the charts restarted, his collaboration with Janet Jackson, "Call on Me," went to No. 17.

"Wake Up Everybody," a classic from Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, with Teddy Pendergrass on lead, still sounds fresh 34 years later. Nevertheless, it's spawned a remake by John Legend and The Roots, with guest appearances by Melanie Fiona and Common. The remake debuts at No. 38.

Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull both have two songs in the Top 15 this week. Their collaboration, "I Like It," moves 16-14. Sandwiching it are Iglesias' collaboration with Akon on "One Day at a Time" (14-13) and Pitbull's teamup with Usher, "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" (17-15).

Week of August 15

With a tight Top 10 this week (songs moving up one or two positions), the song just below it is making the most chart noise. Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" zooms 29-11, undoubtedly heading to become her fourth Top 10 hit in the past two years, following "Hot 'N Cold," "Waking Up in Vegas" and "California Gurls" (with Snoop Dogg). Perry's first chart hit, "I Kissed a Girl," peaked at No. 20; her collaboration with Timbaland, "If We Ever Meet Again," hit No. 15 last month.

Four debuts this week, including follow-ups to recent No. 1 hits for the Zac Brown Band and David Gray. The Zac Brown Band team up with country chart-topper Alan Jackson on "As She's Walking Away" at No. 33; the song marks Jackson's seventh Top 40 appearance. His biggest hit is 2002's "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)?" which stayed at No. 1 for three weeks. Meanwhile, Gray's "A Moment Changes Everything" at No. 38 is his ninth Top 40 hit; his list of No. 1 songs includes "Babylon," "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" and his recent duet with Annie Lennox, "Full Steam."

Another debut comes from Seal. "Secret," at No. 35, is Seal's first appearance since his remake of "A Change is Gonna Come" hit No. 28 in 2008. Seal has hit the top twice, with his debut hit "Seal" in 1991 and "A Prayer for the Dying" in 1994.

Week of August 8

A few weeks back, I reflected about how cool it is that the Internet gives music lovers far more sources for learning about new artists than were available in past decades. I've learned about Janelle Monáe through a friend's Facebook posting, the Zac Brown Band through another's music blog and charting, and Nikki Yanofsky, Larsen B and others through iTunes' "Free Single of the Week" feature.

Well, this week you can add "forgotten artists" to "new artists," as this week's top entry is a 36-year-old recording I learned about through the music blog of disc jockey and music lover Jim Bartlett. His blog, The Hits Just Keep On Comin', regularly introduces me to facets of the industry I've never known, and this week -- in his look at one-hit-wonders that peaked at No. 92 on the Hot 100 -- he introduced me to Lea Roberts. Through his blog, I heard her version of Neil Sedaka's "Laughter in the Rain." Recorded in 1974, the song still sounds fresh today. And it's fresh enough for me to chart it; it's No. 32 this week.

My local radio stations may not where I learn about new music any more, but radio still has its own powers. (My current local radio faves are two new AM stations that focus on country music of the '60s. '70s and early '80s and pop-Top 40 music of the '50s-'80s.) Reba McEntire's latest, "Turn on the Radio" at No. 36, is but the latest of several chart songs to extol the powers of radio; it joins the 20-week-charting "Heard It on the Radio" by The Bird and the Bee in this week's survey. "Heard It..." became the biggest "radio" song on my charts, surpassing such Top 10 hits as Bruce Springsteen's "Radio Nowhere," Everclear's "AM Radio" and Queen's "Radio Ga-Ga."

One sign of how swiftly new music is moving is seeing how many songs in the Top 10 have been on the charts for less than 10 weeks. This week, only two of the Top 10 songs are older than 10 weeks, making for the "newest" Top 10 in all of 2010. Only the former No. 1 song "Free" from the Zac Brown Band and the new No. 1, "Cool My Heels" by Nikki Yanofsky, are in double-digit chart runs. It'll be interesting to see which of the young turks arise victorious in the weeks to come.

Week of August 1

Lots of hot movers this week including songs from Sheryl Crow ("Summer Day," 21-12), Macy Gray featuring Velvet Revolver ("Kissed It," 19-13), Gaslight Anthem ("American Slang," 20-14), Enrique Iglesias featuring Akon ("One Day at a Time," 23-18) and Scissor Sisters ("Skin Tight," 37-31) and three new songs in the Top 10. But to make room for all this movement, some songs had to fall -- and no song had a more dramatic fall this week than last week's No. 1. "Summertime" from Barenaked Ladies slipped all the way to No. 11. It's the first time that's happened since my weekly charts resumed in 2006. (Before that, it had only happened once -- when Billy Joel's "Pressure" dropped 1-12 the week of December 19, 1982.) This drop is a combination of pressure (no pun intended) from new songs rising into the chart's upper reaches and the Barenaked Ladies' song losing steam after taking 16 weeks to rise to the top.

At No. 1 this week with "Free," The Zac Brown Band become the second act to rebound to the top this summer; The Bird and the Bee's "Heard It on the Radio" did the trick a few weeks back.

Of the three debuts this week, two are follow-ups to No. 1 hits: Katy Perry goes solo this time with "Teenage Dream" at No. 36 while Lady Antebellum returns with "Our Kind of Love" at No. 39. The third debut is "Marilyn" from chart newcomers Larsen B. The band, from Hertfordshire, England, is named after a former Arctic ice shelf. The song is this week's iTunes free download, and it joins four former iTunes free downloads on the survey: Nikki Yanofsky's "Cool My Heels" at No. 2, Two Door Cinema Club's "Something Good Can Work" at No. 4, Gaslight Anthem's "American Slang" at No. 14 and Erik Hassle's "Hurtful" at No. 27.

Week of July 25

This week, with their ascension to No. 1, Barenaked Ladies have one of the 10 biggest "summer" songs in the roughly three-decade span of my charts. Here's how "Summertime" ranks as of this week, with "summer" songs defined as songs with the actual season in the title:

1. Endless Summer Nights – Richard Marx, 1988
2. Sausalito Summernight – Diesel, 1981
3. ’Til Summer Comes Around – Keith Urban, 2010
4. All Summer Long – Kid Rock, 2008
5. The Boys of Summer – Don Henley, 1985
6. Summertime – Barenaked Ladies, 2010
7. Hot Summer Nights – Night, 1979
8. Suddenly Last Summer – The Motels, 1983
9. Summer Son – Texas, 2000
10. Blame It on the Summer – Basia, 2009

Oddly enough, several of these songs (e.g., "The Boys of Summer," "Sausalito Summernight") were not hits in the actual summertime, but that didn't stop them from becoming successful. It looks like Sheryl Crow could join that club in the next few weeks as her "Summer Day" moves 27-21 this week.

Elsewhere, Pitbull enters the Top 40 for the second time in three weeks as a guest artist. While "I Like It," his collaboration with Enrique Iglesias, moves 31-28, his team-up with Usher leapfrogs his earlier hit by debuting at No. 27. "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" is Usher's third Top 40 hit in 2010, following "Papers" (No. 20 in January) and "Making Love (Into the Night)" (No. 23, last month).

Brandon Flowers debuts at No. 39 with "Crossfire." It's the first solo single for the lead singer of The Killers, who have hit the Top 40 four times, with their biggest single being "Read My Mind" (No. 2 in 2007).

Week of July 18

In 25+ years of personal charting, only a handful of songs have proved strong enough to hit No. 1, bide their time for three weeks or more, and then return to the top. This week, The Bird and the Bee joins that club, as "Heard It on the Radio" is back at No. 1, returning after six weeks. That ties the record for the longest time between No. 1 appearances for a song in one chart run. Here are the other songs that have waited out chart fortunes several weeks for a second shot at the top:

* 1983: "I Won't Hold You Back," Toto -- three weeks
* 1995: "I Can Love You Like That," All-4-One -- three weeks
* 1998: "Crush," Jennifer Paige -- three weeks
* 1999-2000: "When the Heartache Is Over," Tina Turner -- six weeks
* 2007: "When She Loves You," Emerson Hart -- five weeks
* 2008: "Stamp Your Feet," Donna Summer -- five weeks
* 2009: "I Look to You," Whitney Houston -- three weeks

With its return to the top, The Bird and the Bee vaults into the top five of 2010 (so far).

Elsewhere, Sara Bareilles lands her fourth Top 10 hit in five tries as "King of Anything" moves 16-10. Uncle Kracker makes a bid for a third consecutive No. 1 hit as his collaboration with Kid Rock, "Good to Be Me" leaps 23-15. Right behind is Maroon 5's latest hit, "Misery," up 24-16.

Among this week's debuts, Darius Rucker has the highest at No. 37 with "Come Back Song," the first release from his new album. His first country album spun off three consecutive No. 1 hits. And Daughtry notches a ninth Top 40 hit with "One Last Chance" at No. 38 from the EP "Leave This Town, the B-Sides." The group has put together an impressive run in the past four years, with six of its first eight hits going to the Top 10.

Week of July 11

At the top of the charts, Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg's "California Gurls" finally yields to the Zac Brown Band's "Free" after a five-week run, the longest of any song so far in 2010. Elsewhere, the large chart logjam of last week breaks in a big way, with songs from MercyMe, Adam Lambert and Lady GaGa plummeting and strong moves for Erik Hassle (16-12), Janelle Monae and Big Boi (17-13), the Steve Miller Band (18-14) and One Eskimo (24-17).

A mini logjam in positions 5 through 9 means Nikki Yanofsky is living up to the title of her first hit. "Cool My Heels" has now been No. 7 for a month, joining chartmates Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (No. 6) and the Rolling Stones (No. 5) for four consecutive weeks in their respective positions.

Two down, 48 to go: Melissa Etheridge debuts this week at No. 36 with the "Fearless Love" album track "Indiana." This isn't her first time in the Top 40 with a title referencing a state. "California" went to No. 39 in 2007. (Wonder what "Rhode Island" or "Oregon" might sound like?)

Enrique Iglesias storms the charts this week, with two tracks from his new release "Euphoria" entering the Top 40 and another chartbound. All three feature guest performers. At No. 32, he has the week's highest debut with "One Day at a Time" featuring Akon. At No. 39, "I Like It" marks the first Top 40 appearance on my charts for rapper Pitbull. And Pussycat Dolls lead singer and "Dancing With the Stars" champion Nicole Scherzinger is chartbound on Iglesias' "Heartbeat." These collaborations aren't the first ones to score for Iglesias. Last year, he and Ciara hit No. 13 with "Takin' Back My Love." And a decade ago, he and Whitney Houston teamed up on "Could I Have This Kiss Forever?" which went to No. 7.

At No. 34, Ed Kowalczyk, the former lead singer of the group Live, debuts with his first solo hit, "Drink (Everlasting Love)." And at No. 33, "Don't Wake Me When It's Over" marks Lifehouse replacing itself in the countdown as the band's former No. 1, "It Is What It Is," drops out this week.

Week of July 4

When summertime rolls around, the heat either gets people moving quickly or slowing substantially. Summertime music charts have a way of doing the same thing.

This week, my charts slow down in a way they haven't since their 2006 resumption, as the top 17 songs hold position from the previous week. (Technically, the week of June 22, 2008, had an even greater slowdown as all 40 songs held position from the week before. But that was a fluke, as I was on vacation out of the country and did not post chart updates, so the survey locked down.) Prior to this week, the longest non-vacation chart slowdown occurred the week of Oct. 14, 2007, when the top nine songs held position, anchored by James Blunt's "1973" at No. 1. When combined with the fact that last week's top seven held position, this makes for a tightly packed set of songs atop the summer 2010 charts. My guess is that the pressure cooker will blow next week.

Whenever it does, several big movers in the lower positions this week are poised to take advantage. Moving six places or more up the survey are the Steve Miller Band's "Sweet Soul Vibe" (24-18), Sara Bareilles' "King of Anything" (25-19), Kylie Minogue's "All the Lovers" (29-23), One Eskimo's "Kandi" (30-24), Uncle Kracker featuring Kid Rock's "Good to Be Me" (34-25), Maroon 5's "Misery" (35-26) and Macy Gray featuring Velvet Revolver's "Kissed It" (36-30).

Among this week's debuts: Secondhand Serenade avoids being a one-hit wonder as "Something More" enters at No. 40. (The act's "Fall for You" hit No. 12 in December 2008.) And Sheryl Crow continues her seasonal streak with "Summer Day" entering at No. 38. Her first No. 1 hit, "All I Wanna Do," broke through in the summer of 1994, and one of her other charttoppers, "Soak Up the Sun," was a huge hit in summer 2002. This marks her first Top 40 solo appearance in about two years, when "Love Is Free" went to No. 14.

Week of June 27

By holding at No. 1 for a fourth consecutive week, Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg are making a serious run for the top hit of 2010 with "California Gurls." The current leader is "Put It in a Love Song" by Alicia Keys and Beyonce, the only other song to spend four weeks at the top so far this year. Perry and Snoop can pass them with a longer run at the top or a longer chart run overall. We'll see how things go in the weeks to come.

Meanwhile, five new songs this week, including some artists who haven't been around in a little while. Maroon 5 return at No. 35 with "Misery." It's the group's first chart appearance in about a year and a half, since their collaboration with Mary J. Blige on the remix of "Wake Up Call" hit No. 12. A much longer chart drought ends for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. "I Should Have Known It" enters at No. 38, making it the first chart appearance in eight years for the group; "The Last D.J." hit No. 15 back in 2002. Their latest is from their new release, "Mojo."

Uncle Kracker is trying for three in a row with "Good to Be Me," his collaboration with Kid Rock from his new EP, "Happy Hour: The South River Road Sessions." Kracker's last two songs -- "Smile" and "Another Love Song" -- both went to No. 1.

An interesting chart oddity this week: Three songs with very similar titles are within a few positions of one another. Sister Hazel holds at No. 31 with "All the Love" from the group's EP "Threeve." A couple of positions higher, Kylie Minogue moves up four with her latest single, "All the Lovers." And one notch above that is Bettye Lavette with her remake of Led Zeppelin's 1979 track "All My Love."

Last note for the week: MercyMe's "All of Creation" is showing unusual staying power by moving back into the Top 10, this week up 13-10, after having peaked at No. 6 and fallen out of the Top 10 a few weeks back. The group's most popular songs, "I Can Only Imagine" and "Here With Me," came during the period when my charts were inactive, but this one looks to rival them in popularity.

Week of June 20

It could be hard to tell from a look at the top of the chart, but this week is one of the busiest chart weeks of 2010 to date: Ten songs move up at least 5 positions from last week and two others debut at positions 30 and 33. As spring becomes summer, it's not unusual for the charts to heat up, too. It'll be interesting to see which of this week's big movers triumph in the chart battles of future weeks.

Of all the sprints, the biggest belongs to Hanson, moving 37-18 with "Waiting for This." The track from the "Shout It Out" CD becomes the trio of brothers' sixth Top 20 hit. On my charts, their biggest is not their Billboard chart-topping debut "Mmm-Bop"; that hit No. 2 on my surveys in 1997. Rather, "This Time Around," the title track of their 2000 album, is their biggest on my charts, going to No. 1 for two weeks. That same album spun off three more chart hits -- "If Only" (No. 10, 2000), "A Song to Sing" (No. 22, 2000) and "I Wish That I Was There" (No. 7, 2001).

Kylie Minogue returns to the charts this week with "All the Lovers" at No. 33. On my charts, her biggest hit remains 1989's "It's No Secret," which went to No. 8.

While Minogue's chart presence goes back 21 years, the highest debut belongs to an act with an even longer streak. The Steve Miller Band was a mainstay of Top 40 radio in the 1970s, predating my charts. Their last appearance on my surveys came with "Abracadabra" in 1982, which went to No. 12. "Sweet Soul Vibe," entering this week at No. 30, comes from their latest set, "Bingo!"

One last note: This week's repeat win-place-show is the first since Feb. 21. The three repeats from Feb. 14 were Reba McEntire's "Consider Me Gone" at No. 3, Robbie Williams' "Last Days of Disco" at No. 2 and Alicia Keys and Beyonce's "Put It in a Love Song" at No. 1.

Week of June 13

For the second time in a month, the No. 1 song on my charts is a song that has also topped Billboard's Hot 100. But unlike "Break Your Heart," the Taio Cruz-Ludacris collaboration that went to No. 1 in Billboard several weeks before topping my charts, "California Gurls" by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg ascends to Billboard's No. 1 this week, a week after topping my charts.

By staying atop my charts this week, "California Gurls" stops the revolving door that has gone on since mid-March, when V.V. Brown's "Shark in the Water" spent two consecutive weeks at No. 1. In that streak, 10 songs spent a week at the top (including a nonconsecutive one-week return for "Shark"). On the subject of nonconsecutive No. 1 runs, it's possible that The Bird and the Bee's "Heard It on the Radio" could join that club. This week, it rebounds 5-3.

Some significant drops from the Top 10 and in the lower part of the chart as well, provide momentum for several hits, including Nikki Yanofsky's "Cool My Heels" (21-10), Erik Hassle's "Hurtful" (35-28) and "Stop for a Minute" from Keane featuring K'naan (28-21).

Just two debuts this week. "King of Anything" at No. 36 is Sara Bareilles' fifth Top 40 hit, following three solo releases and her No. 2 collaboration with OneRepublic, "Come Home." And Hanson returns to the Top 40 for the first time in three and a half years, with "Waiting for This" at No. 37. Last time out, they took "Great Divide" to No. 21 in 2006-07.

Week of June 6

Four new songs on the chart this week, but let's start at the top, with the second-fastest-rising No. 1 hit of the year. "California Gurls," by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg, moves 5-1 to hit the top in its fourth chart week. Only "My Confession," from Rie Sinclair and Friends, has moved faster, hitting No. 1 in January in its third chart week. It's the second No. 1 hit for Perry following "Hot 'n' Cold" in 2008; Snoop Dogg had a 2004 hit duet with Angie Stone, "I Wanna Thank Ya," that fell during the period my weekly charts were dormant.

Two newcomers enter the Top 40 this week. "Tightrope," at No. 37, is the first hit for Janelle Monáe, a singer-songwriter originally from Brooklyn, N.Y. This single is from her new release "The ArchAndroid," and it features Big Boi of OutKast, who also was a co-executive producer. I heard about Monáe through friends on Facebook and decided to check out some of her songs on iTunes. (Love the myriad ways we learn about new music these days!)

Meanwhile, at No. 40, is "Will You Be There" by Jaicko, an 18-year-old from Barbados born Jaicko Lawrence who goes professionally by his first name only. His sound reminds me a bit of Craig David from the United Kingdom -- a mix of contemporary R&B and pop with a dance groove, too.

Speaking of dance, Lady GaGa's latest, "Alejandro," enters at No. 38. Every time I hear this song, I think of Ace of Base's "Don't Turn Around." And Sister Hazel's "All the Love" at No. 39 is their seventh Top 40 hit on my charts. It follows up "Better Way" from last fall, their first hit not to go to No. 1. (It peaked at No. 20.) The other five? "All for You," "Change Your Mind," "Champagne High," "Meet Me in the Memory" and "This Kind of Love."

Week of May 30

Three debuts this week, capped by the Swell Season, led by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. "High Horses," at No. 38, is the follow-up to the Top 10 "Low Rising." I saw the group in concert last week and it was uniformly excellent. I wasn't familiar with the group's music beyond "Low Rising" and the Oscar-nominated "Falling Slowly" from "Once" (credited to Hansard and Irglova, that hit the Top 10 on my charts a few years back). I definitely recommend seeing them if you get a chance.

Soul/R&B veteran Bettye Lavette is back at No. 40 with "All My Love," her take on a Led Zeppelin track from their "In Through the Out Door" album from 1979. (This must be the year for Led Zep R&B remakes, as Mary J. Blige has covered "Whole Lotta Love" and "Stairway to Heaven.") Lavette's last time in the Top 40 was in 2007, when "I Guess We Shouldn't Talk About That Now" hit No. 21. "All My Love" is from her latest collection, "Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook."

The last of the debuts comes from Erik Hassle. "Hurtful," at No. 39, was selected last week as iTunes' free download of the week. Hassle is a 21-year-old singer-songwriter from Sweden, and "Hurtful" comes from his debut release in the U.S., "Pieces."

At the top of the charts this week, The Bird and the Bee conclude their chart rise with "Heard It on the Radio" moving 2-1. But two songs take big leaps into the Top 10 to challenge it in weeks to come. "Free," by the Zac Brown Band, moves 21-9, a 12-notch jump, while coming on even stronger is "California Gurls" from Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg, bounding 17 positions, 22-5. Can either one of them slow down what's become a revolving door at No. 1? We'll see.

Week of May 23

Two debuts this week. The new entry at No. 39 is actually the first Top 40 hit on my charts for Tonic. The late '90s band earned national attention with songs such as "If You Could Only See" and "You Wanted More." "Nothing Is Everything" is from the group's first effort since the solo success of singer/songwriter Emerson Hart. Hart went to No. 1 on my charts a few years back with three successive hits, "If You're Gonna Leave," "When She Loves You" and "I Wish the Best for You."

Meanwhile, Katy Perry makes it two weeks in a row for debut collaborations. "If We Ever Meet Again," her team-up with Timbaland, enters at No. 40. Last week's debut, "California Gurls" featuring Snoop Dogg, leaps 32-22 this week. It ties with the Zac Brown Band's "Free" for the week's top mover (that song moves 31-21).

At the top of the chart, Lifehouse rebounds from the No. 16 peak for "Halfway Gone" with the follow-up as "It Is What It Is" moves up 2-1. That's the group's third chart-topper, following "First Time" in 2007 and "Whatever It Takes" in 2008.

Week of May 16

Up at the top of the charts this week is "Break Your Heart" by Taio Cruz featuring Ludacris. It's a former No. 1 hit on Billboard's Hot 100, which is a rarity these days. In years and decades past, Billboard chart-toppers were regularly No. 1 songs on my charts, but these days the urban-Top 40-leaning Hot 100 and my AAA-Adult Top 40-leaning charts don't have as much overlap. "Break Your Heart" is the first Hot 100 No. 1 in 2010 on my chart; last year, there were two -- Lady GaGa/Colby O'Donis' "Just Dance" and "Fireflies" by Owl City.

Five debuts this week including a couple of interesting collaborations. Pop singer Katy Perry teams up with veteran rapper Snoop Dogg on "California Gurls" at No. 32. The English rock band Keane debut at No. 38 with "Stop for a Minute," a collaboration with Somali-Canadian rapper K'naan. And Michael Bolton makes a comeback at No. 40 with "Murder My Heart," a song that features backing vocals by co-writer Lady GaGa. It's a more subdued vocal from longtime belter Bolton, who hasn't been on the charts since "Steel Bars" went to No. 6 in 1992. (That one was an unusual collaboration, too, co-written by Bob Dylan.)

The week's highest debut is "Free" by the Zac Brown Band at No. 31. The group has caught fire on country radio in the past year, but this song came to my attention courtesy of my friends at UU-BRU Internet Radio. (If you haven't listened to "the electric eclectic Top 40," give it a shot.) This track reminds of songs I've liked by George Strait, Tim McGraw and even James Taylor. An interesting blend; we'll see how it does in future weeks.

Week of May 9

This week, there are five remakes in the Top 40, not including Usher's "Making Love (Into the Night)," an original that incorporates Benny Mardones' "Into the Night." The latest is an interesting collaboration by two artists who each have had hits with the song. "You've Got a Friend," a Carole King composition, became popular concurrently as an album track on her legendary "Tapestry" and as a Billboard chart-topping single by James Taylor. King and Taylor debut this week at No. 37 with their duet on a live version of "Friend," recorded in late 2007 at L.A.'s Troubadour. The song is on "Live at the Troubadour," an album of King and Taylor concert duets.

Nikki Yanofsky received attention at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics with her performance of the song "I Believe." Yanofsky, a Montreal-born singer in the Norah Jones vein, debuts at No. 39 with "Cool My Heels," her first chart hit.

The final debut is from Joss Stone. "Could Have Been You," at No. 38, is her second song from "Colour Me Free" to chart (the first being "Free Me" at the beginning of the year).

At the top of the charts, Uncle Kracker earns back-to-back No. 1's with "Another Love Song." It follows "Smile," which went to No. 1 for four nonconsecutive weeks and became the top song of 2009. We'll see whether this one has similar staying power.

Week of May 2

Lots of steady chart movement this week, but few big movers (Adam Lambert's "Voodoo" being the exception, up eight to No. 31), so let's concentrate on the debuts.

The week's top debut is a medley of two very popular songs that haven't done as well on my charts as they have elsewhere. Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" is the longest-running Hot 100 hit in Billboard history (76 weeks), but it never caught on with me, while Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's Hawaiian take on "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" has been a standard in movies and TV shows in the years since the musician's death in 1997. This week, the two songs debut at No. 36 as a medley by the vocal group Straight No Chaser. The 10-man a cappella group originally from Bloomington, Ind., (shout-out to my alma mater, Indiana University!) caught fire the past couple of years on the adult contemporary charts with renditions of Christmas classics. This medley is from their new release "With a Twist."

At No. 37 is a song that also has an IU connection. Alumnus Ryan Murphy created the hit show "Glee," which has spawned more than two dozen Billboard Hot 100 remakes in the past year. The first to chart on my surveys is the all-male remake of "What It Feels Like for a Girl," from last week's all-Madonna episode. The original went to No. 1 in 2000-01. (A medley of two other Madonna hits, "Borderline" and "Open Your Heart" is bubbling under the Top 40 this week.)

The Rolling Stones are back with their first hit in years, "Plundered My Soul," at No. 38. It's a newly unearthed track from the "Exile On Main Street" sessions, with some production updates. Most of the Stones' biggest hits came long before my charts, so their biggest hit here is the ballad "Out of Tears," which hit No. 2 for three weeks in 1994-95.

Christina Aguilera rounds up the debuts with "Not Myself Tonight" at No. 40. We'll see how far this goes; I like the groove a lot but it's a tough song to listen to repeatedly, with a lead-in to the chorus that contains the f-word. (Guess I should see if there's a "clean" version available on iTunes!)

One last note: Keith Urban keeps his unusual chart streak this week with the new No. 1 song, " 'Til Summer Comes Around." What's unusual about it? Every time a song of his has gone to the Top 10, it has gone to No. 1. Otherwise, he misses the Top 10 entirely. This is now his fourth chart-topper, following "Once in a Lifetime," "Stupid Boy" and "Standing Right in Front of You."

Week of April 25

After the chart slowness of the past few weeks, this week's chart speeds up, with 15 songs moving 4 or more positions up the survey. A revitalized Top 10 with four new entries leads the pack, with first-time Top 10 hits for The Bird and the Bee ("Heard It on the Radio," 17-7), Goldfrapp ("Dreaming," 18-8) and Daniel Merriweather ("Not Giving Up," 15-9).

Annie Lennox is nothing if not consistent. Fifteen years ago this week, she was in the Top 10 with "No More 'I Love You's," and a year ago this week, "Shining Light" resided in the Top 10. This week, she moves to No. 1 as duet partner of David Gray on "Full Steam." It's her sixth number one as a solo artist (including her duet with Al Green on "Put a Little Love in Your Heart"). In addition, she's gone to the top four times with Eurythmics: "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)," "Here Comes the Rain Again," "Would I Lie to You?" and "17 Again" were those chart-toppers.

This is a good week for electronic dance pop. In addition to the healthy moves for Goldfrapp and The Bird and the Bee, both debuts fall into that category. "Voodoo" at No. 39 marks Adam Lambert's fourth Top 40 hit in the past year. And at No. 40 "Something Good Can Work" becomes the first chart hit for Two Door Cinema Club. The band's MySpace page refers to them as a three-man indie/electronica group -- Alex Trimble, Kev Baird and Sam Halliday -- out of Bangor, Northern Ireland. This song was selected as iTunes free single download last week.

Week of April 18

Four debuts this week, and three have a link to the 1980s. At No. 40, singer Cary Brothers debuts with "Something About You." It's a remake of the 1986 hit by Level 42, which hit No. 2 for three weeks. Meanwhile, Usher's latest at No. 39, "Making Love (Into the Night)," incorporates part of the melody and lyrics from the two-time hit from Benny Mardones. "Into the Night" went to No. 1 in 1980 and, upon re-release, No. 3 in 1989.

The third 1980s link is a little less literal. Murs & 9th Wonder debut at No. 37 with "I Used to Love Her (Again)," a song that uses the metaphor of a romance to talk about the artists' relationship with hip-hop. In theme and approach, it's reminiscent of early hip-hop artists. Hip-hop is not my favorite genre of popular music, but sometimes particular songs catch my attention. (It definitely helped that I was familiar with 9th Wonder, a North Carolina-born producer, from local media.)

Last week, the logjam was in the top 10; this week, it's affecting positions 11 through 21, which probably portends a good deal of midchart action next week. Meanwhile, probably in its final Top 10 week is Michael W. Smith's "I Will Be Your Friend," down 1-6. This would be a fitting bow for the song as 10 years ago this week it entered the Top 10 for its first run. (It came back in January in tribute to my then-ailing cat Dr. Gray, who now seems to be getting along well, thank goodness.)

Week of April 11

Three new songs to the Top 40 this week. Shinedown tries for three No. 1 hits in a row, as the iTunes Session version of "Call Me" enters at No. 35. The band went to the top last year with "Second Chance" (three weeks in May) and "If You Only Knew" (two weeks in December).

Barenaked Ladies debut at No. 39 with "Summertime," their first Top 40 hit since "Too Little, Too Late" went to No. 15 in 2001. (Two songs -- "Another Postcard (Chimpanzees)" in 2003 and "Easy" in 2006 -- fell during the chart's hiatus.) The group's biggest hit on my charts is "It's All Been Done," a No. 1 hit in 1999.

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings have earned quite a reputation among critics and fans by touring cross-country the past decade. Their version of "This Land Is Your Land," heard over the opening credits of the George Clooney movie "Up in the Air," earned mainstream attention, and now their first Top 40 hit comes with the title track of their new album, "I Learned the Hard Way." It enters this week at No. 40.

At the top of the charts, Michael W. Smith's "I Will Be Your Friend" improves on its first chart run about a decade ago by moving 5-1 this week. Look for some upper-chart action next week as the songs in spots 6-10 are being held back this week by a top five largely dominated by former No. 1 songs.

Week of April 4

Guess it's fitting for the weekend that Christians celebrate as the Easter Triduum that the highest debut is from one of the pioneer Christian crossover acts on the pop charts, Amy Grant. Twenty-five years ago, she went to No. 1 with "(Love Will) Find a Way," her first crossover hit. She's had almost 20 chart appearances since then, and her latest, "Better Than a Hallelujah," enters at No. 34 from her "Somewhere Down the Road" collection.

Of the three other debuts this week, two add to impressive chart totals for their acts. By entering at No. 39 with "Soul Sick," Rob Thomas matches his solo output of 10 chart hits (including his guest shot on Santana's "Smooth") to the 10 times he's appeared with Matchbox Twenty. Meanwhile, Janet Jackson's "Nothing" at No. 37 marks her 45th chart hit including collaborations with Shaggy, Luther Vandross/BBD/Ralph Tresvant, Carly Simon and her brother Michael. "Nothing" comes from the soundtrack of "Why Did I Get Married Too?" a Tyler Perry movie in which she stars.

The newcomers to the survey are the members of the group Paper Tongues, entering at No. 40 with "Trinity." The seven-member band out of Charlotte, N.C. -- Aswan North, Devin Forbes, Cody Blackler, Joey Signa, Clayton Simon, Jordan Hardee and Danny Santell -- have said they're trying to blend elements of rock and hip-hop/R&B in their work. This song was selected as iTunes' free single of the week this week.

Up in the Top 10, lots of movement as three songs make healthy moves from lower in the chart. "Another Love Song," Uncle Kracker's follow-up to last year's No. 1 hit, "Smile," moves 14-8. Even bigger moves come from Taio Cruz and Ludacris with the former Billboard chart-topper "Break Your Heart" (22-9) and Lifehouse with their latest album cut, "It Is What It Is" (26-10). Finally, the new No. 1 song, "Each Tear," is the eighth chart-topper for Mary J. Blige including duets with George Michael and Elton John (her duet with Sting, "Whenever I Say Your Name," fell during my chart hiatus but it would've been a No. 1 hit -- as it was, it was the No. 1 hit of 2003 in my year-end surveys, which continued even during the hiatus).

Week of March 28

After a light week for debuts last week, six new songs pop on the charts this week, half of which come from chart newcomers.

She & Him are singer-actress Zooey Deschanel and singer-songwriter M. Ward. Their first album, "Volume One," was a critical hit. The song at No. 40, "Gonna Get Along Without You Now," comes from the follow-up, "Volume Two." Its their first hit on my charts.

Another duo scoring their first hit on my charts are The Bird and the Bee, aka Inara George and Greg Kurstin. Their album "Interpreting the Masters Volume 1" is billed as a tribute to the work of Daryl Hall and John Oates, and it features covers of such songs as "Maneater," "One on One," "She's Gone" and "I Can't Go for That." But my favorite track is a Kurstin-George original, "Heard It on the Radio." The music definitely reflects the "Voices"/"Private Eyes" era of Hall and Oates. The song is this week's highest debut, at No. 35.

Colbie Caillat's "I Never Told You" at No. 36 is her third hit from "Breakthrough," following "Fallin' for You" (No. 1) and "Out of My Mind" (No. 13). Bon Jovi re-enters for the first time since 2007 as "Superman Tonight" comes in at No. 38. But the real chart comeback this week belongs to country singer Mindy McCready. She's only had one hit on my chart, "Guys Do It All the Time" in 1996, which went to No. 22. She's back this week as "I'm Still Here" enters at No. 39.

Two songs enter the Top 10 this week by two of the hottest male artists of the past decade. At first blush, country singer Keith Urban might not seem to fit that designation. He's only had three Top 10 hits on my chart. But so far, when he hits the Top 10, he goes all the way to the top: "Once in a Lifetime," "Stupid Boy" and "Standing Right in Front of You" each went to the summit. This week, " 'Til Summer Comes Around" moves 15-10. Will his streak continue?

Meantime, "Full Steam" by David Gray featuring Annie Lennox moves 11-9. Gray has had five "official" No. 1s on my chart ("Babylon," "Please Forgive Me," "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye," "Sail Away" and "The World to Me"), while "The One I Love" was a hit during my charts' hiatus period (but still became the No. 1 song of 2005, so it's likely it would've been a No. 1 hit). Can this duet return him to the top?

Week of March 21

Only one debut this week, and a holdover at No. 1, but lots of midchart action. It'll be interesting to see which of these songs will advance to the Top 10 and No. 1 in the weeks to come.

Fantasia has this week's sole debut: "Even Angels," at No. 39. The "American Idol" victor has had three previous chart hits ("I Believe" was a hit during a time when my charts were on hiatus). "Hood Boy" and "Uneligible" each peaked at No. 16, while her collaboration with Aretha Franklin, "Put You Up on Game," hit No. 26.

Week of March 14

Chart newcomers dominate this week's debuts, with the only debut from a veteran coming from John Mayer. "Heartbreak Warfare," at No. 37, is Mayer's 10th hit since 2002, when he went to No. 1 with "No Such Thing." He's gone back to the top two more times -- with "Your Body Is a Wonderland" (four weeks in 2002) and "Waiting on the World to Change" (one week in 2006).

Musician/actor Christian Kane has actually been around as long as Mayer -- recording as part of the country/rock act Kane in the early part of last decade -- though he's probably best known in the mainstream as the actor who played the lawyer Lindsey on the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" spinoff "Angel" for three seasons. He's recording solo as a country/rock artist these days, and "The House Rules" (at No. 39) is from his new, self-titled EP.

The No. 1 song this week in Billboard, "Break Your Heart," by Taio Cruz featuring Ludacris, enters at No. 35, the first entry on my charts for either act (though rapper Ludacris has had a few dozen hits nationally in the past decade). The rap/hip-hop act Kidz in the Hall enters at No. 40 with its first hit, "Jukebox." "American Idol" contestant from last season Danny Gokey comes in at No. 36 with "My Best Days Are Ahead of Me," while singer Diane Birch remakes Haddaway's No. 1 hit from 1993, "What Is Love?" as a piano-driven ballad, at No. 38.

Week of March 7

Artists from the British Isles or Australia have the week's four biggest movers. Leaping 27-18 is "Full Steam," a duet from Cheshire-born David Gray and Scotland's Annie Lennox. Close behind, moving 26-19, is "'Til Summer Comes Around," the latest from Queensland-raised, New Zealand-born Keith Urban. Up six to No. 29 is the remake of "Everybody Hurts" by the mostly British collaborative Helping Haiti. And making a serious play for No. 1 is Northampton's V.V. Brown, whose "Shark in the Water" moves 10-2.

Amid all the Commonwealth conquering of the charts this week, American Alicia Keys continues to carve out a strong presence with her second No. 1 hit in three weeks from "The Element of Freedom," dethroning Brit Robbie Williams. "Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart" pushes 3-1, even as her former charttopping duet with Beyonce, "Put It in a Love Song," slides 2-10. The album's first hit, "Doesn't Mean Anything," went to No. 10 in November.

Of the Haiti relief effort songs, while the superstar collaborations are dominating attention, Rihanna's solo remake of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" has proved the most staying power so far, up to No. 15 this week. The Sheryl Crow/Kid Rock/Keith Urban remake of "Lean on Me" is right behind at No. 16. Lagging are the aforementioned "Everybody Hurts," as well as the remake of "We Are the World" from Artists for Haiti, dropping 25-37 in its third week.

Week of Feb. 28

Six new entries this week and a new No. 1 song. First, let's look at No. 1 -- Robbie Williams moves 2-1 with "Last Days of Disco" in its 16th chart week. That's the slowest trip since Owl City's "Fireflies" hit the summit in November in its 17th week. "Disco" becomes Williams' third number one, following "Angels" in 2000 and "Lovelight" in 2007.

One-third of the debuts feature vocals by Mariah Carey. She debuts with a remix of her album track "Angels Cry," featuring Ne-Yo, at No. 37. And at No. 35, she's one of dozens of performers contributing to the remake of R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts," a British fund-raiser single for Haiti relief, coordinated by Simon Cowell. The original went to No. 1 in 1993. This version by Helping Haiti is now the fourth Haiti relief song in the countdown, joining Rihanna's "Redemption Song" remake (No. 16), the cover of "Lean on Me" by Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock and Keith Urban (No. 19) and Artists for Haiti's update of "We Are the World" (No. 25).

Other than the Helping Haiti collective, two artists enter the countdown with their first chart hits. Florida-raised country singer Easton Corbin debuts at No. 38 with "A Little More Country Than That," one of seven country crossover songs in this week's countdown (not including the "Lean on Me" remake featuring Keith Urban). One notch below him is Australian native Daniel Merriweather with "Not Giving Up," a nuevo-R&B/pop tune of the Amy Winehouse/Joss Stone/V.V. Brown/James Morrison camp. Actually, Merriweather reminds me of another Daniel from last decade -- Daniel Bedingfield. (Whatever happened to him, anyhow?)

Week of Feb. 21

As predicted last week, a bunch of songs sprint up the charts this week, as songs by Paul McCartney, Norah Jones and Lady GaGa, among others, that had held them back tumble as many as 20 positions this week. Don't feel too bad for GaGa, as she has one of the nine songs that move up 5 or more positions, with her duet with Elton John -- the medley of "Poker Face," "Speechless" and "Your Song" from the Grammy Awards -- leaping 17-10.

While Elton makes chart waves, it's a newcomer from Britain that has the week's biggest mover. V.V. Brown released "Shark in the Water" last summer in her homeland, but iTunes named it its free download of the week just a couple of weeks back. That song leaps 36-14 in its second week, a good indicator that it could hit No. 1 in a few weeks.

Another big chart mover is the remake of "We Are the World," this time a relief effort for Haiti. It debuts at No. 25. The original "We Are the World" crashed onto the survey (then a Top 25) at No. 11 back the week of March 17, 1985. It eventually went to No. 1 for four weeks and became the No. 1 song of 1985. We'll have to wait and see whether this version does as well. Meanwhile, the current No. 1 song -- "Put It in a Love Song" by Alicia Keys and Beyonce -- spends its fourth week at the top, which gives it an early bid for 2010's top record.

"We Are the World 25" isn't the only Haiti relief song in the countdown, nor the only big mover. Rihanna's remake of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" strides 24-18, while the remake of "Lean on Me" by Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock and Keith Urban jumps 32-21.

Week of Feb. 14

It's extremely unusual to see a logjam on the charts like the one this week in positions 22 through 32. Blame it on a number of sleeper songs above it that continue to push up one or two positions without losing popularity, as well as three older songs -- "Paparazzi" by Lady GaGa, "Chasing Pirates" by Norah Jones and "Wild Horses" by Susan Boyle -- that only now are starting to descend more rapidly. This should mean a lot of chart movement next week as songs that were constrained this week break free.

Meanwhile, one of the few songs to make a significant move is "Each Tear," Mary J. Blige's quasi-title track from her latest CD "Stronger with Each Tear." By moving 18-8, it leapfrogs her single "I Am," which moves 14-12. Blige and Alicia Keys are vying for the hottest act on the charts; Keys holds at No. 1 with Beyonce on "Put It in a Love Song" and moves 9-6 with "Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart."

Fifteen years ago this week, Melissa Etheridge moved to No. 1 with "I Take You With Me" from the "Boys on the Side" soundtrack. This week, she's back in the countdown with "Fearless Love" entering at No. 37. With four weeks at No. 1, "I Take You With Me" is Etheridge's biggest hit on my chart, but she's also gone to the top with "Come to My Window" (one week), "I Want to Come Over" (one week), "Nowhere to Go" (one week) and "I Need to Wake Up" from the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" (two weeks).

Week of Feb. 7

Judging from this week's top two debuts and biggest mover, you could easily surmise I was one of the roughly 26 million people who watched the Grammy Awards this past Sunday. That's actually not the case: I've fallen out of the Grammy-watching habit the past several years. But I did hear good things from Facebook friends about the Lady GaGa/Elton John and Pink performances. So when iTunes made the GaGa/Elton duet available, I listened to enough to realize I'd like it, and then after hearing the audio version, I knew I'd have to download the video, too. That duet, more than anything else, has persuaded me to give GaGa more credit than I have been. I've thought of her as more of a Katy Perry combination of modest talent and a flair for hype and flash. It could be that Madonna is more of a model for GaGa. We'll see in the years to come.

Meantime, this week the medley of "Poker Face/Speechless/Your Song," coming in at No. 20, is the highest debut since December 2006 when "Dear Mr. President," by Pink featuring the Indigo Girls, entered at that spot. Of course, at that time, the chart was a Top 30 rather than Top 40 so GaGa/Elton's achievement is even more significant comparatively.

Speaking of Pink, she enters at No. 25 with "Glitter in the Air." That's still good for a third-place tie for highest debut in the past two years; only the GaGa/Elton duet and Susan Boyle's No. 23 debut for "I Dreamed a Dream" performed better. With its No. 25 debut, Pink's song ties "4 Minutes" by Madonna, Justin Timberlake and Timbaland. "Glitter in the Air" is the fourth song from Pink's latest CD to make my charts, following "So What," "Sober" and "Please Don't Leave Me."

Finally, Grammy performing artists Lady Antebellum take their crossover hit "Need You Now" from its debut last week at No. 36 to No. 23 this week. With that kind of momentum, they could well be joining country crossovers from Reba McEntire and Tim McGraw in the Top 10 in the next few weeks.

Week of Jan. 31

Two songs return to the Top 40 this week in at least their third hit versions. The Lenny Welch standard "Since I Fell for You" is back at No. 39 in a version by Gladys Knight featured in the movie "It's Complicated." "Since I Fell for You" hit the Top 10 in 1987 in a remake by Al Jarreau, Bob James and David Sanborn from the soundtrack of the TV series "Moonlighting." (Another version by Michael Bolton missed the chart, but was listed as chartbound for one week, in 1992.)

Meanwhile, Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock and Keith Urban enter at No. 38 with their version of "Lean on Me" from the Haiti relief effort "Hope for Haiti Now." The Bill Withers classic was remade in 1987 by the group Club Nouveau, hitting No. 2.

Keith Urban has two new songs in the countdown this week, as "Lean on Me" debuts two places above his latest solo hit, the bluesy " 'Til Summer Comes Around." It's one of two country-crossover debuts this week, with Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" the other, at No. 36.

The last of this week's debuts is "When It Comes to Love," the second hit for Foreigner with its Lou Gramm soundalike, Kelly Hansen. The reconstituted group, which added Hansen to its lineup a few years back when Gramm decided to focus on a solo career, hit No. 2 in 2008 with "Too Late." "Too Late" and "When It Comes to Love" are both featured on the group's latest CD, "Can't Slow Down."

Week of Jan. 24

This week's new entries include individual debuts from Chris Brown and Rihanna. The singers were romantically involved before breaking up early last year, and Brown was sentenced in August to five years probation and more than 1,400 hours in community service on charges of assaulting Rihanna. This week marks the first time since then that both artists have hits on my chart: Brown enters with "Crawl" at No. 38, while Rihanna's take on Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" (a benefit for Haiti relief efforts) comes in at No. 37, replacing her Top 20 hit "Russian Roulette."

In the Top 10, country singer Reba McEntire is going for a new personal best as "Consider Me Gone" moves 14-8. Her biggest hit on my charts came in 1992, when "The Greatest Man I Never Knew" peaked at No. 6. McEntire looks likely to top that if this week's chart move is any indication.

Although Rie Sinclair & Friends have been able to hold atop the chart for three weeks, that stay could well end if this week's strong move to No. 2 proves foreshadowing for Alicia Keys and Beyonce. Their duet, "Put It in a Love Song," jumps from No. 6. Each artist has been active on national charts in other duets: Keys, with Jay-Z on "Empire State of Mind," and Beyonce, with Lady GaGa on "Telephone." (Speaking of Lady GaGa, looks like she'll have to settle for a No. 2 peak with "Paparazzi" as it slides two notches to No. 4 this week.)

Week of Jan. 17

Five debuts this week, anchored by actor/singer Jeff Bridges ("The Fabulous Baker Boys," etc.) at No. 40. "Hold on You" is a track from the soundtrack of the new film "Crazy Heart," for which Bridges is receiving Oscar buzz in his role of a Kristofferson-style country rocker down on his luck. The song joins fellow country-crossover records by Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw, Reba McEntire and a debut from Alan Jackson ("It's Just That Way") at No. 38.

The highest of the five debuts comes in at No. 30, and it's a re-entry. Michael W. Smith's "I Will Be Your Friend" first peaked at No. 5 back in May 2000 as a track from his "This Is Your Time" CD. It's back in the countdown strictly due to the nature of personal charting. I became interested in it this past week as I was dealing with the near-death experience of my 10.5-year-old cat Dr. Gray (you can find a picture of him with me here). Thanks to the wonderful work of the folks at N.C. State University's veterinary school, he's right here with me. But during the frantic 24-hour period in which I thought I'd have to say goodbye through a video of pictures of Doc, I landed on the Smith track as the perfect song for our relationship. Fortunately, now I can just listen to the song, without having to worry about such a video (at least for now). We'll see how far the song makes it in this chart run.

Week of Jan. 10

This week, Rie Sinclair & Friends complete their meteoric run to the top of the charts, as "My Confession" jumps 9-1 in its third chart week. The last song to move that fast to No. 1 was "American Skin (41 Shots)" by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which moved 15-9-1 in April 2001.

At the bottom of the survey, the sole debut this week is "According to You" by chart newcomer Orianthi. She's a singer-guitarist who was slated to play a key role on Michael Jackson's ill-fated "This Is It" tour. She appears in the film based on the rehearsals for that tour, performing her take on Eddie Van Halen's solo in "Beat It." As the title song from that movie slides 34-37, Orianthi makes her debut at No. 40.

As is typical for a chart week at the start of the year, there are a lot of chart hangovers near the bottom of the chart, with seven songs between positions 29 and 39 on their way down. Look for a strong number of debuts next week.