“Pop Idol” winner Will Young notched up a third week at the top of the British pop charts on Sunday. The 23-year-old saw off spoof rapper Ali G and U.S. reggae star Shaggy whose duet “Me Julie” came straight in at No. 2, according to The Official UK Charts Company.
Young has sold more than 1.5 million copies of the double-A side “Anything is Possible/Evergreen” in less than a month.
It means Young will next week go head-to-head for the No. 1 spot with Gareth Gates, the 17-year-old singer he beat to win the “Pop Idol” television talent show.
Gates is expected to knock Young off the top next week with his cover of “Unchained Melody,” the Righteous Brothers’ 1965 hit, released Monday.
“It looks almost certain that Gareth will go straight in at number one,” Gennaro Castaldo, a chart expert with retailer HMV, told Reuters this week.
Elsewhere on this week’s chart, Colombian diva Shakira dropped one place to third with “Whenever, Wherever,” taken from her first English language album “Laundry Service.”
Singer-actress Jennifer Lopez was one of five new entries in the top 10 in at No. 4 with “Ain’t it Funny.”
Canadian singer Celine Dion was a new entry at seven with “A New Day Has Come,” the title track of her forthcoming album.
Veteran British heavy metal band Iron Maiden entered the chart at No. 9 with a charity re-release of their 1982 single “Run to the Hills.” Money raised will go to their former drummer Clive Burr, who has multiple sclerosis.
Australian soap star-turned-singer Natalie Imbruglia was straight in at tenth with her new single “Wrong Impression.”
