The Official UK Charts Thread

[paradise]

are simon's acts and mariah on the same label? they play her songs on the show alot, they had her as a guest and they choose her tracks to be sung at various stages of the contest. maybe i'm being cynical...i just thought they might use her and other artist on the same label to make extra money

[Guest Danny86]

There is nothing about 'Celebration' that is particularly demanding vocally.

Well sorry, but Madonna is not able to do vocals like that live. She never even sang "Sorry" or "Give It 2 Me" live, not even on her tours. The bridge of "Hung Up" is similar to some parts of "Celebration" and I believe that was always supported by tapes. And these were all on tours, not a one off talent show. It's almost like suggesting she should have sang the "get up outta your seat" part of "Candy Shop" live, which she didn't even mime to.

Anyway, Guy tweeted there are no plans for any other tv as of now, I wonder if he means the US only and just these days, or the rest of 2009.

[debord]

Well when I saw her in Maidstone last year she sang most of 'Give It 2 Me' live. And having backing on 'Hung Up' doesn't mean she's not singing it.

[Guest Danny86]

She sings 2 verses live and then the rest is album vocals. It's like that on tour too. "Celebration" would be the same.

I know she sings live over tapes too, in fact the majority of S&ST is done like that, but I still don't think Madonna wants to perform like this on talent shows.thi

Anyway, I believe the X-Factor "confirmation" came from lighthousemike who said a mail was sent out that Madonna is appearing, along with Robbie. He's appearing during, or close to his album release week, right? Then I wonder if Madonna was supposed to appear this week or last week to coincide with the album? She won't have a new single to promote in November (unlike Mariah, who did promote a brand new single last time around), that's why I was saying this wouldn't even be Celebration promo anymore. It does seem it was close to happening but seems in the end something came up and she's not gonna do it.

[Guest Danny86]

Found it, was posted in mid-August:

The following is an eXclusive Report that was not officially confirmed!!

It took some convincing and a lot of great PR from Simon Cowell himself, but as of now Madonna gave her "OK" to perform on the X Factor this November, MADONNAdownload has learned from a person close to Simon Cowell who asked not to be identified as negotiations were not made public.

ITV is planing a massive Madonna night, and changed the location of the show's live finals to a large enough venue for the queen of pop.

Madonna is actually showing some interest in meeting the finalists as well, after she, reportedly "fell in love" with last year's runners up JLS from videos sent to her by Cowell.

This year the live shows will air on Saturdays, but the result shows however moved to Sundays, Madonna is set to take the stage on November 1st, though that date is tentative and might very well change.

A final agreement is about to be signed in the coming days, if everything goes as planned, and an official announcement will follow.

Shakira and Whitney Houston are also in talks to perform on the show's 6th season.

The X Factor will return to ITV1 on Saturday, August 22nd, 2009.

I should note that The X Factor was the most watched show in the UK last year. And an American Version of X Factor with Simon is set to air on NBC in 2011.

THIS REPORT HAS NOT BEEN CONFIRMED - TAKE IT WITH A GRAIN OF SAULT UNTIL IF, AND WHEN OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED

The original story was first reported on April 9th - http://madonnadownload.com/news_040809_2.html

The confirmation and announcement never happened. Madonna Tribe also never reported anything about an X-Factor announcement.

[debord]

She sings 2 verses live and then the rest is album vocals. It's like that on tour too. "Celebration" would be the same.

I know she sings live over tapes too, in fact the majority of S&ST is done like that, but I still don't think Madonna wants to perform like this on talent shows.thi

Anyway, I believe the X-Factor "confirmation" came from lighthousemike who said a mail was sent out that Madonna is appearing, along with Robbie. He's appearing during, or close to his album release week, right? Then I wonder if Madonna was supposed to appear this week or last week to coincide with the album? She won't have a new single to promote in November (unlike Mariah, who did promote a brand new single last time around), that's why I was saying this wouldn't even be Celebration promo anymore. It does seem it was close to happening but seems in the end something came up and she's not gonna do it.

Well you just said that she didn't sing 'Give It 2 Me' live. Now you're saying she sang some of it live. And in parts like the bridge and the first chorus she is very clearly singing over the album vocals. The only bit that seems fully mimed is the 'gimme a bassline...' parts. She performed live on tv plenty when she was promoting 'Confessions...', I really don't see what the issue is.

Robbie Williams is appearing this weekend, in the first live show. The Madonna rumours have been circulating in the press for weeks, they didn't come solely from one poster here. And as has been noted, the fact that they keep playing Madonna and Whitney songs, and both are rumoured to appear, is a promising sign. And it makes zero sense that she won't be promoting anything if she has no single out. It's a greatest hits. It's a pretty easily understood strategy to let the lead single and the inital buzz carry it through the initial weeks and then have Madonna come over nearer Christmas when it will have the chance of doing mega-sales.

No one has said she is *definitely* appearing, but some of the reasons being given for her probably not appearing are just insane.

[Guest Danny86]

Well you just said that she didn't sing 'Give It 2 Me' live. Now you're saying she sang some of it live. And in parts like the bridge and the first chorus she is very clearly singing over the album vocals. The only bit that seems fully mimed is the 'gimme a bassline...' parts. She performed live on tv plenty when she was promoting 'Confessions...', I really don't see what the issue is.

Robbie Williams is appearing this weekend, in the first live show. The Madonna rumours have been circulating in the press for weeks, they didn't come solely from one poster here. And as has been noted, the fact that they keep playing Madonna and Whitney songs, and both are rumoured to appear, is a promising sign. And it makes zero sense that she won't be promoting anything if she has no single out. It's a greatest hits. It's a pretty easily understood strategy to let the lead single and the inital buzz carry it through the initial weeks and then have Madonna come over nearer Christmas when it will have the chance of doing mega-sales.

No one has said she is *definitely* appearing, but some of the reasons being given for her probably not appearing are just insane.

When I said that, I meant it was MOSTLY not live. Singing 8 bars live in a 5 minute song is not what I'd call "live singing". And actually she even misses out the miming several places in that video and her live voice can almost be never heard during most of the song when the tape comes in.

She performed TWO songs from COADF live on tv, one of them being "Get Together" which is far from as vocally demanding as the 2 new Celebration songs, HU had tape help and none of them were at British or American talent shows where her vocals would have been torn apart by the press. She never performed "Sorry" on tv even though BEFORE we got the album it was already confirmed to be the 2nd single, not even at her club gigs, because she can't sing it live. I know you will say they wanted to save "Sorry" because of that exact reason, but I always knew she would not be able to do that talk-singing live and the tour proved me right.

Whether you want to see it or not, the 2 songs are not produced to be performed with live vocals. Madonna loves to play around with her vocals in the studio and she herself most likely realizes her live singing is not all that (hence why the almost complete overdubbing of the S&ST DVD). She always opts for putting on a show and relying heavily on backing tapes instead of the other way around.

I understand your point, but Madonna is obsessed with saying she's not a lookback girl so going to a show like this only to plug in some of her old songs is not what I can imagine her doing. I know it's been long in the press (it actually started there, in The Sun I think) but that doesn't mean she couldn't have turned down the offer in the end.

I'm not saying it either that she's definitely NOT appearing, but in my opinion saying she has a GH out and the show never had the best selling female artist of the UK and that the GH was promoted with commercials during showtime is not enough to prove the other stuff wrong. It's possible Warner bought advertising time but Madonna herself was not interested to attend the show, because she'd prefer doing it when she has an actual new album out, no?

[debord]

When I said that, I meant it was MOSTLY not live. Singing 8 bars live in a 5 minute song is not what I'd call "live singing". And actually she even misses out the miming several places in that video and her live voice can almost be never heard during most of the song when the tape comes in.

She performed TWO songs from COADF live on tv, one of them being "Get Together" which is far from as vocally demanding as the 2 new Celebration songs, HU had tape help and none of them were at British or American talent shows where her vocals would have been torn apart by the press. She never performed "Sorry" on tv even though BEFORE we got the album it was already confirmed to be the 2nd single, not even at her club gigs, because she can't sing it live. I know you will say they wanted to save "Sorry" because of that exact reason, but I always knew she would not be able to do that talk-singing live and the tour proved me right.

Whether you want to see it or not, the 2 songs are not produced to be performed with live vocals. Madonna loves to play around with her vocals in the studio and she herself most likely realizes her live singing is not all that (hence why the almost complete overdubbing of the S&ST DVD). She always opts for putting on a show and relying heavily on backing tapes instead of the other way around.

I understand your point, but Madonna is obsessed with saying she's not a lookback girl so going to a show like this only to plug in some of her old songs is not what I can imagine her doing. I know it's been long in the press (it actually started there, in The Sun I think) but that doesn't mean she couldn't have turned down the offer in the end.

I'm not saying it either that she's definitely NOT appearing, but in my opinion saying she has a GH out and the show never had the best selling female artist of the UK and that the GH was promoted with commercials during showtime is not enough to prove the other stuff wrong. It's possible Warner bought advertising time but Madonna herself was not interested to attend the show, because she'd prefer doing it when she has an actual new album out, no?

It was far more than '8 bars', albeit with backing tapes. And she performed 'Get Together' and 'Hung Up' live on Star Academy, the French equivalent of 'X Factor'. I'm not being a blind fan here, I just find the suggestion that 'Celebration' (which she semi-TALKS through for the most part, for Christ's sake) would be too demanding for her. And no, 'X-Factor' viewers wouldn't tear her apart for using backing tapes as long as she was singing live over them and singing parts live. Celine Dion completely mimed when she appeared and no one gave a toss because everyone knows she can sing. Britney got mauled because people don't think she can sing live at all.

Madonna may not be a 'lookback girl' but she's a smart woman, and I'm sure she knows that her 'brand' has slipped somewhat during the 'Hard Candy' era. And what 'other stuff' is there to prove wrong? There have been strong rumours that she's appearing, one of the rumours (Robbie Williams) has already proved to be correct, and they are playing her and Whitney's songs a lot (as in, playing them during the show, not in adverts) which they have previously never done. And there have been plenty of artists appearing on X Factor to promote compilation albums.

Anyway, it's not really worth arguing about. We'll find out one way or the other over the next couple of months.

[Guest Danny86]

I'm sure she knows that her 'brand' has slipped somewhat during the 'Hard Candy' era.

I'll only respond to this. I REALLY don't think Madonna feels that after the tour and after just equaling a chart record by Elvis. We've discussed this before, but Madonna herself knows CD sales are not all that anymore and that artists have to find a new way to promote themselves. She's not even filming a video for "Revolver" so I don't see why she'd be so eager to do some promo at a talent show she supposedly doesn't even like.

I know it would be a dream come true for you and some others if Madonna appeared, but I do think she's not exactly concerned about promo for the rest of the year and is already focusing on her movie. And it will not take anything away from her "brand", neither it means she's gonna be flopping with her new album...

[Guest mattcho]

Very impressed by the UK midweeks!

- Matt

[debord]

Madonna made her comments about talent shows during the 'American Life' era, and then appeared on one during promo of 'Confessions...' because she's a pragmatist and does what she has to do. And you answer your own question: "I don't see why she'd be so eager to do some promo at a talent show she supposedly doesn't even like." "Madonna herself knows...artists have to find a new way to promote themselves".

Given that 'Hard Candy' underperformed in the UK (declining sales or not) and she was rumoured to want to do two nights at Wembley and had to drop those plans, and downgraded to the O2 when she returned, and the lead single from the hits peaked at 3, she'd have to be pretty sheltered to not realise that she needs a bit of a boost here.

With specific regards to the X Factor thing, you keep writing about it as if people have pulled it out of thin air. People are only talking about it because it's a recurring rumour from places that have been proved right re: Robbie.

[paradise]

it's madonna's turn on 4music's world greatest popstar next week...presented by tess daley (groan)

might be a cool watch though as they have lots of clips of pop stars (mostly dlisters) giving their opinions and it will be good promotion for the album

[Macko]

I think there can be miles away made as a single and she will be able to sing it live

[fak]

Just a question was the Evita CD credited to Madonna, OST or Various Artists? I dont have a copy of it, as its not my most fave piece of work, just in case someone asks!

[Guest]

Darn...Babs is still #1! But still the gap between her and M is close! Really hope Madonna can take over by the weekend and surprise us all!! Glad to see that the album is doing so well in the UK

[mtzlplk]

^ well who knows, maybe news of her getting a #1 album in the US might actually increase her lead during the weekend...

[aeroco]

Latest midweeks, Babs is moving further ahead, sales for albums though are pretty poor.

Thursday Update

Singles

1 Chipmunk 56.2k

2 Saturdays 25.9k

3 Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys 22.2k

4 Taio Cruz 20.7k

5 David Guetta ft. Akon 17.9k

Top 10

Temper Trap

Pitbull

Top 15

Daughtry

Whitney Houston

Tinchy Stryder - YNA

Top 20

Jordin Sparks

Top 30

Mumford & Sons

Jason Mraz

Daniel Merriweather

Top 40

Big Pink

Lady GaGa (Paparazzi)

==================================

Albums

1 Barbra Striesand 16k

2 Madonna 13.9k

3 Paramore 10.8k

4 Mumford & Sons 10.2k

5 Muse 9.7k

Top 10

Vera Lynn

Jay-Z

Top 15

Kings of Leon

Chris Rea

Andy Williams

Kiss

Top 20

Deadmau5

Tiesto

Top 30

Temper Trap

Lily Allen

Air

Top 40

Air

Backstreet Boys

Pink

Daniel Merriweather

Nerina Pallot

[debord]

It really is bizarre how album sales have totally collapsed this week - unless the past 2 weeks were unrepresentative because of all the big new releases?

[aeroco]

^ I know, it is going to be a poor sales week.

[debord]

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/xfactor/news/a181081/whitney-confirms-x-factor-performance.html

Now 2 of the rumoured performances have turned out to be correct. Bodes well for Madonna appearing.

[Queen Bitch]

ITV is planing a massive Madonna night, and changed the location of the show's live finals to a large enough venue for the queen of pop.

There was another rumour that they planned to switch venues for all the live shows but decided not to because of the budget.

Madonna is actually showing some interest in meeting the finalists as well, after she, reportedly "fell in love" with last year's runners up JLS from videos sent to her by Cowell.

Well her videos these days are on a par with the one for their debut single.

[TOUR2008]

Xavier69 tells guy he loves "Celebration" album version... "Working on a few more remixes.. stay tuned" is what Guy tells him.

Materiallboy asks him about a new tour next year?

" I don't see a new tour next year.. definitely not summertime..." Guy says.

Later on, her confirms that "as I've promised... we will definitely go to Australia next tour."

There are no plans for Madonna to do SNL or any other TV as of now

Then Guy says goodnight to the Twitterers saying "thanks again to all of you for helping Greatest Hits sell 2 million albums in just 2 weeks.."

[HolidayGuy]

Why are we debating M's live vocals in a UK charts thread? The fact is that though her shows are not about the vocals, she sings the vast majority of her shows live- even the criticizer Elton John acknowledged as much. But on that note, didn't she sing GI2M in NY for that promo show? Been a while, so I don't recall how it sounded and such. I don't know why M would be "afraid" to sing "Sorry" live, but, yeah, sounded like the record vocals dominated for the most part (until the ending- kinda like how "Vogue" used to be). There are parts of "Celebration" where she uses that high-pitched vocal, but, otherwise, not a challenging tune. She does like to mime spoken tracks- there was no reaso nto mimie "Erotica" back in 1993, but maybe she felt she couldn't duplicate the sexy, cold feeling of the record.

Anyhow, Babs on track to hit #1 in the UK too? Good for her.

[Queen Bitch]

The Babs album is getting plenty of ads in prime slots so it's not surprising it's extending its lead. I also sense they'll continue the push up until Christmas and it will ultimately be a big seller. That said, what I've heard is still inducing.

[Guest Danny86]

For those who have access, any sales numbers for today?

[debord]

Babs is 19416

Madonna is 17024

Paramore are 13114

[mtzlplk]

hmm... we'll see if M will have another weekend surge... she almost caught up with Paramore last week from a big margin during the midweeks...

[Guest Danny86]

Thanks debord!

I wonder if the #1 album can reach 30k this week?

[davejr.]

Babs is 19416

Madonna is 17024

Paramore are 13114

Babs is pulling away...hoping for a weekend surge..

[Macko]

I really think they should realase Miles away as a single again even with that s.h.i.t video, it was only such a hit in Germany as i remember