November 05, 2009

By By Paul Sexton, London

Michael Jackson's "This Is It" (Epic/Sony Music Entertainment) debuts at No. 1 on Billboard's European Albums survey, as "Sexy Chick" (Gum/Positiva/Virgin/EMI) by David Guetta featuring Akon returns to the top of European Hot 100 Singles for the seventh week in total.

"This Is It" becomes the third Jackson album to top the pan-European listing since his death. It's new at No. 1 in France and Holland, No. 2 in Portugal, Denmark and Austria, No. 3 in the United Kingdom (on sales of 78,000), Spain and Denmark and No. 4 in Germany. Although last week's new entry at No. 1 on the composite chart, Rammstein's "Liebe Ist F?r Alle Da" (Motor), slips to No. 2, it still reigns in Germany and Austria. But it's down 2-5 in Denmark, 2-7 in France and 4-10 in Portugal.

Also down one rung overall is Michael Bubl?'s "Crazy Love" (Reprise/Warner Music) dips 2-3. It's up 3-1 in Italy and holds at No. 2 in the United Kingdom, where his performance of the album track "Cry Me A River" on "The X Factor" Oct. 25 gives him improved second-week sales of 112,000 (after an opening 78,000). It also sends the track into the U.K. singles chart at No. 34, while the actual single "Haven't Met You Yet" continues its progress, climbing 9-5. "Crazy Love" also holds at No. 2 in Holland and No. 5 in Portugal, but falls 5-8 in Germany.

Sting's "If On A Winter's Night" (Deutsche Grammophone) starts at No. 4 on European Albums, collecting top ten starts in Germany (No. 5), Italy (No. 6) and France (No. 8). U.K. release was on Monday of this week. "Celebration" (Warner Bros.) falls 3-5 on the collective survey for Madonna, and 2-3 in Italy; Muse is down 5-6 with "The Resistance" (Helium 3/Warner Music) and 4-5 in France.

Current British pop queen (and "X Factor" judge) Cheryl Cole comes in at No. 7 on European Albums with "3 Words" (Fascination/Polydor/Universal). The Girls Aloud member's first solo album sells 125,000 copies for a U.K. debut at No. 1, while the single "Fight For This Love" takes its two-week tally to last weekend to 431,000, staying at No. 4 on European Hot 100 Singles.

French DJ-artist Guetta's "One Love" album rebounds 13-8 overall after climbing 9-2 in France, while the "Sexy Chick" single regains its pan-European reign after holding at No. 2 in Germany and Austria and No. 3 in France.

Whitney Houston slides 4-9 on European Albums with "I Look To You" (Arista/Sony Music Entertainment) and 3-7 in the United Kingdom. Finally, Xavier Naidoo's "Alles Kann Besser Werden" (Naidoo) falls 9-10 collectively and 2-3 in Germany, where the single "Alles Kann Besser Werden" slips 6-8.

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