October 22, 2009

By By Paul Sexton, London

Billboard?s new pan-European sales charts show Madonna starting a fourth week at No. 1 on European Top 100 Albums, while Robbie Williams makes a triumphant return, topping European Hot 100 Singles with ?Bodies? (Virgin/EMI).

?Celebration? loses its remaining No. 1 European berths, in Ireland and the Czech Republic, but is back up 3-2 in Italy, 4-3 in Norway, 7-4 in Spain, 10-9 in Switzerland and is new in the Hungarian top 10 at No. 7. The compilation is also steady at No. 6 in Finland. The title track single moves down 4-8 on the singles rundown.

Two new titles join the pan-European top three, with two more inside the top 10. Shakira?s ?She Wolf? (Epic/Sony Music Entertainment) is new at No. 2, with 19,000 U.K. sales prompting a No. 4 start there, alongside debuts at No. 1 in Ireland and Switzerland, No. 2 in Spain, No. 3 in Germany, No. 4 in Austria, No. 5 in Holland, No. 7 in France and Italy and No. 14 in Portugal. Shakira?s title track is down 5-6 on the Hot 100.

English rock band Editors? third album ?In This Light and On This Evening? (Kitchenware) starts at No. 3 overall, becoming the group?s second consecutive set to debut at No. 1 in the United Kingdom. Sales of 30,000 nevertheless compare unfavorably with the 59,000 that took ?An End Has a Start? straight to the top in 2007. The new release is also new at No. 3 in Holland, No. 4 in Ireland and No. 8 in Germany. It stays at No. 2 in the Belgian region of Flanders and rises 13-7 in neighboring Wallony.

Muse?s former Top 100 Albums No. 1 ?The Resistance? (Helium 3/Warner Music) falls 3-4 on the new survey, its highest ranking at No. 3 in Wallony. German hip-hop/soul favorite Xavier Naidoo?s fifth studio album ?Alles Kann Besser Werden,? on his own Naidoo label, is new at No. 5 Europe-wide. That follows debuts of No. 1 in Germany, No. 2 in Switzerland and No. 3 in Austria.

Mark Knopfler?s ?Get Lucky? (Vertigo/Universal) is back up 8-6 on the aggregate chart, buoyed by moves of 7-4 in Poland and 9-7 in Germany. The last top 10 debutante of the pan-European week, at No. 7, is another strong seller in the GSA territories, ?So Wie Ich Bin? (Capitol/EMI) by Siberian-born vocalist Helene Fischer. It?s in at No. 1 in Austria, No. 2 in Germany and No. 7 in Switzerland. Her previous, third album ?Zaubermond? bowed at No. 6 on Top 100 Albums last year.

Three descending titles complete the pan-European top 10. Tokio Hotel?s ?Humanoid? (Universal Island), new at No. 2 last week, falls to No. 8, although it does enter at that position in Sweden. Mika dips 6-9 with ?The Boy Who Knew Too Much? (Casablanca/Universal Island), with its best position at No. 6 in France, and Barbra Streisand?s ?Love Is the Answer? (Columbia/Sony Music Entertainment) is down 4-10. It?s up 9-7 in Holland and 22-10 in Austria, but falls sharply 1-7 in the United Kingdom.

Robbie Williams? first single for two and a half years, ?Bodies? is new at No. 1 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and posts four No. 2 rankings, in Italy, Denmark, Finland and the United Kingdom, the latter with strong sales of 89,000. It?s beaten to No. 1 there by former ?X Factor? winner Alexandra Burke?s ?Bad Boys? (Syco Music/Sony Music Entertainment), featuring Flo Rida, which opens with the U.K.?s highest weekly singles sales of the year, 187,000.

Williams is also new at No. 3 in Holland, Ireland and Walllony, No. 5 in Flanders and No. 8 in France. His eighth studio album ?Reality Killed the Video Star? follows Nov. 9.

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