February 21, 2008

By By Paul Sexton, London

Michael Jackson's augmented 25th anniversary reissue of "Thriller" (Legacy/Epic) enters in pole position on Billboard's European Top 100 Albums chart. Meanwhile on Eurochart Hot 100 Singles, "Apologize" (Mosley/Blackground/Interscope) by Timbaland presents One Republic starts a 14th week at No. 1.

The Jackson album makes one No. 1 start, in France, but also climbs 21-1 and 14-1 in the Belgian regions of Flanders and Wallony respectively. It's in at No. 2 in Germany, Switzerland, Holland and Norway; No. 3 in the United Kingdom (on sales of 41,000), Portugal and Denmark; No. 4 in Spain; No. 5 in Austria and Ireland and No. 6 in Italy.

Amy Winehouse holds at No. 2 on the composite chart with "Back To Black" (Universal Island), as the multi-platinum set enjoys a 9-1 surge in Portugal, holds at No. 1 in Germany and Holland and climbs 6-2 in Austria, 5-2 in Ireland, 4-2 in France, 3-2 in Spain, 6-3 in Flanders and 5-3 in Switzerland. In the United Kingdom, Winehouse climbs both with the regular edition of the album (20-16) and the "Deluxe Edition" (21-14).

Jack Johnson's "Sleep Across The Static" (Brushfire/Universal Island), which entered Top 100 Albums at No. 1 last week, falls to No. 3, despite spending a second week atop the U.K. chart on sales of 47,000, for a two-week total of 101,000. "Static" is also No. 1 again in Ireland, but dips in other European markets.

Lenny Kravitz falls 3-4 on the Europe-wide tally with "It Is Time For A Love Revolution" (Virgin), despite holding at No. 1 in Switzerland, No. 3 in Italy and No. 5 in Flanders. The album falls 2-3 in Holland, 3-5 in Germany, 5-10 in France and 6-10 in Spain. The single from it, "I'll Be Waiting," is up 19-13 on the Eurochart.

Also falling one place each on Top 100 Albums are Leona Lewis' "Spirit" (Syco Music/Sony BMG), 4-5 despite a No. 3 entry in Greece, and Rihanna's "Good Girl Gone Bad" (SRP/Def Jam), 5-6. But Nickelback's "All The Right Reasons" (Roadrunner) is up 9-7 as it nears the top of the U.K. chart some 28 months after release. It's up 3-2 there on weekly sales of 46,000.

Mika's "Life In Cartoon Motion" (Casablanca/Island) is down 7-8 overall, although it climbs 11-9 in its 54th U.K. chart week. James Blunt makes that same move on the pan-European tally with "All The Lost Souls" (Atlantic), and another big pan-European seller of recent months, Eros Ramazotti's "E2" (Ariola), is back up 20-10, re-energized by a No. 1 debut in Sweden.

The extraordinary Eurochart-topping feats of "Apologize" now place it within one week of the aggregate 15-week run at No.1 established by "Hips Don't Lie" (Epic) by Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean in the summer of 2006. But only 13 of those were consecutive, whereas Timbaland's single has had 14 straight weeks at the top. The track now posts climbs of 2-1 in Italy and 14-7 in France.

The top new entry on the Eurochart is Welsh singer Duffy's "Mercy" (A&M/Universal), in at No. 7 after a No. 1 debut in the United Kingdom on downloads of 38,000.

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