Aguilera Fends Off Young On U.K. Chart

Christina Aguilera's single "Dirrty" featuring Redman (RCA) sprang a major chart surprise in the U.K. yesterday (Nov. 24) by holding at No. 1 in the face of "Pop Idol" victor Will Young's new release, which had the extra bonus of a charity tie-in. "Dirrty," which entered the chart at No. 1 last week, was widely expected to cede the top spot to Young's "Don't Let Me Down"/"You and I" (S/RCA).

Even though the first number on Young's double-sided release was the official song of this year's BBC Children In Need telethon, his single debuted at No. 2. Meanwhile Aguilera's album "Stripped," which might have been expected to have an upturn in fortunes after Aguilera's chart-topping debut last week, surprisingly continued its decline. After entering at No. 19, the set has fallen to No. 50 in its fourth week on the U.K. album chart.

Jennifer Lopez's single "Jenny From the Block" (Epic) debuted at No. 3 yesterday, her ninth top-5 U.K. hit since "If You Had My Love" opened her account in March 1999. S Club, now a sextet and therefore removing the "7" from the end of its name, entered at No. 5 with "Alive" (Polydor). Although it's the group's 10th straight top-10 hit since debuting at No.1 with "Bring It All Back" in June 1999, it breaks a run of nine consecutive top-3 debuts.

Mariah Carey's "comeback" single "Through the Rain" (Mercury) made a somewhat disappointing debut at No. 8. Still, it was an improvement on the No. 12 peak of "Loverboy" in July 2001 and "Never Too Far"/"Don't Stop (Funkin' for Jamaica)," which stalled at No. 32 in last December.

On the U.K. album chart, Robbie Williams made his expected debut at No. 1 with "Escapology" (EMI: Chrysalis), while Shania Twain's "Up!" (Mercury) arrived at No. 4. Rod Stewart's "It Had To Be You -- The Great American Songbook" (J) entered at No. 8, becoming his 24th U.K. top-10 album.

It's now 11 weeks atop Music & Media's Eurochart Hot 100 Singles tally for Las Ketchup's "Asereje/The Ketchup Song" (Columbia). U2 leads the European Top 100 Albums chart for a second week with "The Best Of 1990-2000" (Island), ahead of another long time chart favorite, Phil Collins, whose "Testify" (Face Value/East West/ WEA) opens at No. 2.