Chart Highlights: Shakira Collects Chart's 40th #1

Shakira's newest single "Empire" opens to a huge 90 points, right on the upper end of my predicted range. That's a 17% increase over Shakira's most recent outing ("Can't Remember to Forget You"), which opened at #9 with a still strong 77 points. With the debut at #1, Shakira scores my chart's 40th overall #1 single in history and is the 8th song to debut at #1. That means that 20% of all #1's debuted in their peak position, a fairly high rate. Additionally it becomes Shakira's first #1 single and 2nd top 5 single. If "Can't Remember to Forget You" reaches #1, it will mark the first time that an artist's lead single reaches the summit after their 2nd single does. It also debuts at #1 on Pop Songs, and #1 on Rock Songs, ending the 3 week reign of "Counting Stars" on the former and the 12 week reign of "Counting Stars" on the latter.

Holding at #2 for an 9th straight week, OneRepublic's "Counting Stars" continues its streak for "Most Weeks At #2 (Without Reaching #1)". The record was previously held by Avril Lavigne's "Rock N Roll" (5 weeks in 2013). Macklemore's "Can't Hold Us" also spent 9 overall weeks at #2 behind 4 different #1's, though it ended its 9 week #2 stay by vaulting to the #1 position the following week and staying for an additional 2 weeks. This week, "Counting Stars" was up by a noticeable 10%, giving Shakira a slim 2% point lead over it.

Shakira's "Can't Remember To Forget You (feat. Rihanna)" holds at #3 on the tally with a huge 12% increase in points. The single just recently became Rihanna's 12th non-consecutive top 5 hit (the most for any artist on this chart so far), and at this point has a chance at becoming the artist's 6th #1 single. It could also become Shakira's 2nd #1 single after the #1 debut of "Empire" this week.

Ayah Marar slides 1-4 with "Mind Controller" after holding at #1 for a 3rd straight week. The song was Ayah's 2nd overall #1 single as her guest spot on Calvin Harris' "Thinking About You" propelled her to #1 back in August 2013. Just about 6 weeks ago, Ayah scored the largest chart re-entry in history when "Mind Controller" rebooted within the top 10 (#6). The only other song to re-enter the chart within the top 10 is "Young" by Tulisa which blasted to #8 back in 2012. This week, overall points for "Controller" were down a noticeable 3% which contributed to its drastic fall this week.

Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse (feat. Juicy J)” inches to a new peak of 5. This single position gain comes courtesy of an 7% point increase this past week. The track sports the increase due to the worldwide backlash generated by a scene seen in the song's official music video. The scene was clipped out and order was restored. This issue helped generate a big enough gain for the song to move into the top 5. The single is PRISM's 4th consecutive top 5 single. "Unconditionally" hit #1, "Walking On Air" debuted and peaked at #2, and "Roar" eventually climbed as high as #3 back in 2013.

Beyoncé's “Drunk In Love (feat. Jay Z)” slides 4-6 after reaching a #4 highpoint last week. Despite the 2 position dip, the song is exactly even with its performance last week. The cut leads R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for a 3rd consecutive week, yet again beating Jason Derülo's "Talk Dirty".

"Unconditionally" slides 5-7 after a 3 week command in the #1 position. Although staying exactly even with its performance last week. This week it surpasses "Wide Awake" as Katy Perry's biggest hit of her career to date (2012-present).

Jason Derülo’s “Talk Dirty (feat. 2 Chainz)” backtracks 7-8 despite elevating 3% in overall chart points. On component and genre related charts the song swaps both up and down. On Pop Songs the single slides 5-6 (peaked at #3). The cut holds at #2 on R&B/Hip-Hop Songs only behind Beyoncé’s “Drunk In Love (feat. Jay Z)” which tallies a 3rd week atop the genre based list. Additionally the song pushes 7-5 on Radio Songs. Finally the song dives 6-10 on the Voter’s Choice Top 10.

Eminem's previous #1 single, "The Monster (feat. Rihanna)", dips 8-9 this week. This week, the song is up 3% from amount of plays it received last week. The song spends a 18th week in the top 10 (its entire run thus far) which is enough to claim the 4th longest top 10 stay. In 3rd place, Rihanna's "Where Have You Been" and "Diamonds" claim 22 weeks apiece while Avril Lavigne's "Rock N Roll" claims 2nd place with 24 weeks (Lavigne's hit spends a record extending 31st week in the top 20). Lady Gaga's "Applause" which dips 14-20 hailed over the top 10 for 26 weeks including a record 11 weeks at the summit.

To round out the top 10, John Newman moves 13-10 with his first single "Love Me Again". Hot on its heels is red hot follow up single "Losing Sleep" which bounds 19-14 this week.

Come back for the video and the chart!