Xmas Hits Closing In On Taylor Swift's #1 ARIA Chart Spot

With the weeks towards the festive season marching onwards the songs-of-the-season rise from one entry to now three.

Taylor Swift's Anti-Hero equals the second longest run at #1 for 2022 by holding for a sixth week.

Anti-Hero is her only #1 this week as her album Midnights drops to #2 after being overtaken by the new Jimmy Barnes Blue Christmas album, but her singles reign also continues at the summit in England, Ireland (both sixth week), The U.S.A. (fifth week) and Canada (fourth week). While the song's sixth week here at the top equals As It Was for Harry Styles which saw its second run at #1 log six weeks from May 2nd, while the leader with seven weeks (of its 9 weeks at #1 in total) is Kate Bush with Running Up That Hill (from July 4th).

Kate Bush and Taylor Swift do however tie a record this week, both acts have now logged nine weeks in total at #1 during this decade, Kate with her re-charted Running track and Taylor with four separate #1s for the 2020s (so far), placing them at equal sixth on the list for 'Accumulated Weeks at #1: Singles (2020s)', while Taylor's overall weeks at #1 in Australia now rises to 22 (from 9 #1s), making her outright 30th on the similar listing for 1940 to 2022 of tallied weeks at #1, with her next target to beat or tie with being John Farnham (23 weeks).

A fifth straight week at #2 occurs for Unholy for Sam Smith and Kim Petras, while the song holds again at the top in New Zealand (8th week), followed by their #2 single, which here is up one spot to a new peak of #3; Made You Look for Meghan Trainor, giving her a fourth Top 3 single in Australia in the process, while the song is also up to #2 in England and holds at #3 in Ireland, and it leaps in The U.S.A. (40 to #24) and Canada (31 to #12).

Rising back up one spot apiece are I'm Good (Blue) for David Guetta and Bebe Rexha followed by Miss You for Oliver Tree and Robin Schulz to #4 and #5 respectively, with Miss You picking up a Gold (●) in sales, which are followed by the only song to decline within the Top 10 this week, also the fourth of five duets/collaborations within the ten; Rich Flex for Drake and 21 Savage, which halves its position from last week by falling three places to land at #6.

Six of the Top 10 titles are on hold this week, with OneRepublic's I Ain't Worried remaining at #7, while the song also cracks the half-year chart mark (26 weeks), 20 weeks of which have now been spent within the Top 10. On hold at #8 for a third week is recent tourist here Steve Lacy with his Bad Habit, followed by a stable #9 for 'ARIA Award Winner for The Most Popular International Artist' last Thursday (Nov. 24th) in Harry Styles and his 32 week Top 10 entry As It Was, while B.O.T.A. (Baddest of Them All) for Eliza Rose and Interplanetary Criminal remains at #10, plus it picks up its first sales certification by going ▲Platinum in sales.

XMAS TITLES

With the weeks towards the festive season marching onwards the songs-of-the-season rise from one entry to now three within the Top 50 and six within the Top 100. Returning to #1 for a tenth overall week at the top in Germany this week is Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You, while here it makes another giant leap up the charts, last week going 94-50, this week it leaps thirty-nine places to berth at #11, which could mean it could go to #1 prior to Xmas, rather than just after it, as per the last four years, we'll have to wait and see on that speculation. (last at #1 on Jan 3rd, 2022; then #1 on Dec. 28th, 2020; #1 on Dec 30th, 2019; #1 on Dec. 31st, 2018; #6 on Jan 1st, 2018 {2017 chart run}; #15 on Dec 26th, 2016; #17 on Dec. 28th, 2015; #14 on Dec 29th, 2014; #33 on Dec. 30th, 2013; #40 on Dec. 24th, 2012; first charted and peaked #2x2, Dec. 25th, 1994 and Jan. 1st, 1995), making this now it's twelfth chart appearance.

The #2 song in Germany this week also makes a return to our charts, the 1984/85 single from Wham! and Last Christmas, which returns to the Top 100 at #30, the song originally peaking at #3 {for 8 weeks} in 1984/85 and hitting #2 twice on Jan. 3rd 2022 and previously Dec. 28th, 2020 (#3 in 2019; #5 in 2018; #11 in 2017; #23 in 2016; #61 in 2014; #46 in 1997), making this now it's tenth chart appearance in its 38-year chart-life.

Michel Bublé's Christmas album jumps from 80 to #36 this week, while his seasonal song It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas returns to the Top 100 at #47 (LW-151), while last year's chart run saw it hit its highest peak of #3 (Jan 3rd. 2022) (#5 in 2020; #4 in 2019; #94 in 2013; #89 in 2011), making this its sixth overall chart entry locally. In the lower fifty this week we also see returns for Santa Tell Me by Ariana Grande (#52, HP-5), 1960's Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree for Brenea Lee (#56, HP-8) and 1958's Jingle Bell Rock for Bobby Helms (#68, HP-13) which during their last chart runs all peaked on January 3rd, 2022.

UP

With Spotify issuing this past week their 'Best of 2022 listings' and U.S. charts Billboard also their best-selling titles of 2022, the #2 (Spotify) and #1 (Billboard) single was Heat Waves for Glass Animals (which could also be either the #1 or #2 single in Australia for the year too {it was the #1 song of 2021}), with the track climbing back up to #12 this week. Dean Lewis' How Do I Say Goodbye remains at its peak of #14 for a second week, while it drops down overseas in Canada (64 to #66), in England (24 to #33), Ireland (16 to #21), and it repeaks at #24 in Germany and logs a fourth week at its #3 peak in The Netherlands.

All five of the new certifications within the Top 50 are via the Warner label (as they only do their certs on a quarterly basis), and the third of those five is Zach Bryan with Something in the Orange (HP-15), which is up one spot to #16 and scoring its first accreditation of ▲Platinum in sales. The second of three songs cracking half a year on the charts this week is a stable #18 for Nicky Youre and dazy with Sunroof.

Tom Odell remains at his peak of #21 for a second week with Another Love, followed by the first of two Ed Sheeran climbing tracks; Shivers is up four spots to #22, while his Bad Habits track rebounds six places to land at #31, while that song also rises from 5x▲ to now 8x▲ Platinum in sales. ARIA Award nominee and winner ('Best Pop Release' for Thousand Miles) The Kid LAROI along with Justin Bieber hold at #23 with their track Stay, while the third half-year entry is Post Malone and Doja Cat's I Like You (A Happier Song), which rebounds five places to #29.

With The Killers touring Australia and New Zealand until December 19th, their classic tune Mr. Brightside rises here eight places to #33, while it jumps to #30 in N.Z. this week too, with further rebounds for About Damn Time by Lizzo (40 to #35) and Where are You Now by Lost Frequencies (44 to #38), which cracks the one-year chart-mark this week (52 weeks).

Rapper Lil' Uzi Vert claimed his twelfth Top 100 appearance (10 as lead, 2 as guest) a few weeks ago when his latest release Just Wanna Rock debuted at #88 (on Nov.14, fell out the following week), and then last week it returned at #70, while this week it leaps up thirty-one spots to hit a new peak of #39, to become his fifth Top 50 entry, which if it jumps again next week it could become his highest-charted entry here, as his highest placed was as a guest on the Migos track Bad and Boujee (HP-34, late January 2017), while the track is to be featured on his upcoming mixtape The Pink Tape.

Jumping up seven places each are Save Your Tears for The Weeknd (48 to #41), followed by Ferrari for James Hype and Miggy Dela Rosa, which also rises to a new peak of #42 (previous peak was #43 on Oct. 17th and 24th). Calm Down for Rema and Selena Gomez moves up three places to a new chart height of #43, while Eminem's 2005 #9 single Mockingbird saw a return to the Top 100 on October 31st, and now after climbing 77-74-76-66-51 it rises this week three spots to land at #48, it's first Top 50 appearance since it left the fifty in mid-July of 2005.

DOWN

No songs leave the Top 10 this week, with potential returnee Cuff it for Beyonce dropping two places to #13, with single place drops for Lizzo and 2 Be Loved (Am I Ready) and Cold Heart (PNAU Remix) for Elton John and Dua Lipa to #17 and #20 respectively.

Taylor Swift is down to five Top 50 entries this week, with her former Top 10 track Lavender Haze dropping down seven places to #12, while she also declines with Midnight Rain (24 to #36), Bejewelled (25 to #44) and Maroon (31 to #49).

The Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack leaves the albums chart after two weeks this week, its lead single for Rihanna and Lift Me Up falls seven places this week to #27, while the fifth and final new sales accreditation within the Top 50 is a track that rises from 6x▲ to now 8x▲ Platinum in sales, Levitating for Dua Lipa, which drops down the chart only two places to #32.

After leaping back into the Top 50 last week, this week the DVKE track golden hour drops back down eight places to #37, with the last big fall occurring for Drake and 21 Savage's second (and final) Top 50 entry Circo Loco, slipping eleven spots to #50.