Idolator

Ed. note: Chris "dennisobell" Molanphy, our resident chart guru, looks at the upward, downward, and lack of movement on this week's Billboard charts:

As predicted last week, Lil Wayne, supported by the late Static Major, has hit the top of Billboard's Hot 100 with "Lollipop." For longtime Weezy fans, it's a bit of a Pyrrhic victory—the first great rapper of the Web 2.0 era hemming in his flow to score a big hit. But nine years after his emergence on the Juvenile classic "Back That Azz Up," it's still a bit of a thrill to see Wayne's name gracing the top of the charts.

It's not only Weezy's first No. 1 but also his first Top 10 as a lead artist and, amazingly, his first trip to the top slot in 20 chart entries (21 if you include the Hot Boys' 2000 single "I Need a Hot Girl"). Prior to this, he'd never ascended any higher than No. 3 with his supporting performance on Destiny's Child's "Soldier."

How long he stays at No. 1 will depend on whether "Lollipop" settles in as a viral hit a la "Crank That" or "Low"—and on the competition percolating below him. The Top 10 is as fluid as it's been since last summer, which makes things fun for your humble chart columnist.

Ed. note: Chris "dennisobell" Molanphy, our resident chart guru, looks at the upward, downward, and lack of movement on this week's Billboard charts:

As we previewed yesterday, Leona "Limey Mariah" Lewis has fulfilled our prediction from last week and shot to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with her debut single, "Bleeding Love."

But she's not the only newsmaker in the winners' circle. After one of the most stagnant winters in pop-chart history—just last week, the top seven records were unchanged—music lovers welcome spring by throwing a grenade into the middle of the Top 10, where songs scatter everywhere. The results: Lil Wayne has his first Top 10 hit as a lead artist, Lil Mama has her second, and an exceedingly tacky Ray J song is hurtling toward the top.

He'll have to wait, however, if he expects to crown the chart. Lewis is going to be replaced at No. 1 next week, but not by him.

Ed. note: Chris "dennisobell" Molanphy, our resident chart guru, looks at the upward, downward, and lack of movement on this week's Billboard charts:

You thought Beyonce vs. Rihanna was an old school-new school catfight? We've got a better one.

British belter Leona Lewis hurtles 13 spots to No. 8 on Billboard's Hot 100 with "Bleeding Love." Already dubbed "the next Mariah Carey" by multiple news outlets since winning British television's The X Factor last fall, Lewis is now clearly making a fast break for No. 1 in America. And she's doing it at the very moment her melismatic model is herself on the way up. Within two to three weeks, we could be witnessing an epic diva battle for the top slot.

This weekend the BBC unveiled the best-selling singles of 2007, and not one but two contestants from U.K. reality TV singing contest X-Factor, with Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" even outselling Rihanna's "Umbrella," a tune that might have been inescapable for Americans this summer but haunted rainsoaked Brit listeners' dreams. The Top 20 is after the jump, but first we gotta ask: a comedy version of the Proclaimers' "(I'm Gonna Be) 500 Miles" in the Top 10? Really? Hang your heads, people of Great Britain. Hang them lower than your standards for novelty pop tunes.

THE GOOD: Idolator's beloved Sugababes at No. 6, the somewhat overlooked (in the U.S., obviously) Amy Winehouse collaboration from that much-maligned Mark Ronson album at No. 9, and of course "Umbrella" in the runner-up slot.
THE BAD: Inflicting the wussy Braffery/wussy mall emo of the Fray and Plain White T's on England now makes us about even for the whole unfortunate James Blunt episode.
THE WHAAA?: Both Leona Lewis and Leon Jackson—the 2006 and 2007 X-Factor winners, respectively—finish in the Top 5 despite their singles only having been released in December. That's got to make every recent American Idol winner, even the successful ones, briefly wish they had been born across the Atlantic.