Billy Christmas!
Posted Wed 24 Dec 2008 10:00AM NZDT by Andrew Miller in Chartalec
Just one more sleep and it's Christmas 2008, the Christmas of Billy T James.
"I want to wish you a Maori Christmas", sang the singer-comedian on his take of Jose Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad". And for the late Billy T it's definitely his Christmas.
"The Comic Genius Of Billy T James" outsells everything by a huge margin and very comfortably claims the Christmas album number one slot - the set clocking a second week on top and being certified triple platinum in the process.
Famous for his trademark yellow towel, Billy was voted Entertainer Of The Year in 1981. In his honour the Billy T Award was set up to recognize New Zealand comedians with outstanding potential, the prize naturally being a yellow towel.
This year's Christmas number one single is Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" which celebrates its seventh straight week on top.
It matches Jordin Sparks featuring Chris Brown's "No Air" as the second longest running chart-topper of 2008. "No Air" is the provisional number one song for the year thus far, though. The longest run is just a week longer - eight weeks for Chris Brown's "Forever".
It's been a good week for the Anika Moa/OpShop collab on Dave Dobbyn's "Beside You". It jumps 10 points to number 10. All retail proceeds going to the Raukatauti Music Therapy Centre.
Moa, OpShop and Dobbyn all head out on The More FM Winery Tour together from Waitangi Day next year.
And in other Yuletide news, Mariah Carey nearly made the Top 40 with "All I Want For Christmas Is You". The track just misses the 40 by a whisker.
"Mamma Mia!"the movie is New Zealand's number one box office hit of 2008, and the accompanying soundtrack is the number two album of the year in the provisional rankings.
The already 18 times platinum "ABBA Gold" rockets back in at number 17 this week. However Benny, Bjorn, Agnetha and Frida's hits compile has yet to top the list - the highest it has been is number three.
There are two new singles chart entries this week. The first, "Broken Strings", is a track recorded by Englishman James Morrison and Canadian Nelly Furtado on the June 10 in Toronto.
It makes number 29 and is James's first duet and is the first hit from his sophomore "Songs For You, Truths For Me".
That set made number 19 in October and should gain fresh legs thanks to the new single. Both acts have scored number ones, with James's total hit tally now three and Grammy-winner Nelly making it 11 hits in all.
2008 was a great year for Aucklander Joshua Elia Williams. He lands his second hit with "Set It Off" fresh at 36. This is his first physical single and it includes both of his hits and a remix of each. The first - "Blow Ya Mind" - made number 13 in September.
A solitary albums new entry this week goes to Dutch violinist Andre Rieu's audio version of his "Live In Australia" set. It lands at number 31, while the DVD leads that chart.
The disks are of his concert filmed in Melbourne last month. This concert had the biggest ever attendance for any Rieu show.
The CD version gives Andre a second hit this week with “Waltzing Matilda” currently #14 in the album chart.
In all, "Live In Australia" is Andre Rieu's seventh chart album since his 2001 number 25 "Dreaming" debut.
There's one chart left for 2008, which we'll check next week.
Have a Merry Christmas!
"I want to wish you a Maori Christmas", sang the singer-comedian on his take of Jose Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad". And for the late Billy T it's definitely his Christmas.
"The Comic Genius Of Billy T James" outsells everything by a huge margin and very comfortably claims the Christmas album number one slot - the set clocking a second week on top and being certified triple platinum in the process.
Famous for his trademark yellow towel, Billy was voted Entertainer Of The Year in 1981. In his honour the Billy T Award was set up to recognize New Zealand comedians with outstanding potential, the prize naturally being a yellow towel.
This year's Christmas number one single is Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" which celebrates its seventh straight week on top.
It matches Jordin Sparks featuring Chris Brown's "No Air" as the second longest running chart-topper of 2008. "No Air" is the provisional number one song for the year thus far, though. The longest run is just a week longer - eight weeks for Chris Brown's "Forever".
It's been a good week for the Anika Moa/OpShop collab on Dave Dobbyn's "Beside You". It jumps 10 points to number 10. All retail proceeds going to the Raukatauti Music Therapy Centre.
Moa, OpShop and Dobbyn all head out on The More FM Winery Tour together from Waitangi Day next year.
And in other Yuletide news, Mariah Carey nearly made the Top 40 with "All I Want For Christmas Is You". The track just misses the 40 by a whisker.
"Mamma Mia!"the movie is New Zealand's number one box office hit of 2008, and the accompanying soundtrack is the number two album of the year in the provisional rankings.
The already 18 times platinum "ABBA Gold" rockets back in at number 17 this week. However Benny, Bjorn, Agnetha and Frida's hits compile has yet to top the list - the highest it has been is number three.
There are two new singles chart entries this week. The first, "Broken Strings", is a track recorded by Englishman James Morrison and Canadian Nelly Furtado on the June 10 in Toronto.
It makes number 29 and is James's first duet and is the first hit from his sophomore "Songs For You, Truths For Me".
That set made number 19 in October and should gain fresh legs thanks to the new single. Both acts have scored number ones, with James's total hit tally now three and Grammy-winner Nelly making it 11 hits in all.
2008 was a great year for Aucklander Joshua Elia Williams. He lands his second hit with "Set It Off" fresh at 36. This is his first physical single and it includes both of his hits and a remix of each. The first - "Blow Ya Mind" - made number 13 in September.
A solitary albums new entry this week goes to Dutch violinist Andre Rieu's audio version of his "Live In Australia" set. It lands at number 31, while the DVD leads that chart.
The disks are of his concert filmed in Melbourne last month. This concert had the biggest ever attendance for any Rieu show.
The CD version gives Andre a second hit this week with “Waltzing Matilda” currently #14 in the album chart.
In all, "Live In Australia" is Andre Rieu's seventh chart album since his 2001 number 25 "Dreaming" debut.
There's one chart left for 2008, which we'll check next week.
Have a Merry Christmas!
