All Saints and Natalie Imbruglia threaten the Spice Girls’ reign at Number 1

It is a fierce battle for this week’s Number 1 as the Spice Girls, All Saints and Natalie Imbruglia all try to reach the top. The Spice Girls are, yet again, the strongest contenders and maintain a seventh consecutive week above the list with Spice Up Your Life. The single receives a Platinum Certification this week as it has amassed over 65,000 points. This is the girls’ sixth single to reach Platinum status. All Saints and Natalie Imbruglia finish at Number 2 and Number 3 respectively this week, but both could dethrone the all-conquering Spice Girls next week.

Aqua re-enters the Top 10 with Doctor Jones. The Danish Eurodance-pop group initially peaked at Number 10 earlier this month, but now returns for a new peak at Number 9. The single follows Aqua their tradition of releasing songs with nods to popular culture, as their previous release Barbie Girl featured the iconic pink barbie doll ‘Barbie’. Doctor Jones, of course, references the famous film character Indiana Jones played by Harrison Ford.

Will Smith scores the highest entry of the week. Although he is primarily known as an actor, Will Smith actually has had an extensive music career. Will Smith started his career as the MC of DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. The duo scored multiple hits on the Billboard 100. Solo, Will Smith has success as well; during the summer of this year, Will Smith released the massive hit Men In Black. The single topped the charts worldwide and became the lead single of his debut album “Big Willy Style”. On this list, Men In Black spent five weeks at Number 1 and received a Platinum Certification with over 93,000 points. Will Smith returns with his second single Just Cruisin', opening at Number 20 this week.

Gary Barlow returns to the list with Open Road, taken from his debut solo album of the same name. Gary Barlow started his career as a member of the highly successful boy band Take That, with whom he scored two Number 1-hits on this list. The English singer has released some bangers on his own, reaching the Top 10 three times independently. His biggest hit to date is the Gold-certified Forever Love, which peaked at Number 2 and amassed over 50,000 points. Gary Barlow is the best-scoring soloist of Take That, outnumbering strong competition from Robbie Williams and Mark Owen. His rival Robbie Williams does have one thing that Gary Barlow himself does not have; a Number 1-hit. Could Open Road be his very first chart-topper? We’ll have to wait and see. For now, Gary Barlow his fourth solo single debuts at Number 33.