Miley Cyrus stays unbothered at #1 for a third week

Miley Cyrus continues her successful reign at Number 1 with “Flowers”. Over the past few weeks, it’s became an international hit, topping every major chart. It also earned a record-breaking 100 million streams on Spotify in its opening week. “Flowers” is the lead single to Miley Cyrus her upcoming eighth studio album, set to be released in March, and a response song directed to her ex Liam Hemsworth. Its music video and lyrics also make several references to their past relationship and Hemsworth’s cheating allegations. On my personal list, “Flowers” marks Cyrus her fifth Number 1-hit. She fights off increasing competition from Maan & Goldband their “Stiekem”, which rebounds to #2. The single previously has spent eight consecutive weeks at Number 1 and became the Christmas chart-topper of 2022.

Inside the Top 10, Flemming his “Paracetamollen” reaches a new peak at #3, a career-best for the Dutch pop singer. Suzan & Freek their “Slapeloosheid” continues to climb up, finishing at #7, while SZA her “Shirt” rebounds to #9. Further down inside the Top 20, new British girl group FLO move up a whopping seven places to #15 with their debut single “Cardboard Box”. The song is becoming the girls’ breakout hit, supported by them winning the Brit Rising Star Award. Shakira earns her highest-charting single in a long time, as her collaboration with Bizarrap peaks at #13 this week. If its streaming figures continue to increase, the pop team-up could become Shakira her first Top 10-hit in over five years.

Spanish pop icon Rosalía scores the top debut of the week with “Lie Like You Love Me”, or shortened “LLYLM”. The single is the official follow-up to last year’s summer anthem “Despechá”, which peaked at #2 on my personal list and became Rosalía her most-successful single to date. The new “LLYLM” is sung in Spanglish, which she has previously done for “Blinding Lights (Remix)” and “TKN”, although this time around she is singing without an American artist featuring on the track. The upbeat “LLYLM” debuts at #16 on this week’s chart, earning Rosalía her seventh Top 40-entry.

Only a few places down, America’s sweetheart Taylor Swift only barely misses out on the top debut of the week, as “Lavender Haze” debuts at #19. The synth-pop song is the second official single from her tenth studio album Midnights, which was released late last year to critical acclaim and massive success. The album was preceded by the lead single “Anti-Hero”, which debuted at #1 on my personal list and became Swift her first single in over three years to break my Top 20. It is still charting this week and is on course to become one of Swift her biggest songs to date. “Lavender Haze” is off to a strong start as well, debuting at #19 supported by its new music video. The song marks Swift her thirty-first Top 40-entry.

Further down, Swedish pop talent Zara Larsson returns with “Can’t Tame Her”, entering at #34. Larsson her career has experienced a slump of some sorts on my personal chart these past few years. While “All The Time” became a minor hit in 2019, every major solo single since has severely underperformed. Last year, however, she resurged with “Words”, a pop cross-over with producer Alesso which peaked at #6. Now, Larsson is back again with “Can’t Tame Her”, a 1980s-inspired song echoing The Weeknd or Dua Lipa. Zara is not the only 2010s pop diva to make a comeback this week: five places below her, British hitmaker Rita Ora returns with “You Only Love Me”. The song is a classic pop-EDM song, very similar to Ora’s previous hits “Anywhere” or “Lonely Together”. In her heyday, Ora dominated my personal list with back-to-back hits, including a chart-topping “I Will Never Let You Down” in 2014. However, just like Larsson’s, Ora her success has withered. Her last five entries have failed to crack my Top 30. Is the new “You Only Love Me” fresh enough to reignite Ora’s career? We will have to wait and see.

Newly certified songs

“Wild Grey Ocean” – Sam Fender GOLD