As Take That's "Progress" (Polydor/Universal) moved past one million U.K. sales to start a fourth week atop the album chart there, the Black Eyed Peas scored a fifth No. 1 single in the territory, climbing 6-1 with "The Time (Dirty Bit)" (Interscope/Universal). The group's new album "The Beginning" also climbed into the top ten, 17-9.
"Progress" is now the bestselling album of 2010, according to the Official Charts Company, overtaking Lady Gaga's "The Fame" (Interscope/Universal). It sold more than 200,000 last week alone, staying ahead of two more albums with six-figure weekly sales, Michael Bublé's "Crazy Love" (Reprise/Warner Music), which climbed 8-2, and "Olly Murs" (Epic/Syco Music/Sony Music Entertainment). Kings Of Leon's "Come Around Sundown" (Hand Me Down/Sony Music Entertainment) moved back into the top ten, 13-7.
"The Time (Dirty Bit)" extends a sequence of U.K. chart-toppers for Black Eyed Peas that started with "Where Is The Love" in 2003 and continued with three No. 1s in 2009, "Boom Boom Pow," "I Gotta Feeling" and "Meet Me Halfway." In a tight race, the new single outsold Willow's "Whip My Hair" (Roc Nation/Columbia/Sony Music Entertainment), which finished with a No. 2 debut.
Rihanna had two Def Jam/Universal singles climb into the top five, "What's My Name," featuring Drake, 8-4, and the former No. 1 "Only Girl (In The World)" 7-5. The "X Factor" Finalists' "Heroes" (Syco Music/Sony Music Entertainment), No. 1 for the last two weeks, crashed to No. 7.
The second highest new entry on the new singles chart was "Hold My Hand" (Sony Music Entertainment) by Michael Jackson featuring Akon, at No. 11; former "X Factor" winner Alexandra Burke's "The Silence" opened at No. 16. Alexa Goddard's "Turn My Swag On" (IdleIdol) climbed 26-20 and, among the festive contingent, "Fairytale of New York" (Warner Bros./Warner Music) by the Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl climbed 27-26.