During the two weeks I was vacationing, Billboard reported changes atop all three of its flagship charts—including the blessed end of Katy Perry's No. 1 reign on the Hot 100, which was displaced by a Rihanna song I like a lot. Even more amazingly, a song that may be the most left-field hit of the decade—"Paper Planes" by M.I.A.—soared into the Top Five.
Now that I'm back, the M.I.A. song is down a bit, and the biggest news on the charts is the post-American Idol debut by tween-and-grandma fave David Archuleta.
It's a cruel business, this chart-column writing.
Nonetheless, the good news, for those of us who rooted against the stage-managed moppet during Idol's last season, is that Archie's losing out on the Hot 100's top slot—by a whisker—to Rihanna. Meanwhile, there's change on top of two other charts, including the deadly static Modern Rock list. Let's catch up, shall we?
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Idolator
Alas, I'm not talking about Annie Lennox. In an effort to bring what a Fox exec calls more "girl power" to the show, the judges' table for the next season of American Idol will now have a Coke cup for songwriter Kara DioGuardi, who's shared writing credits on songs including Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man" and Kelly Clarkson's "Walk Away" and collaborated with Stewart on the pseudo-retro project Platinum Weird. DioGuardi, who Idol head honcho Simon Fuller called "a smart, sassy lady," is being billed as the show's fourth judge, which I guess means either that the judges' table will be widened or Paula Abdul will get some time off to "rest" now and again. (One producer claims that Idol was always supposed to have four judges, although it seems strange to me that it took the executives this long to find someone who wanted the gig.) A few highlights of DioGuardi's career after the jump.
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