Rita Ora is heading to the top of the UK artist albums chart this weekend as 2011 X Factor winners Little Mix prepare for a second No 1 single.
Having already led the singles countdown three times, once with DJ Fresh and twice in her own right, Ora is now on course to repeat the trick on albums with her newly-issued Columbia/Roc Nation debut Ora having opened up an 84% sales gap over its nearest rival, according to the Official Charts Company.
There is a similar commanding lead being enjoyed at this stage of the week by Little Mix whose second Syco single Wings is poised to become their second UK No 1. It has so far this week sold more than twice as many copies as closest challenger, One More Tune/Stiff act Sam and the Womp with Bom Bom, which debuted at the top last Sunday. Both will be joined in the top five by the Interscope/Republic pairing of Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen whose Good Time has risen 17-3 at this point in the week to place it just ahead of Rita Ora's How We Do (Party), which drops 2-4.
X Factor contestant Lucy Spraggan is also among the top five singles sellers in the current midweeks with her self-penned Last Night, which she performed on the show. It has risen 70-5 but will finish in a much lower position on the final chart published on Sunday as it has now been removed from sale by iTunes and Amazon over programme bosses' demands not to give her an advantage over other contestants with this additional profile. There is a similar situation with her album Top Room At The Zoo, which is self released like the single and has risen 127-7 on the midweeks but is no longer available to buy from the two retailers.
Ora and Spraggan are among five brand new arrivals to the Top 10 at this stage of the week, a list that also includes Fiction/Polydor act Elbow in second place with their newly-released B sides collection Dead In The Boot. Universal Republic/Island's Icelandic alternative act Of Monsters & Men are showing up as a new entry in third palce with My Head Is An Animal, which has already been a substantial hit elsewhere, including reaching the Billboard 200 Top 10 and topping the aternative chart there, while Havoc And Bright Lights - Alanis Morissette's eighth studio album but first for Columbia - is new at eight.
Having spent a second consecutive week at No 1 and fifth in total last Sunday, Virgin artist Emeli Sande's Our Version Of Events drops to four in the midweeks, while Paloma Faith's RCA set Fall To Grace slips 2-5.
Nonesuch/Warner Bros act Black Keys' El Camino leads a number of titles gaining because of last weekend's Reading and Leeds Festival, which was televised by BBC Three. Sales of the album are up 140% on the weeek as it climbs 7-6, while fellow performers Foo Fighters' Columbia-handled Greatest Hits rises 47-14 with sales up 163%. Other gainers from the festival include Island's Florence + The Machine with Ceremoials up 27-13 on a 46% sales increase, Kitsune's Two Door Cinema Club with Tourist History's sales up 315% to lift it 135-34, Red Bull's Twin Atlantic whose free rises 123-38 as sales increase 252% and Columbia acts The Vaccines and Kasabian. The Vaccines' What Did You Expect From The Vaccines is up 88-45 with a 140% sales increase, while Kasabian's Velociraptor progresses 102-47 as sales improve 153%.
Asylum/Atlantic act Ed Sheeran's + and Syco signings One Direction's Up All Night complete the Top 10 places at this point in the week, moving 6-9 and 12-10 respectively, while Atlantic/Fueled By Ramen's Fun lift 35-12 as sales of Some Nights rise 96%.
Outside the Top 10, there will be brand new artist album entries this Sunday from Mono-Ra-Rama's Noisettes, Interscope/Polydor's Slaughterhouse and Provogue's Robert Cray Band.
Hip hop veterans Public Enemy are heading for their first UK Top 10 single with the Slamjamz-issued Harder Than You Think rising 11-6 following its exposure in a Channel 4 Paralympics promotion. Also in the latest midweek Top 10 are One More Tune/Warner Bros's Wiley featuring Ms D with Heatwave (down 3-7), Island act Florence + The Machine's Spectrum (6-8), Mercury signing Taylor Swift's We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together 5-9) and Emeli Sande's Virgin single Read All Aout It Pt 3 (4-10).
Meanwhile, Fazer will follow N-Dubz colleagues Dappy and Tulisa by opening his solo chart account this Sunday with AATW/Island track Killer currently listed as a new entry at 12.
The full midweek singles and albums charts are on musicweek.com.
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