Gangnam Style held off Number 1 by The Script and Example

Gangnam Style catapults all the way to Number 3 on the Official Singles Chart today, weeks before its planned release date!

It was going to be a straight two-way singles battle this week between reigning chart toppers The Script’s Hall Of Fame and a new entry from South London rapper Example with Say Nothing. However, as OfficialCharts.com reported on Friday, a late challenge from K-pop star Psy’s Gangnam Style looked set to open up the race.

Gangnam Style is the YouTube global phenomenon which has amassed over 253 million views in just two months and has become the most ‘liked’ video of all time on the online video platform. Steadily climbing the Official Singles Chart Top 200 over recent weeks, Gangnam Style broke into the Top 40 last weekend at Number 37, by the time of Wednesday’s Official Chart Update the track had jumped to Number 16, surging even further to Number 6 in Friday’s sales flash.

The week’s highest climber, up 34 places with a week on week sales increase of 446% sees Gangnam Style smash its way into the Top 5 to finish the week at Number 3, only 1700 copies behind Example (2). Gangnam Style closed the gap on The Script throughout the week and at the final whistle was just 15,000 copies away from the top spot.

With sales showing no sign of slowing for the South Korean viral star, the UK could still very well be in line for its first K-pop Official Number 1 next weekend.

The Official Singles Chart is the industry standard chart, based purely on record sales. Sales are counted from 00:01 on Sunday until midnight on Saturday. The final Top 100 chart is revealed at OfficialCharts.com on Sundays at 7pm, join BBC Radio 1 as they count down the Top 40 from 4pm. Follow Official Charts on Twitter for the very latest updates, tweet us @officialcharts.

New entries and climbers

Further down sees new entries this week from Dappy with Good Intentions at Number 12 and The Only Way is Essex’s Jessica Wright scores a Top 40 debut with Dance All Night (36). Conor Maynard’s Turn Around jumps 20 places to 18, while Canadian chart throb Justin Bieber is up 14 places to Number 30 with As Long As You Love Me FT Big Sean.

Here's this week's Top 10.  You can view the full Official Top 100 in all its glory right here.

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