The latest from pop divas

All of the stars in heaven have been magically aligned in favor of Canadian rapper Drake these past weeks. The guy can do no wrong as far as his music is concerned. His album Views has been No. 1 for 12 weeks and still counting. Single One Dance was No. 1 for 11 weeks. More singles like Too Good, Controlla and For Free are also in the Top 20 songs. I was starting to give up on the Billboard hit charts when something happened that showed me that there is room for other artists besides Drake in the charts.

The mysterious Sia came up with a new song Cheap Thrills and toppled One Dance from the top. Then this week as I browsed the single charts, I found two new entries in the Top 20. Both of them are strong candidates for the No. 1 slot. They are both by really big female stars who are probably going also to release new albums soon. These are Rise by Katy Perry and Make Me by Britney Spears.

Katy Perry’s Rise is the theme of the NBC Sports coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics.

So including Adele’s Send My Love (To Your New Lover) and Pink’s Just Like Fire, both of which just entered the Top 10, plus Rihanna’s Needed Me, Fifth Harmony’s Work From Home and Meghan Trainor’s Me Too, that have been there for weeks, there is now a very strong female presence in the charts. Let us all wait and see how Drake’s album is going to put up with this girl onslaught.

Katy’s Rise is the theme of the NBC Sports coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics now going on in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is an anthemic pop ballad with lots of electronica overtones. I am not surprised that the single easily entered the hit charts in several countries. The melody is a feel-good jam and the inspirational lyrics reflect the brotherhood spirit of the Games. That is something that the world can use a lot of nowadays.

Cheap Thrills by Sia, the Australian singer-songwriter behind the big hit Chandelier. She was also featured in David Guetta’s Titanium. Now she has added to her bragging rights the fact that she dethroned Drake. This is her first No. 1 seller. Cheap Thrills is a reggae-tinged party tune with a second version featuring Sean Paul. It is a cut from Sia’s new album This Is Acting, which I expect to also rise dramatically in the hit lists with this big single boost.

Britney’s Make Me is a breathy love jam where a woman makes no secret about her wanting to have great sex. Of course, we all think that Britney could have done better. But take note, this is what sells. You will agree with me if you will check out some of today’s hits. A lot of them are about sex. Barring that the R&B ballad is the best that Britney has sounded in years. She is really singing in this one and with only the slightest hint of auto tune. Watch out for the album.

Britney Spears is really singing in Make Me.

The Top 20 tunes in the Top 100 songs chart are: Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul; One Dance by Drake feat. WizKid & Kyla; This is What You Came For by Calvin Harris feat. Rihanna; Can’t Stop The Feeling by Justin Timberlake; Don’t Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers feat. Daya; Ride by twenty one pilots; Needed Me by Rihanna; Don’t Mind by Kent Jones; Panda by Desiigner; Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele.

Rise by Katy Perry; Just Like Fire by Pink; Work From Home by Fifth Harmony feat. Ty Dolla $ign; Me Too by Meghan Trainor; H.O.L.Y. by the Florida Georgia Line; I Took A Pill in Ibiza by Mike Posner; Make Me by Britney Spears feat. G-Eazy; Controlla by Drake; For Free by DJ Khaled feat. Drake; and Too Good by Drake feat. Rihanna.

The Top 20 albums are: Views by Drake; HARDLOVE by NEEDTOBREATHE; Blurryface by twenty one pilots; ANTI by Rihanna; Hamilton: An American Musical by the Original Broadway Cast; Epic AF by Various Artists; 25 by Adele; Lemonade by Beyoncé; Kidz Bop 32 by the Kidz Bop Kids; Blank Face LP by ScHoolboy Q.

This Is Acting by Sia; Bobby Tarantino by Logic; California by Blink-182; Dirty Heads by Dirty Heads; Thank You by Meghan Trainor; Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande; Traveller by Chris Stapleton; Ghostbusters, the original movie soundtrack; We’re All Somebody From Somewhere by Steven Tyler; and TRAPSOUL by Bryson Tiller.