Newton Faulkner Scores No. 1 Album in the UK: Is America Next?

I tell you – brace yourself, America, he’s coming. If his record company f**ks this up, they should all be begging for change at Port Authority.

On the strength of his recent Top 10 hit, “Dream Catch Me,” singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner jumped to No. 1 on the UK album chart, reports the BBC. Last week, Faulkner was No. 3 on Last.fm’s new “Hype List”, which gauges what Internet users are listening to. All signs point to this guy becoming a major worldwide phenomenon to rival James Blunt. Not everyone’s on board: Faulkner’s Enemy No. 1 at the site Popjustice, which has ranked Faulkner dead-last on its PJ Almighty list. Was it the ginger dreadlocks that did it?

And, no, I’m not on Newton Faulkner’s payroll. I’m far too expensive.

In other chart news: Kanye West holds on to his No. 1 spot for a second week, with newcomer Sean Kingston advancing to No. 2 with his Billboard smash, “Beautiful Girls.” UK band Hard-Fi rises to No. 7 with “Suburban Knights” (great hook, shame about the lyrics), and 50 Cent sneaks in at No. 10 with his Justin Timberlake collab, “AYO Technology.” So if this doesn’t make No. 1, will he retire?

1. Kanye West – Stronger
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2. Sean Kingston – Beautiful Girls
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3. Robyn ft Kleerup – With EveryHeartbeat
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4. Timbaland ft. Keri Hilson, D.O.E.,and Sebastian – The Way I Are
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5. Gym Class Heroes – Clothes Off
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6. Plain White T’s – Hey ThereDelilah
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7. Hard-Fi – Suburban Knights
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8. Kate Nash – Foundations
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9. Fergie – Big Girls Don’t Cry
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10. 50 Cent ft Justin Timberlake – AYO Technology
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In other news:

• Amy Winehouse and hubby Blake Fielder-Civil both boarded a plane and hightailed it out of Britain, reports The Sun. Fielder-Civil reportedly refused to return to rehab, so this bit of R&R is the next best thing. To clear the air, Amy spoke about the matter with the Sunday Mirror. “I can’t beat the drugs without him. He’s my rock and as a married couple we need to go through everything together. Blake says he isn’t going back to rehab – but I can if I want. But I’m not going without him.”
• More details are emerging about Amy and Blake’s tumultuous stay at the Sanderson Hotel, where last week’s insanity allegedly occurred. A guest told The Mirror, “There was all sorts of commotion coming from the room – screaming, doors banging, all sorts. It was really scary and so inconsiderate to everyone else. I had to ask to be moved and the hotel put me in another room.”
• Could Blake and Amy be the next Sid and Nancy? That’s what Blake’s stepdad tells News of the World. “Drink, drugs and a history of self-harm is a worrying cocktail. I’m going to point out the Sid and Nancy comparison to Blake. You couldn’t tell Sid Vicious what to do, could you? But I’d like Blake and Amy to think about those two. It might shake them up. I doubt it, but maybe.”
• Paolo Nutini, who was set to tour with Amy later this year before she cancelled, has his own bizarre Winehouse story.(Contact Music)
• Cheryl Cole slams the Spice Girls reunion: “We could hardly go out as Girls Aloud when we’re old and wrinkly. We would have to call ourselves Old Girls Aloud. That would never do.” Isn’t she pals with Victoria Beckham? I take it she won’t be getting an invite to Thanksgiving Dinner at Beckingham West.(Mirror)
• Charlotte Church says she was a “minging” child. “I ate like a pig, so I was pretty chubby with massive legs. My hair only grew round the sides of my head. I was bald on top for the first two or three years and my big ears stuck out. I was minging.”(The Sun)
• Peaches Geldof says her dad’s band The Boomtown Rats “weren’t that good.”(The Sun)
• Natt Weller, son of Paul Weller and his Style Council bandmate, Dee C. Lee, wants to be a pop idol like his dad. But of a distinctly different sort: “There haven’t been any proper male artists for ages except Robbie Williams, and he’s sh*t. I’m just sick of all these bands in granddad jumpers and straw hats. I want to be a proper rock star. We need something like a modern Bowie.”(Guardian)
• A journalist who covered The Police‘s first tour in 1978 rejoins them nearly 30 years later. The members dismiss rumors that they have been at each other’s throats since the breakup. “[Stewart] Copeland says, ‘We have a basic underlying respect and, I would say, love for each other, the three of us. There’s a bond there that none of us can shake off.’ Sting agrees: ‘Relations with Andy and Stewart have always been cordial. We didn’t see much of each other, but it’s bullsh*t that we’ve been at loggerheads for years and years.’”(Guardian)