Forecast: "Unconditionally" Bound For #1

Although "Can't Remember To Forget You" hasn't been officially released yet (to debut Monday morning at 9 AM), a few small snippets have been leaked online. Based on what I've heard, it doesn't look too good for Shakira. What could save it: the higher quality version could be better, and vocals on the song from Rihanna have yet to be heard. Still, I am a little uneasy about leaving my prediction as a top 10 debut. I probably won't change it though so I'm hoping for the best. Either way, I'm pretty sure it won't open in the #1 position in its first frame. It has already missed out on 2 of the tracking days so far, which is a big cut into its opening frame. At this point, it is really hard to tell if Rihanna will score a 12th top 10 hit and a 17th entry overall. The entry of this song would help her overall streak of songs, and put her within 1 of the most charting entries by an artist (Nicki Minaj has 18 entries). This would also be Shakira's 2nd entry. She previously peaked at #11 with "Get It Started" back in 2012.

Katy Perry on the other hand will likely reap success from this unfortunate news. Her single "Unconditionally" (which jumped to #3 on Friday) is headed for the top spot. If it reached to top spot, the song would become Katy Perry's first ever #1 single. Prior to the chart's 2012 inception, her singles "Hot N Cold", "California Gurls" and "Firework" hit #1 in 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively. Her previous singles from this era reached #2 ("Walking On Air)", #3 ("Roar"), and #8 ("Dark Horse").

Come back for the back charts (past 2 weeks) and later this week for more updates on Shakira, Rihanna, Katy Perry and other #1 candidates.