Top 5 Songs for Week Ending September 28

We’re getting up close and personal with the five most popular songs in the Billboard Magazine Hot 100 pop singles chart, for the week ending September 28, 2013.

This week’s chart champion illustrates the axiom that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Before we get there, though, let’s start in fifth place, where Avicii holds tight with “Wake Me Up!” It was close but no cigar for the Swedish DJ on the international album charts. Last week, Avicii released his debut album True; he entered at number two in both Australia and the United Kingdom.

Robin Thicke has topped both singles and album charts worldwide with Blurred Lines and its title cut; this week, however, Robin, T.I. and Pharrell fall two slots to fourth place. Mega-hit “Blurred Lines” sold more than five million copies in just over five months in the United States - faster than any other song in digital history.

Meanwhile, it’s a wait-and-see week for Lorde. Her debut album Pure Heroine doesn’t come out until September 30, while her previously unstoppable single “Royals” hits the brakes in third place.

Katy Perry is down but not out: after spending two weeks atop the Hot 100 with “Roar,” she slips a slot to second place. Katy performs a brief set on September 30 at London’s iTunes Festival, then returns home to California - on October 23, she’ll perform a charity show at the Hollywood Bowl. It will benefit Young Survival Coalition, aiding young women with breast cancer worldwide.

Not only does our new singles champ earn her first U.S. number one hit, she does so in crushing fashion: Miley Cyrus swings from 22nd to first place with “Wrecking Ball.” The controversial singer may have more wins in store: Bangerz arrives on October 8, and could well become her third number one album - her sixth, if you include her long-ago releases as Hannah Montana.

That’s it for now, but please join us next week for more Hot 100 action.