INTERNATIONAL CHARTS: Coldplay show sticking power.

Alan Jones

Eminem and Green Day continue to dominate the global stage but both have lost significant ground since last week. They took fewer than half of the number one positions available to them, with local replacements including Eros Ramazotti (Italy), Fat Freddy's Drop (New Zealand), and Eurovision winner Alexander Ryback (Norway).

Debuting high is one thing but showing staying power is quite another and any album still in the upper reaches of the world's charts after 50 weeks is to be commended. Coldplay's Viva La Vida Or Death & All His Friends is such an album, and racks up its half century this week, an event marked by a slight improvement in its standing in several charts. In the US - where it has sold 2,476,000 copies to date - it rallies 76- 68. It also climbs in Canada (55-49), Australia (43-38), Portugal (30- 25), Sweden (60-50), and most notably in Spain, where it leaps 15-7 this week, to achieve its highest chart placing for 19 weeks. Its success there is linked to that of the Viva La Vida single, which is even more resurgent, jumping 8-2 on its 50th straight appearance on the list. Whether the single is driving the album or vice versa, and why, is not something immediately evident.

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