GENNARO CASTALDO WATCH

Blimey, our boy Gennaro has been making up for lost time, virtually spinning a full-length Jackanory out of the week's album sales:


HMV spokesman Gennaro Castaldo said: "It looks like she's going to to be at number one in both the single and album charts. She's outselling her closest rival, Will Young, two to one. Her album is also outselling Westlife two to one. She's on target to make end of the week album sales of over a quarter of a million.

"We think the album is on target to be the third biggest selling album of the year behind Coldplay's X&Y which over 400,000 copies and Robbie Williams' Intensive Care, which shifted over 300,000.

"It shows that she's really come back, it's a real return to form after her last album American Life, which didn't sell as well by her standards.

"She's reinvented herself yet again as a disco diva, and reconnected with her fans and the wider record buying public.

"She's also got a real killer track to launch the album, which is a great way to start. In the last year we've had a lot of introspective offerings from people like James Blunt and KT Tunstall and, to some extent, even Coldplay. Madonna's new album hits you between the eyes, it's very upbeat and music fans are really responding to that.

"A lot of people look at music stars who have been around for years and think they did their best work at the start of careers. With Madonna that's not the case, she's constantly reinventing herself and her music, and I think a lot of people will see Hung Up as one of the best things she's ever done."

He added: "The new Babyshambles album is selling quite well, although nowhere near as well as Madonna. Pete Doherty's looking at a number six place."

Actually, we suspect Pete Doherty's looking for his passport still. But our favourite bit of Gennaro's commentary here is the cautious suggestion that, you know, maybe that Coldplay could, under some circumstances, be seen as being, well, you know, a tiny bit introspective. Just a little, mind.

And who knows, maybe Gennaro isn't so mad to say that some people will see Hung Up as the best thing Madonna's done. Admittedly, you'd have to be ten years old and never heard any of her early stuff to be able to form such an opinion, but it is more than possible.

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