Admit it. You’ve heard it while station surfing the dead radio airwaves, you’ve watched the video in its entirety (voluntarily or not) on MTV. And yes, you’ve even caught yourself unintentionally singing the insistently catchy chorus, “Do-di-do-do…Oops, I did it again, Di-da-di-di, I played with your heart…” We admit it.
Like million of teenyboppers, we also have been listening to (and, watching) Britney Spears’ new ditty, “Oops! I Did It Again,” religiously since the debut of her video on MTV’s “TRL” (that’s “Total Request Live”) at No. 1 on April 12.Everyday we tune in to try make sense of the plot line (not to mention the “Titanic” reference), and everyday we end up arveling at the blood-red, skintight bodysuit in which the popstress does most of her regimented dance moves.
So imagine our genuine concern when the 18-year-old singer began to show signs of instability on the “TRL” countdown just a week or so after her video’s premiere. First, the space-themed video was dethroned by billionaire boyband N’ Sync, then it tumbled all the way down to No. 9 last week (only to miraculously bounce back to the No. 1 spot on Monday).
Weird. Troubling even.
Given the strange sequence of events, we started entertaining paranoid thoughts common to the news trade: Is the swift roller coaster ride that Britney Spear is undergoing on “TRL” prophetic of the trajectory her upcoming sophomore album, the similarly titled “Oops! I Did It Again,” will take when it hits record stores on May 16?
Judging from the song’s radio airplay record in the past two weeks, the answer to the first question is probably no.
While her “TRL” stock may fall (and rise), things are only looking up on radio. According to weekly airplay data provided by the music trade mag HITS, “Oops!” was logged at 48,000 spins last week, up from 39,080 for the previous week.
“We look at MTV and what it does, but we don’t really look at ‘TRL.’ It does influence sales, but just because the video doesn’t do well just means that it’s just not request-friendly,” HITS’ Paul Karlsen told Hollywood.com. “… I’d say [the album] will debut at No. 1 [on the sales chart], selling about 6-7 hundred thousand units.”
And just to get a second opinion, we also sought out some street-level expert knowledge, aka the units-pusher at a local Wherehouse randomly chosen for the purpose of this inquiry.
“Yeah,” said one disinterested Wherehouse worker curtly when we asked if people have been calling about the new Britney Spears album.
There, now we can all rest assured.
