It’s been a long journey but finally he’s got there. Well over two years since winning Eurovision 2019 and four months after debuting in the Billboard Hot 100, Duncan Laurence has finally reached the top 40 with his song “Arcade”.
After its debut at No.100 back in April, “Arcade” has now reached a peak of No.38, putting it comfortably inside the coveted top 100. The Billboard Hot 100 is the industry standard chart for singles in the United States.
The song has spent 19 weeks in the Hot 100, slowly working its way up the ranking. It’s evidence of the continuing popularity of “Arcade”, with audiences relating to the heartbreak anthem.
Earlier this month, Duncan celebrated “Arcade” achieving Platinum certification in the United States and the song reaching the top ten for US radio play.
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“Arcade” first Eurovision winner to chart on Hot 100 since 1976
While Eurovision songs are frequently found in the charts around Europe, it’s a different story in the United States.
The last Eurovision winner to chart in the Hot 100 was Brotherhood of Man with their song “Kisses for Me”. It peaked at No.27 in 1976 and spent 11 weeks on the chart.
Two years before that, ABBA’s iconic song “Waterloo” spent 17 weeks on the Hot 100, with a peak of No.6.
A little more recently, the last Eurovision song to chart on the Hot 100 was Gina G’s “Ooh Aah… Just a Little Bit”. The song was the UK’s entry in Eurovision 1996, where it placed eighth.
In November 1996, the hi-NRG bop was released in the United States. It was a hit, spending 30 weeks on the chart and peaking at No.12.
Måneskin continue their Hot 100 impact
Eurovision winners Måneskin also make an appearance in the Billboard Hot 100. The Italian rockers are sitting at No.42 with their viral hit song “Beggin'”. The song previously peaked at No.35 and has been in the Hot 100 for eight weeks.
While Måneskin’s Eurovision 2021 winning song “Zitti e buoni” has not made it to the Hot 100, both songs have previously charted in the Billboard Global 200 and the Billboard Global Chart excl. US.
Currently “Beggin'” is at No.3 in the Billboard Global Chart excl. US, while “I Wanna Be Your Slave” is at No.16. In the Billboard Global 200 chart, “Beggin'” is at No.4, while “I Wanna Be Your Slave” is at No.21.
What do you think? Will more Eurovision acts make an impact on the Billboard charts? Could the winner of Eurovision 2022 reach the US charts? Tell us your thoughts below!
Congrats to Duncan! but good lord, 2 1/2 years after it was released???
I understand how charts work, but it’s be good if people got onto music a little sooner.
OMG, I’m glad and super excited to see both Arcade and Beggin’ in the Hot 100! Almost a year ago, I didn’t expect neither to chart – but look at them! Arcade looks like it can peak in the Top 20 and Beggin’ will likely rise to the Top 40 again. I cannot describe what I’m feeling about this with words, but I’m happy for them 😀
Notably, the song is the contest’s first champion to chart on the Hot 100 since “Save Your Kisses for Me” by England’s Brotherhood of Man in 1976.That´s what Billboard says.
Only one other Eurovision Song Contest winner has hit the Hot 100: the pop classic “Waterloo” by Sweden’s ABBA in 1974.
Beyond winning songs, “Arcade” is the competition’s first entry at all to appear on the Hot 100 in 24 years, since “Ooh Aah… Just a Little Bit” by the U.K.’s Gina G in 1997.
If you go to the actual chart’s web page, you’ll notice that both songs have a little circle in the “awards” column. This is called a “bullet”, which indicates that a song is performing strongly in certain categories (which include radio airplay), and has not yet necessarily reached its peak. In chart parlance, “Arcade” is currently at “number 38 with a bullet”, and “Beggin’” is at “number 42 with a bullet”. We could expect to see both of these songs continuing to climb the chart in future weeks. Actually, as “Arcade” has just gotten into the Top 10 on Radio… Read more »
Wow! What a great and thoughtful comment! Thank you.
While Duncan’s recent surge is being driven by radio play, that’s more a knock on how the American music industry and Billboard work than on Arcade. Arcade was a streaming hit for quite some time while only making it to the bottom end of the Billboard chart. Its streams are only down because its viral run has played out as happens for every song. That it took *this* long for radio to acknowledge Arcade’s popularity and reflect that in their playlists shows how far removed modern radio is from reflecting the actual tastes of the public. And it also shows… Read more »
breakdown of arcade’s positions in the hot 100 component charts:
N/A digital songs (N/A in the us itunes top 100)
N/A streaming songs (N/A in the us spotify top 200, N/A in the us apple music top 1500 lmaooo)
#10 radio songs
the way no1 (ONE) is actively listening to this song and it’s all radio payola, it sends me
the jealousy speaks volumes
Congratulations: first a sore loser, now a sore winner. Did you already make a tweet about this under your alter ego @hottopicsesc?
small town boy OUT of the dutch albums top 100 after only 9 weeks despite a highly promoted re-release. why & surprised?
Imagine still being SO bothered even though Mahmood lost over 2 years ago lol
will duncan ever have another top 40 hit in the dutch single top 100? signs point to NO!
Love Don’t Hate It, Someone Else and Stars also made the Dutch Single Top 100 when they were released so you don’t know what you are talking about.
…..anyway, stream arcade
Stream Summertime on Netflix.
I can’t believe Italians are still bitter The Netherlands won that year ahead of Italy. You won the next year, celebrate that don’t be a bitter loser and a bitter winner too, all the damn time…
dunce is a one-hit wonder and he’s over, no one’s bitter anymore. we’re just beating a dead horse at this point lol
Maneskin don’t manage to do this with their winning song, Godgarina one of the worst italian eurofan on wiwibloggs is simply jealous it’s blatant. So patriotic and pretentious that her Italy has to win and is the best in everything every year according to her and her bad spirit. Sore losers sore winners, it’s crazy to be like that. Moreover Italy is the host next year it’s only the beginning guys be prepared to get big pretentious comments here, and self satisfaction from her and her friends without forgetting to denigrate all the others as always, look how was treated… Read more »
I think Polegend Godgarina is afraid that Italy 2022 can’t top Rotterdam 2021. That’s why he is already ridiculing Duncan/The Netherlands in advance. Or he had a bad day.
@Sale: I can’t believe Italians are still bitter…
since when “Polegend Godgarina” is “Italians”? 😉
Of course George (Polegend is a he) doesn’t equal Italians. But there were and are quite a lot bitter Italians that had a day- and nighttime job bashing Duncan, because he dared to beat Mahmood.
It’s being driven by the Hot AC. The song has potential to go#1 on the Hot AC radio chart. It’s basically a good safe song, so it gets play on stations that avoid edgier material. Hot AC plays contemporary hits, but tends to avoid songs with rappers and rock tends to be mostly pop rock. Pop songs with rap features many times lose the rap to get plays on Hot AC. So, a song like Arcade will do well on that format.
thank you for confirming it’s as bland and flavorless as we all thought, soccer moms must be bopping to it 😀
Arcade’s run in the US began with Tiktok, widely derided for its popularity with teens. Now you’re claiming Arcade is successful with “soccer moms.” Are neither of these groups allowed to listen to music in your view?
I can’t with italians and british they are so ego-centered and selfish that at one point it becomes very nasty, and that’s why I hope nations like those never win eurovision again.
Explain how you’ve decided to add the British in to the mix?
Firstly the Brits haven’t won in over 20 years, and they have little respect for their own country and eurovision entries without having to hate on others!
Dont tar the Brits with the same brush just because our Broadcasters are rubbish. The Brit Eurofans are the least self centred.
Curious as to why Brotherhood Of Man’s winning ‘Save Your Kisses For Me’ which peaked at 27 in the Hot 100 in July 1976 is not regarded as the last winning song to chart instead of Waterloo.
Don’t worry, when I tweeted about “Arcade” tying ABBA’s chart run with “Waterloo” a couple of weeks ago, another Twitter user reminded me of that as well (and a check of Billboard’s website, which does keep records of chart histories for different artists, confirmed it). I think it can be chalked down to the fact that ABBA had several Top 40 hits over the years (including topping the Hot 100 with “Dancing Queen”), while “Save Your Kisses for Me” was the only entry for Brotherhood of Man on the Hot 100. One-hit wonders just don’t come to mind as quickly… Read more »
OMG you mean Robyn Gallagher is…a human being? Thanks for the insight.
This is what we need above all else, for Eurovision sings to be substantial hits. I just wish it didn’t take so long.
I am very happy for Duncan and very proud of him !! Arcade is still a very beautiful song after 2 years from his victory in Jerusalem
You mean in Tel Aviv 😉 ,yeah you can be proud, Duncan is a great esc winner.
Yes, I mean Tel Aviv
Yay, they finally noticed our humble fandom! How about we have two consecutive winners to chart?
Great achievement for an Esc winning song, congrats Duncan!