VOA常速英语:Top 5 Countdown for Week Ending March 15

We’re counting down the five most popular songs on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart, for the week ending March 15, 2014.

Ray McDonald’s Top 5 Countdown for Week Ending March 15

It’s Pharrell Williams’ world…we just live in it. We'll have supporting evidence later, but first we begin in in fifth place, where newcomer Bastille landed with the global breakout hit, “Pompeii.”  The tune has already achieved gold, platinum, and multi-platinum sales worldwide, while also helping Bastille win a BRIT Award last month in the British Breakthrough Act category.

From here on up, nothing changes. Holding at number four is John Legend with “All Of Me.”  Last month, reports emerged that John co-wrote a song with Harry Styles of One Direction. The song was for the US X Factor duo Alex and Sierra.

Staying put in third place are Jason Derulo and 2 Chainz with “Talk Dirty," which went to number one in several countries, including Australia and Germany. He's headed to one of the most popular shows on U.S. television, too. March 24 kicks off the 18th season of Dancing With The Stars and Jason will be singing, not dancing.

Katy Perry spends another week in second place with "Dark Horse". She got into a very public Twitter spat with another star last week. Katy took a swipe at Miley Cyrus. Speaking on Australian TV, she said she pulled away after Miley attempted to kiss her at a concert, declaring “God knows where that tongue has been.” Miley shot back on Twitter, saying Katy should be more worried about the tongues of her former companions Russell Brand and John Mayer.

But all is calm at number one, where Pharrell Williams logs a second week with “Happy”, which tops the Hot 100 pop singles chart this week. That’s not all he has to be happy about; Pharrell's brand-new solo disc G I R L just became his first number one album in the United Kingdom and odds are good he’ll repeat his success here in the U.S.

That’s all for now, but we'll have more chart action for you next week.