VOA常速英语:Top 5 Countdown for Week Ending August 2

We’re revealing the five most popular songs in the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart, for the week ending August 2, 2014.

We do have one song ruling the Hot 100, but we have four others to cover, as well.

Let’s begin in fifth place, where Nico & Vinz fall a slot with “Am I Wrong.” Up until this year, this duo went by a different name. The two Norwegians met in 2009 and started out calling themselves Envy. In 2011, their debut single “One Song” hit 19th place on the Norwegian chart. They changed their name in January of this year, after signing a U.S. record deal.

Falling a slot to fourth place are Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea, with “Problem.” Ariana suffered a family loss last week - her beloved grandfather, Frank, died. Actress Jennette McCurdy tweeted her condolences to Ariana; until recently, the two had co-starred in the TV series Sam & Cat.

Taking over third place we have Sam Smith, with “Stay With Me” which went to number one in his native U.K. Sam is striking chart gold all over the place, but says his hit debut album springs from heartbreak. The 22-year-old Londoner says The Lonely Hour was inspired by unrequited love. It sold 166,000 copies in its first week in the United States…more than any other debut album by a British male artist.

Holding in second place are Iggy Azalea and Charli XCX with “Fancy.” Charli says fans recently mistook her for another famous singer. When she recently attended the South By Southwest Festival (SXSW) in the U.S. state of Texas, a fan thought she was fellow star Lorde.

If you love reggae bands from Canada, this is your lucky day. MAGIC! spends a second week at number one with “Rude.”

Billboard reports the single has sold 1.8 million copies, making it the year’s eighth best-selling digital song. Band leader Nasri Atweh has been a hard-working musician for more than a decade, and released two moderately successful solo singles in his native Canada. He’s also one-half of the writing-production duo The Messengers.

That’s it for now, but the action never stops on the Hot 100! Join us next week for a new lineup.