Is Justin Bieber About to End Drake's Domination of the UK Singles Chart?

Drake photographed on Feb. 12, 2016 in Toronto. 

Drake's remarkable 15-week stint atop the U.K. singles chart with "One Dance" (Cash Money/Republic/Universal) looks set to come to a screeching halt. 

The Canadian rapper's hit featuring Wizkid & Kyla is comprehensively beaten at the midway stage of the chart week, with the triumvirate of Major Lazer, Justin Bieber and MØ leading the U.K. Chart Update with "Cold Water" (Because Music). 

Drake's single isn't just off the boil. It's fallen sharply to No. 5 in midweek sales data behind "Cold Water," Jonas Blue's "Perfect Strangers" (No. 2 via Positiva), Chainsmokers' "Don't Let Me Down" (No. 3 via Disruptor) and Calum Scott's "Dancing On My Own" (No. 4 via Instrumental).

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Should Drake miss out on top spot when the sales charts are published this Friday, he'll miss the chance of matching the all-time record for the most consecutive weeks at No. 1. Fellow Canadian Bryan Adams set the standard with "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You," which clocked 16 weeks at the summit in 1991. Drake's single is likely to end level with the 15-week sequence at No. 1 recorded by Wet Wet Wet's "Love Is All Around" in 1994.

Bieber is a likely candidate to bump Drake off the top of the chart. Earlier this year, the pop singer became the first artist ever to simultaneously lock-down the top three positions on the U.K.'s weekly survey.

Meanwhile, Jeff Lynne's comeback with ELO could be crowned with the U.K. albums chart title – the band's first in 35 years. ELO's hit set All Over The World – The Very Best Of (Epic) is No. 1 on the Chart Update, well ahead of the No. 6 best it achieved following its release in 2005. 

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ELO, which enjoyed a high-profile slot at this year's Glastonbury Festival, hasn't hit the top on the U.K. Albums Chart since Time did so in August 1981.

The midweek top five is rounded out by British alternative rock act Bear's Den with Red Earth & Pouring Rain (at No. 2 via Communion), Christine & The Queens' Chaleur Humaine (at No. 3 via Because Music), Adele's 25 (No. 4 via XL), and Coldplay's A Head Full Of Dreams (at No. 5 via Parlophone). 

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