French Sweep: Februrary 5, 2013...

Hey gang, I'm back with this week's recap of the newest songs making their way on to the official sales chart in France this week (a little late because they didn't update until just today). Macklemore & Ryan Lewis leap to the #1 position with "Thrift Shop"...

Paris-area rapper Booba (real name Elie Yaffa) has the highest debut on the chart this week with "A.C. Milan". It's his second top-10 hit - last year he went to #10 with "Caramel". Grade: D

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Singer Zazie - who hails from the same suburb as Booba (Boulogne-Billancourt), arrives at #34 with "Les Contraires" ("Opposites"). She has had three top-10 singles in France, with "A Ma Place" with Axel Bauer reaching #4 in 2001. Grade: B-

Beyonce's lil' sis Solange comes in at #38 with her newest, "Losing You". It's her second hit in this country - "I Decided" peaked at #28 in 2008. Grade: B

 British singer Mika has had a lot of success in this country, landing two singles at #1 (his debut "Relax Take It Easy" and his recent Francophile hit "Elle Me Dit").  He returns at #50 with "Underwater". Grade: B+

Algerian singer Zaho (born Zehira Derabid) debuts at #53 with "Tourner La Page" ("Turn Over"). Five years ago she had a huge hit with "C'est Chelou" ("This Is Weird") which went to #2 in 2008. Grade: C

British experimental-rock giants Radiohead enter at #66 with "No Surprises". The band has had two top-40 hits in France with "Creep" reaching #17 in 1996. "No Surprises" is from their 1998 classic album OK Computer. Grade: A

 Zaho also scores a second debut this week with her older track "Je Te Promets" ("I Promise You") from 2010 at #74. Grade: B

Singer and stage actor Florent Mothe, who appeared in the popular rock opera Mozart in Paris, debuts on his own at #77 with "Je Ne Sais Pas" ("I Don't Know"). As part of the Mozart cast he reached the top-10 with "Le Bien Qui Fait Mal" in 2010. Grade: B

M. Pokora (who I compare to being a French Ricky Martin) jumps in at #78 with "Le Jour Qui Se Reve" ("The Day That I Dream") from a French film adaptation of the Robin Hood story called Robin Des Bois. In 2008 he went to #1 with "Dangerous". Grade: B-

New Jersey's own Cash Cash, an EDM act from the town of Roseland, debut at #79 with "Michael Jackson (The Beat Goes On)".Grade: B

Taylor Swift takes her dubstep-lite to France at #80 with "I Knew You Were Trouble". She's only had one top-40 hit, "Love Story", which went to #14 in 2008...

The theme to the 1966 spaghetti western "Django" by Argentine composer Luis Bacalov and singer Rocky Roberts comes in at #85 thanks to its use in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained. Grade: B-

 That's it for the French neck of the woods...I'll be back later with the latest in Germany....