Katy Perry may beat Michael Jackson's singles record (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night (TGIF)" is the fifth song from her latest album to top Billboard's Pop Songs airplay chart.

That breaks a record previously owned by Lady Gaga and Justin Timberlake, who'd previously had a mere four tunes each from a single album land at No. 1 on that chart, which has been around for 19 years.

But Perry is poised for a far more significant achievement when the Hot 100 is announced later today. Michael Jackson holds the record on that historic chart, having topped it with five singles from his 1987 "Bad" album.

If "Last Friday Night" reaches No. 1 on the Hot 100, as expected, she'll tie Jacko's high mark ... and then, surely, try to outdo it by releasing a sixth single from "Teenage Dream's" treasure trove of smashes.

Meanwhile, Eric Church was indulging in some self-fulfilling prophecy when he titled his third effort "Chief." The upstart country singer turned out to be the commander-in-chief of the latest Billboard 200 album sales chart, as his latest effort debuted on top with 145,000 copies sold -- more than quadrupling the opening numbers for his previous album.

Female singers made most of the news over on the album sales chart, after Church's stately No. 1 bow. Adele fell from the top spot to No. 2, even though, at 83,000, her unit figures were actually up a little, as they have been almost every week.

Kelly Rowland's ultimate career destiny is still a question mark, as her third solo album, "Here I Am," entered at No. 3 on sales of 77,000 units -- a slight comedown for Beyonce's former sidekick, despite the urban ubiquity of her "Motivation" single.

Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black" sold 54,000 and moved up five spots to No. 4, in its first full week of predictably robust posthumous sales. Another white British soul singer, Joss Stone, enjoyed the week's final top 10 entry, as "LP1," her first independently released album, kicked in at No. 9 with 30,000 sold, a slight improvement over her previous major-label-backed effort.

One singles chart that Perry is not currently queen of is digital song sales. The top spot belonged, as it has for a month now, to LMFOA's unstoppable "Party Rock Anthem," which sold another 202,000 downloads. After a slow start last week, Jay-Z and Kanye West's "Otis" jumped up to No. 9 by selling 113,000, setting the stage for next Monday's release of the superstar collaborators' full album, expected to be one of the year's biggest sellers.

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Wedding dress to draw record crowds to London palace (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) – Buckingham Palace expects record crowds this summer, when up to 650,000 people are set to file into Queen Elizabeth's London residence and past the dress worn by Kate Middleton at her royal wedding to Prince William.

The ivory and white garment, designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, won over the fashion press and public when Middleton, now the Duchess of Cambridge and a future queen, walked up the aisle of Westminster Abbey in April.

In the run-up to the fairytale wedding, details of the outfit were a closely guarded secret, known only to the handful of people who worked on the dress.

Hundreds of millions of viewers admired it on television and the internet, and now hundreds of thousands will see it for themselves, unprotected on a raised oval stage in the ornate palace ballroom where state banquets are held.

Reflecting the surge in interest in the royals after the marriage and the newlyweds' recent trip to North America, advanced ticket sales for the summer tour of Buckingham Palace have hit 126,000, up 107 percent on the same point last year.

In total a record 643,000 people are expected to take the tour, during which visitors can see 19 state rooms, a display of Faberge jewelry -- and the dress, Middleton's wedding shoes, earrings and a silk replica of her bouquet.

Above the dress is the original veil and Cartier "halo" tiara worn by the bride, featuring around 900 diamonds and lent to her for the occasion by the queen.

Caroline de Guitaut, curator of decorative arts at the Royal Collection, said the royal couple, whose wedding drew huge crowds to the streets of London, had striven for modesty as well as beauty and grandeur on the big day.

"They wanted the wedding to be modest as far as an occasion of that kind can be modest," De Guitaut told reporters at a press preview of the display.

"There is a sense of modesty in this dress. I think it will stand the test of time, definitely."

QUEEN AND DUCHESS TO VISIT

In a video made after the wedding and for the exhibition, designer Burton talked in detail about the painstaking process of making the dress and its 2.7-meter train.

Middleton was closely involved in the design process as well as in the decision to display the dress in Buckingham Palace. The queen and duchess were due to visit the display on Friday.

"What is so astounding ... is just how much thought and extraordinary work and craftsmanship and skill went into it," said De Guitaut.

Even the wedding cake is on show in a glass cabinet in the state dining room, complete with ornate sugar flowers and a deep cut where the couple plunged in the knife.

The other major attraction for visitors this year is a display of around 100 pieces from the British monarchy's unparalleled collection of works by Russian jeweler Faberge.

The exhibition, which features highlights from a total of 600-700 Faberge creations owned by the royals, ranged from treasures bought by and given to Queen Victoria to a recent bequest to heir to the throne Prince Charles.

"Many of these pieces are still in use," said De Guitaut. "Clocks, for example, are still on desks and (picture) frames are still used in private apartments. It's still a living collection."

The summer opening at Buckingham Palace runs from July 23 to October 3.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Tim Pearce)

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