Spears fends off red-hot T.I. atop singles chart (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Pop star Britney Spears set a new record Thursday on the Billboard Hot 100 with a jump from No. 96 to the top of the singles chart for "Womanizer." But rapper T.I. was still nipping at her heels with two tracks: "Whatever You Like" held at No. 2, and "Live Your Life" featuring Rihanna slipped from No. 1 to No. 3.

Pop singer Pink's "So What" slid one rung to No. 4, while Katy Perry's "Hot N Cold" inched up from No. 6 to No. 5. Rihanna's "Disturbia" dropped two position to No. 6, and Kevin Rudolf's "Let It Rock" featuring Lil Wayne fell from No. 5 to No. 7.

T-Pain's "Can't Believe It" featuring Lil Wayne slid from No. 6 to No. 8, as Ne-Yo scored a second top 10 hit from his album "Year of the Gentleman" with "Miss Independent," up from the eleventh spot to No. 9.

M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" fell one slot to No. 10 to round out the top tier.

Beyond Spears, the biggest debut during the week was Akon's "I'm So Paid" featuring Lil Wayne at No. 40. Wayne had seven songs in the top 40 of the week's chart for a third time this year; the Beatles are the only other act to have achieved this.

Reuters/Billboard