After topping the Billboard Hot 100, Adele’s “Someone Like You” would have been remembered as a No. 1 record, regardless of whether it actually fought its way past Mainstream 40’s “Ballad Blockade” to No. 1. At this writing, it’s at No. 2, jockeying for the top position next week as Gym Class Heroes’ “Stereo Hearts” tries to get a week at No. 1 in before Adele takes up residence. But I’m ready to pronounce CHR’s “Ballad Blockade” dead, or at least dented.

With the success of “Someone Like You,” yet another PPM truism (“PPM loves tempo and hates ballads”) now has to be given the usual corollary applied whenever a PPM truism turns out not to be true. The exception to all rules about what works in PPM is, “unless, of course, it’s great content,” or, in this case, “a great song.” And it seems likely that the same asterisk will have to be applied for Bruno Mars’ fast-rising “It Will Rain” as well in a few weeks.

The other “Ballad Blockade” challenger, Lady Gaga’s “You And I,” is at No. 7 and declining in spins on Nielsen BDSRadio’s Mainstream Top 40 chart. That’s still a lot further than some other seemingly obvious ballads have gotten. On Radio-Info.com/Mediaguide’s “25+ Hits” chart, which combines pop-leaning Mainstream Top 40 reporters and aggressive Adult CHRs, it got as far as No. 4.

While few doubted that “Someone Like You” was an instant classic, it’s still a “tempo-1, energy-1” ballad of the sort that could have been released any time in the past 40 years. “You And I,” by contrast, has a pulse. It’s probably coded in music scheduling software as a “2” for many PDs, and there are probably some ACs that have it as a “3.” If PDs had been asked nine months ago which of two great songs had the better chance at No. 1, chances are the ballad with a pulse would have had the better shot.

A lot of this column’s effort in recent months has gone into trying to take down the ballad blockade. Given Top 40’s history of reactionary mushiness at certain points, it’s certainly one of those situations where one should be careful what they wish for. I’m just as concerned about the “Rock Blockade,” which can certainly not be declared over after one Foster The People record. More rock crossovers, however, is a bigger challenge—Alternative needs more ability to propel them, PDs need to go looking for them at a time when PDs don’t go looking for anything. To break the ballad blockade, all Top 40 has to do is play hit records by core artists that are already in front of them.

In Search Of Blake-Throughs

A few months ago, I asked if AC and Top 40 were ready to acknowledge Blake Shelton, in the wake of his sudden stardom on “The Voice.” Shelton had just covered Dave Barnes’ AC chart record, “God Gave Me You.” Even then, I knew that nothing would really happen until the song had run its course at Country and been worked to pop radio. After all, I’d written about “If I Die Young” when it was at its Country zenith and it still took another 3-4 months to get its first serious Top 40 action.

But if you’re wondering when “God Gave Me You” would actually be warmed up enough to take advantage of the Country airplay, that would be now. It’s 3–2 on the Country chart at this writing and poised for No. 1 in the next week or two. And the only reason that an AC or Hot AC might not want to consider it is that having a current Shelton version of “Footloose” gives them another potential vehicle, not unlike the Rascal Flatts’ version of “Life Is A Highway” several years ago. At this writing, there’s not a pop station on either, but given the pop resistance to both “If I Die Young” and “Rolling In The Deep” when I started writing about them, I feel okay about that.

And here’s the reverse crossover that should be taking place. At Mainstream Top 40, Kelly Clarkson’s “Mr. Know It All” is No. 18 and still gaining spins, but slowed down from her initial burst of “welcome back” activity. Whatever its eventual Top 40 outcome, I can’t help hearing it on the radio and thinking that it belongs on at least a few Country stations. After her Jason Aldean duet, “Don’t You Wanna Stay,” Clarkson now has two Country hits under her belt, the other being her appearance on Reba McEntire’s remake of “Because Of You.”

Country PDs have their own backlog of product and a chart that is moving faster these days, but not fast. So going off the menu for a pop artist is unlikely. But to a certain group of listeners, Clarkson now likely inhabits that same musical region where Taylor Swift, Colbie Caillat, and Lady Antebellum make similar records that start in different places more because of an artist’s career path than the music itself. In fact, Clarkson probably helped create that space, not so much musically, but by helping to crystallize the coalition of young female music buyers, and then vacating it (with “My December”) during the moment of Swift’s pop ascent.

They Work Out

Finally, as we head into what is usually the superstar-dominated fourth quarter, it’s interesting to note who has two records in Mainstream CHR’s top 10 this week.

It’s not Rihanna, although it could have been if she had let “Cheers (Drink To That)” get a little further before releasing “We Found Love.”

It’s not Adele, although Top 40 could be playing “Set Fire To The Rain,” the recent British hit, or “Rumour Has It.”

It’s not Foster The People—although they, too, have multiple hits waiting. It’s not Lady Gaga. It’s not the combined Lil Wayne/Drake team, although between them they have the top three songs at Rhythmic Top 40.

It’s LMFAO, whose “Sexy And I Know It” is 15–10 at this writing, while “Party Rock Anthem” hangs in at No. 9. They’ve already done the same at Rhythmic. This midweek showing may or may not sustain through next Monday’s Top 40 chart, but it’s still worth acknowledging. Following up “the record of the summer” is always daunting, but LMFAO was already consistently releasing hit singles before radio caught up.

This article is part of the Oct. 20 Ross On Radio newsletter. Click here for this week's Radio's Best & Worst.