Olympics artists dominate UK album charts

British singer Emeli Sande (R) performs during the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium August 12, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

LONDON - Artists who performed at the Olympic closing ceremony have reaped the benefits of appearing in front of millions of television viewers, with Emeli Sande, Ed Sheeran, Elbow and Jessie J all selling more albums, chart figures showed.

Rock band Elbow moved up as many as 133 positions after last Sunday's extravaganza to secure the sixth spot with their album "The Seldom Seen Kid" that was released over four years ago, the Official Charts Company said.

British singer Emeli Sande, who also performed at the London Games' opening ceremony, secured the album chart top spot with "Our Version Of Events", up from fourth position last week.

Ed Sheeran's album "+" rose five spots to number three and Jesse J saw "Who You Are" gain eight positions to number seven.

The sales boom was not confined to the albums chart. Thirty of 66 songs featured at the closing ceremony also entered the official singles chart top 200 list, the Official Charts Company said.

British singer Rita Ora became the first artist this year to land three number one singles in a row as her new release "How we do (Party)" hit the top spot.

"It's really inspiring. I really appreciate all the support I've been getting from my fans and the media. This is already the best year ever," said the singer, whose debut album "ORA" will be released on Aug. 27.

The young artist with her trademark platinum blonde hair stole pole position from Wiley Ft. MS D whose single "Heatwave" slipped into second spot.