Billboard 200: 01/01/11: Taylor Swift #1, 259K

Damn Ci!

Glad to see Taylor back at the top. I think she'll be holding onto that #1 position well into next year -- much like what happened with Fearless, though perhaps at a lesser degree.

Applause, miss Taylor! :) Plus Crystal sold much more than Lee. Real winner.

Interesting how will everybody hold up after the holidays.

Kanye would still have higher sales if he could keep is trap shut.

Shocked at how high Diddy made a debut. Go Fantasia, Taylor, Rihanna, Mariah, and Nicki!!

Considering the promo, and regardless of big sale pricing, some thought Mimi's album could go over 100K. But, not surprised by the results. Nice that it was a bit higher than HITS' numbers, though.

To-date totals for Subo and Jackie Evancho stand at roughly 1.684 million and 865,412, respectively.

Island may have shipped at least 500K, so it's possible Mimi's album may get a gold cert soon.

new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/71727/week-ending-dec-19-2010-michael-wouldnt-have-liked-this/

Week Ending Dec. 19, 2010: Michael Wouldn't Have Liked This
Posted by Paul Grein in Chart Watch

Michael Jackson's MICHAEL enters The Billboard 200 at #3 behind Taylor Swift's Speak Now, which returns to #1 for a third week, and Susan Boyle's The Gift, which dips to #2 after four weeks on top. This is the first time that an album of new Jackson material hasn't debuted at #1 since Thriller opened at #11 in December 1982. More than just about any other artist, Jackson loved being #1. I think he'd be awfully disappointed to debut at #3.

Jackson debuted at #1 with his last four albums of new material: Bad, Dangerous, HIStory: Past Present And Future-Book I (which was half new, half old) and Invincible. Unless MICHAEL moves up to #1 in a subsequent week, this will be Jackson's first collection of new material to fall short of #1 since his 1979 smash Off The Wall, which peaked at #3.

MICHAEL sold 228,000 copies in its first week. Early reports called for the album to sell in the range of 400K in its first week, but those projections were revised downwards last week. I'm surprised that the album didn't do better because it was released at the peak of the Christmas sales season. And the warm single, "Hold My Hand" (featuring Akon), hits the right notes for this time of year.

Of course, it's highly unlikely that MICHAEL would have been released at all if Jackson hadn't died 18 months ago. Some Jackson pals, including will.i.am, have gone on record saying that Jackson, a perfectionist, wouldn't have wanted an album of leftovers to be made public. Other Jackson associates, including his former manager Frank DiLeo, have countered that Jackson loved nothing more than sharing his music with people. Fans who want to take Jackson's feelings on this point into account have to decide for themselves.

Jackson's reaction to this week's chart number wouldn't have been anything personal against Swift. Jackson had a lot in common with the country/pop performer. Both artists achieved stardom at early ages. Swift released her debut album when she was 16. Jackson was 11 when the Jackson 5 exploded.

Swift's current album has sold 2,607,000 copies in eight weeks. The album is off to an even faster start than Swift's 2008 blockbuster Fearless, which sold 2,202,000 copies in its first eight weeks. Speak Now is #3 for the year to date. This will be the third year in a row that Swift has had an album in the year-end top three. That's something that no other artist has accomplished in Nielsen SoundScan history (which dates to 1991).

Incidentally, this is the second time that Akon has backed Jackson on a Hot 100 hit. Akon was featured on a remake of "Wanna Be Startin' Something" from Thriller 25. Paul McCartney is the only other artist who had billing on two charted collaborations with Jackson ("The Girl Is Mine" and "Say Say Say"). Diana Ross ("Ease On Down The Road"), Stevie Wonder ("Get It") and Janet Jackson ("Scream") each had billing on one charted collabo with Jackson.

MICHAEL is Jackson's 15th album to make the top 10. The total combines nine solo albums with six albums he recorded with his brothers in the Jackson 5 and later the Jacksons. The group first cracked the top 10 in February 1970 with Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5. This gives Jackson a nearly 41-year span of top 10 albums.

MICHAEL debuts at #4 in the U.K., behind Take That's Progress (which holds at #1 for the fifth week), Rihanna's Loud and Michael Buble's Crazy Love.

R. Kelly's Love Letter debuts at #6. It's the R&B veteran's 13th album to reach the top 10 (counting two collaborations with Jay-Z). That's the good news. Here's the bad: Love Letter debuted lower than any R. Kelly studio release since 12 Play, which bowed at #23 in November 1993.

Justin Bieber has two albums in this week's top 20. My Worlds Acoustic holds at #12. My World 2.0 rebounds from #21 to #18. Bieber is the only artist with two albums in this week's top 20 (or top 40, for that matter, unless you count the Glee cast as an artist.)

Bruno Mars' "Grenade" jumps to #1 on Hot Digital Songs. It sold 212,000 copies this week, bringing its 12-week total to 1,077,000. "Grenade" is Mars' third #1 hit of the year on the digital chart, following B.o.B's "Nothin' On You" (on which he was featured) and his own "Just The Way You Are." Mars is one of only four artists (and the only man) to land three #1 hits on Hot Digital Songs so far this year. He follows Katy Perry, Rihanna and Taylor Swift.

Here's the rest of the top 10 on Hot Digital Songs, per Nielsen SoundScan. Katy Perry's "Firework" dips from #1 to #2 (192K). Lil Wayne featuring Cory Gunz's "6'7"" debuts at #3 (166K). The Black Eyed Peas' "The Time (Dirty Bit)" dips from #3 to #4 (147K). Rihanna featuring Drake's "What's My Name?" dips from #4 to #5 (141K). Ke$ha's "We R Who We R" holds at #6 for the third week (134K). P!nk's "Raise Your Glass" drops from #5 to #7 (130K). Wiz Khalifa's "Black & Yellow" dips from #7 to #8 (122K). Enrique Iglesias featuring Ludacris' "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" jumps from #12 to #9 (109K). Trey Songz featuring Nicki Minaj's "Bottoms Up" dips from #9 to #10 (99K).

Pop Quiz: These are the last charts that will be published before Christmas. So how many Christmas songs would you say are listed on the top 200 Digital Songs chart? How many Christmas albums are listed on The Billboard 200? Take your best guesses. Answers below.

With just two weeks to go in the chart year, Eminem's Recovery remains #1 for the year to date. If you missed my year-end piece on the year's top albums, here's a link. If you missed my piece on the year's top songs, here's a link. Reminder: I'll update both of these pieces when the final tallies come in on Jan. 5.

I expect that Recovery will also win the Grammy for Album of the Year. This will be the second year in a row that the best-selling album of the year (per Nielsen SoundScan) will walk off with the Grammy as Album of the Year. Taylor Swift's Fearless achieved this double feat last year. My annual Grammy predictions piece went up Monday. If you missed it, here's a link.

John & Yoko's 1971 classic "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" and the Beach Boys' 1963 classic "Little Saint Nick" both jumped into the top 30 this week on Nielsen SoundScan's list of the top-selling holiday songs in digital history. I wrote this up as a blog a few weeks ago. I just updated the list (again). All the tallies are as current as this week's charts. Here's a link.

Quiz Answers: 36 Christmas songs are listed on this week's Top Digital Songs chart. 44 Christmas albums are listed on The Billboard 200. (How'd you do?)

Here's the low-down on this week's top 10 albums.

1. Taylor Swift, Speak Now, 259,000. The album returns to #1 for a third week. This is its eighth week in the top 10. It's #1 on the country chart for the seventh week. Two songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs. "Back To December" jumps from #48 to #34." "Mine" jumps from #94 to #77.

2. Susan Boyle, The Gift, 254,000. The former #1 album dips to #2 after four weeks on top. This is its sixth week in the top five. I Dreamed A Dream spent its first 10 weeks in the top five.

3. Michael Jackson, MICHAEL, 228,000. This new entry is Jackson's 15th top 10 album (counting six albums with his brothers). Two songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs. "Hold My Hand" (featuring Akon) jumps from #60 to #24. "Monster" (featuring 50 Cent) debuts at #193.

4. Jackie Evancho, O Holy Night, 191,000. The EP/DVD combo moves up from #5 to #4. This is its fifth week in the top five. The hit is up to #15 on the year-to-date chart.

5. Various Artists, Glee; The Music: The Christmas Album, 158,000. The album drops from #3 to #5. This is its fifth week in the top 10. It's the #1 soundtrack for the fifth week. Two songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs. "Last Christmas" drops from #35 to #65. "Baby, It's Cold Outside" drops from #27 to #68.

6. R. Kelly, Love Letter, 154,000. This new entry is Kelly's 13th album to reach the top 10. As you can see from the album cover, Love Letter is a salute to old-school R&B. Two songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs. "When A Woman Loves" debuts at #151. "Love Letter" bows at #195.

7. Diddy Dirty Money, Last Train To Paris, 101,000. This new entry is Diddy's fifth top 10 album. But those other albums all reached #1 or #2. Four songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Comin' Home" (featuring Skylar Grey), which jumps from #17 to #12.

8. Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday, 97,000. The album drops from #6 to #8. This is its fourth week in the top 10. Three songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Right Thru Me," which jumps from #49 to #46.

9. Kid Rock, Born Free, 94,000. The album rebounds from #15 to #9 in its fifth week. This is its second week in the top 10. This is the third album with this title to make the top 10. Pianist Roger Williams and singer Andy Williams (no relation) both scored with albums titled Born Free in 1967.

10. Various Artists, Glee: The Music, Vol. 4, 87,000. The album drops from #8 to #10. This is its third week in the top 10. Three songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Forget You" (featuring Gwyneth Paltrow), which drops from #65 to #85.

T.I.'s No Mercy drops from #4 to #21 in its second week. This is T.I.'s first album to slip out of the top 10 after just one week since Urban Legend six years ago. The rapper's last album, Paper Trail, logged eight weeks in the top 10. It wound up as the #8 best-selling album of 2008.

Daft Punk's Tron: Legacy drops from #10 to #33. This is the #1 soundtrack to a theatrically-released movie for the second straight week. It's also #1 on the Digital Albums chart. The album has sold 79K digital copies in two weeks, which is 66% of its total. The movie was #1 at the box-office over the weekend. It grossed nearly $44 million, which is more than the original 1982 movie Tron grossed in its entire run ($33 million).

Two other albums drop out of the top 10 this week. Josh Groban's Illuminations drops from #7 to #13. Rihanna's Loud drops from #9 to #11.

Andrea Bocelli's My Christmas drops from #11 to #20. It's #1 on the Catalog Albums chart for the third straight week.

Crystal Bowersox's Farmer's Daughter debuts at #28 with first-week sales of 58,000. This is the second year in a row that the debut album by the American Idol runner-up has sold more copies in its first week than the debut album by the winner. Lee DeWyze's Live It Up started with sales of 39,000 four weeks ago (though it debuted higher, at #19). Last year, Adam Lambert's For Your Entertainment (#3, 198K) surpassed Kris Allen's Kris Allen (#11, 80K).

Unless one or both of these albums later cracks the top 10, or one of the other contestants from Season 9 catches fire, this will be the first season of Idol in which no contestant lands a top 10 album. The numbers for the show's contestants are declining because the show, while still highly rated, doesn't generate nearly as much buzz it did at its peak. Glee, for one, is much buzzier.

Two R&B artists break their top 10 streaks this week. Tank's third album, Now Or Never, debuts at #35. His first two albums both made the top 10...Ciara's fourth album, Basic Instinct, bows at #44. Her first three albums all made the top three.

Song Scorecard: Three songs top the 1 million mark this week: "What's My Name" by Rihanna featuring Drake, Bruno Mars' "Grenade" and Maroon 5's "Misery." These songs took seven, 12 and 25 weeks, respectively, to reach this milestone...Paramore's 2007 hit "Misery Business" tops the 2 million mark in paid downloads. Eminem's "Airplanes," which features Paramore lead singer Hayley Williams, is up to 3,871,000.

Coming Attractions: Next week's top new albums will include Keyshia Cole's Calling All Hearts, Jamie Foxx's Best Night Of My Life and Keri Hilson's No Boys Allowed.

Kanye's had a big mouth from the beginning though so I think it's a lack of a big radio hit like's he's had in all of his previous albums that's resulting in his sales not being higher.

Blood on the Dance Floor was half new material as well. If he counts History as new then he should count BOTDF too.

I have noticed that Rihanna's digital single sales aren't that high.
With her last album it was strange that Rude Boy had sold as few units as it did, as the album wasn't selling too well. Now, with What's My Name being a really addictive and massive song, also not selling as massively as one would expect. Only this time it kinda make sense, 'cuase her album is relatively selling well. what do you guys think?

lol. You never fail to slide one in.