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Idol Chartwatch, April 23: The Downward Driftby Gil Sery -- 04/23/2004
View Printable version of this article Yes, Clay Aiken did post the biggest drop of any Idol alumnus this week, seeing his Measure of a Man plummet 18 spots from #73 to #91 on the Billboard 200 chart. However, his “Solitaire” single was the third most added adult contemporary song of the week, according to Radio and Records, with 14 stations adding the single to their playlists. As deep as this drop was, one needs to remember that things can always be worse. Case in point: Barry Manilow. The recent American Idol guest judge topped Aiken’s fall when Manilow’s 2Nights Live dropped a dizzying 38 spots from #27 to #65 in its second week on the chart. Let’s hope his guest judge stint on American Idol increases his sales. Anti-Idol William Hung fared a little better when his Inspiration fell from #34 to #39 on the same chart. Paradoxically, the album hung onto the top spot (no pun intended) on Billboard’s Top Independent Albums chart for the second week in a row. Are people buying these as gag gifts or do they truly like his music? The smallest drop of the week went to the Velvet Teddybear, Ruben Studdard, whose Soulful only dropped a couple of notches from #72 to #74. Continuing the trend, Ruben’s “Sorry 2004” single dropped three notches from last week to #15 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart. 
In other singles news, Kimberley Locke’s “8th World Wonder” finally cracked the upper half of Billboard’s Mainstream Top 40 for the first time this week, despite being on the chart for the past eight weeks. Her “8th World Wonder” climbed from #23 to #20. She also climbed two spots from #38 to #36 on Radio and Records’ Hot Adult Contemporary Airplay chart. While there is a lot of room for improvement in the airplay department, Clay and Kim can’t complain about their singles sales. Clay had the top-selling single for the fifth consecutive week with “Solitaire/The Way,” while Kim had the second-best-selling single, “8th World Wonder,” for the fifth straight week. Fellow American Idol 2 finalist Josh Gracin climbed from #27 to #31 on the Radio and Records Country Airplay chart with his single, “I Want to Live.” Non-Idol Jessica Simpson also can’t complain too much. Yes, her album In this Skin dropped three spots back down to #7 after her sudden eight-spot rise last week, but her singles fared better this week. Both “With You” and “Take My Breath Away” climbed the charts, the former from #24 to #23 and the latter from #31 to #25, representing one of the greatest airplay and sales gainers of the week. Her husband Nick Lachey also had a good week. His “This I Swear” single – the opening theme to his and Jessica’s show The Newlyweds – entered the Top 20 singles sales chart at #12. Finally, in the “This Week in AI History” department, this week marks exactly one year since Kelly Clarkson’s Thankful album debuted at #1 as the Hot Shot Debut of the week. Also, look for Kelly to contribute her song “Low” to an all-female compilation album called Women & Songs set to drop next Tuesday. We’ll continue to follow the chart progress of your favorite American Idol and reality TV stars. Until then, keep watching and keep reading. Gil Sery is a freelance entertainment reporter in San Diego, CA. You can reach him at movieman26@hotmail.com. Be sure to sign up for the RealityNewsOnline/FoxesOnIdol e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on both sites! For all of our articles, check out our sections on American Idol, American Juniors, Nashville Star, and Canadian Idol. Also make sure to check out RealityNewsOnline for recaps and articles covering other reality TV shows. For even more news about reality TV, be sure to check SirLinksALot! View Printable version of this article
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