Idol Chartwatch, December 29: Happy New Year, Idols

There’s good news and bad news for Taylor Hicks’ fans. First, the bad news. Last week, Taylor Hicks debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200. This week, despite a surge of CD gift-buying, the album dropped to #15 and was #11 on the Internet Album Sales chart. What’s the good news, you ask? With an additional 202,000 copies sold last week, the album has sold the requisite 500,000+ copies to be certified gold. It won’t be eligible for any type of certification until 30 days after its release date, however.

Congratulations to Chris Daughtry, whose CD hit the one million sales mark last week. Daughtry sold another 250,000 copies, a 40 percent increase. It ended up at #8 on the Billboard 200 for the week. It also charted on the Internet Album Sales chart (#14), Digital Sales (#3), and Top Rock Albums (#2).

Carrie Underwood’s Some Hearts also did very well last week, selling 292,000 copies. That represents a 47 percent increase over the previous week in a week that saw CD sales up 34 percent overall. Carrie jumped two spots to #4 on the Billboard 200 and remains #1 on the Country chart.

Kellie Pickler and Clay Aiken also benefited from strong pre-holiday sales. Kellie’s Small Town Girl moved 63,000 units, ending up at #61 on the Billboard 200 and #10 on the Country chart. So far, Kellie has sold 336,000 copies. That’s pretty darn good!

Clay’s A Thousand Different Ways is inching its way towards gold status. Last week, the CD sold another 23,000 copies for a total of 483,000 overall. The CD dropped from #124 to #143 on the Billboard 200, but his sales represented a 20 percent increase. Merry Christmas With Love sold 21,000 copies, giving it a total of 1.3 million overall. It was #33 on the Pop Catalog chart and #21 on the Holiday list.

Fantasia didn’t fare as well. The album sold 62,000 copies and fell from #19 to #63 on the Billboard 200. It was #16 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Fantasia’s overall total is 195,000 copies to date. The Happy Feet soundtrack on which Fantasia appears with Patti LaBelle and Yolanda Adams was #76 on the Billboard 200 and #6 on the Soundtrack list.

Ruben’s The Return fell off the Billboard 200 with only 14,800 copies sold last week. That represents a 50 percent increase in sales over the previous week, but that wasn’t enough to save his spot. According to Ken Barnes at USA Today, Ruben missed the Billboard 200 by one spot. Ruben’s total to date is 181,000. The Return was #42 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart.

The Dreamgirls soundtrack featuring Jennifer Hudson was up ten spots on the Billboard 200, ending up at #31. It was #11 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart, #23 on the Digital Album Sales chart, and #3 on the Top Soundtracks list. The special collectors’ edition of this album charted at #138 on the Billboard 200, #12 on the Top Soundtracks chart, and #60 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Look for this one to pick up speed now that the movie is in theatres nationwide. And if you haven’t seen Dreamgirls yet, by all means, do so. Jennifer Hudson really is incredible and completely dominates the entire film.

Here’s how the rest of the Idol-related albums charted this week:

• Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose with a track featuring Jennifer Hudson (“The Future Ain’t What it Used to Be”) was #131 on the Billboard 200.
• Now That’s What I Call Music #22 (Now 22) featuring Kelly Clarkson’s “Walk Away,” along with Nick Lachey’s “What’s Left of Me,” Teddy Geiger’s (from The New Partridge Family) “For You I Will (Confidence),” Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day,” and K.T. Tunstall’s “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” was #112 on the Billboard 200 and #5 on the Compilation chart.
• Andrea Bocelli’s Under Desert Sky featuring a duet with Katharine McPhee (“Can’t Help Falling in Love”) was #45 on the Billboard 200.
• Wow Gospel 2006 featuring George Huff’s “Brighter Day” was #12 on the Gospel listing.
• The Gospel featuring Tamyra Gray’s “Now Behold the Lamb” was #35 on the Gospel chart.
• Body + Soul Gospel featuring Ruben Studdard’s “I Need an Angel” was #30 on the Gospel chart.
• Kelly Clarkson’s Breakaway entered the Pop Catalog chart at #29.

This Week’s Idols’ Singles’ Charts

A reader from Venezuela wrote this week to let me know that Carrie’s “Before He Cheats” is #12 on the Top 20 - Hit Parade de Venezuela! Back here in the U.S., it was #7 on the Country chart, #24 on the Hot 100, #40 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, #29 on the Pop 100, #20 on Hot Digital Tracks, #17 on Hot Digital Songs, and entered the Adult Top 40 list at #34. “Wasted” moved up 11 spots to #40 on the Country chart.

Here’s how the rest of the Idols fared this last week of 2006:

• Kimberley Locke’s “Jingle Bells” was #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
• Chris Daughtry’s “It’s Not Over” was up again. It was #38 on the Hot 100, #51 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, #27 on the Pop 100, #26 on the Pop 100 Airplay chart, #32 on Hot Digital Tracks, #34 on Hot Digital Sales, and #17 on the Adult Top 40.
• Fantasia’s “Hood Boy” entered the Hot 100 Airplay chart at #68, and was #24 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles chart and #24 on the R&B Airplay chart.
• Ruben’s single, “Change Me,” was #26 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles, #26 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay Chart, and #1 on the R&B Adult airplay list
• Kellie Pickler’s “Red High Heels” was #82 on the Hot 100, #96 on the Pop 100, and #19 on the Country chart. Josh Gracin’s “I Keep Coming Back” was #37 on the same list.
• Katharine’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” / “My Destiny” was #3 on the Single Sales chart this week, and Taylor’s “Do I Make You Proud” / “Takin’ it to the Streets” was #4. Bo Bice’s “Vehicle / Inside Your Heaven” was #41, while Carrie’s “Inside Your Heaven” / “Independence Day” was #48. The season 4 single, “When You Tell Me That You Love Me,” re-entered the chart at #12.
• Mario Vazquez’s “Gallery” was #64 on the Pop 100 and #30 on the Pop 100 Airplay chart.

Upcoming Idol Releases

A reader let me know that Bucky Covington’s single, “A Different World,” was just released to Sirius radio’s New Country channel 60. It will be released to mainstream radio by mid-January, with the full-length CD being released by early February. Go, Bucky!

That’s it for Chartwatch this week. Happy New Year!

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent articles on Foxes On Idol:

Donna Reynolds is a freelance writer based in Syracuse, New York. While entertainment sustains her emotionally, she earns her daily bread by writing and editing web copy. Check out her new website at www.idolthoughts.net. Donna loves mail, so shoot her an email at foxydonna@earthlink.net.

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