Idol Chartwatch, November 24: David Archuleta Hits the Charts

David Archuleta’s self-titled debut sold 183,000 copies in its first week, coming in a distant second on the Billboard 200 to Taylor Swift’s Fearless, which sold 592,000 copies. Coming in third, Now that’s What I Call Music 29, which features Jordin Sparks’ “One Step at a Time” and Daughtry’s “What About Now.” Archuleta’s CD also charted on Top Digital Albums (2) and Top Internet Albums (3).

While predictions for David’s sales were a tad higher than they ended up, considering CD sales are down 24 percent from last year at this time, he did pretty well. Of all the runners-up, only Clay Aiken and Bo Bice sold more in their first week out, and while Clay debuted at #1, the only other runner-up to enter the charts at #2 was Katharine McPhee, who sold just 116K her first week.

Last year’s runner-up, Blake Lewis, sold just 98,000 copies of his debut and entered the charts at #10. If you factor in the drop in CD sales in one year, David Archuleta more than doubled Blake’s sales.

In his first week, Archuleta sold more CDs than last year’s winner, Jordin Sparks (119,119), coming in at #11 on all-time Idol first week chart placement behind Jennifer Hudson, who moved 217,185 copies during week one.

What does all this mean? Probably that I’m a numbers geek… but seriously, first week sales aren’t always an accurate indicator of how well a CD will do in the long run. Jordin started off slow, but a string of hit singles has kept her album sales moving for over a year, with total sales to date at around 950,000 units. With the same type of label support, David’s album will continue to sell throughout the holiday season and well into 2009.

Meanwhile, Hits Daily Double is predicting sales for David Cook’s debut at around 300,000 units. But like Archuleta, he’ll be denied the top spot on the chart due to a strong release by an established artist. Beyonce’s I Am… Sasha Fierce is predicted to sell in the mid 500,000 range and easily take No. 1. Cook will be competing with Nickelback and Taylor Swift for second place, both of whom are predicted to hit the 300,000 mark as well. Cook could end up as high as #2 or as low as #4, depending. It will be interesting to see how this one shakes out.

Dropping Like Flies

Hits Daily Double reports that Jordin Sparks has been dropped by 19 Management. She remains with 19 Recordings, however, at least for now. This is somewhat puzzling in that her first CD spawned a string of hit singles and has sold nearly one million copies.

Jordin Sparks wasn’t the only Idol to lose a deal recently. Billboard.biz is reporting that Season 6’s Phil Stacey has been dropped by Lyric Street Records. Sales for Phil’s album, which was released in May 2008, were disappointing (36,000 copies), and apparently not enough to make doing a second CD a viable business venture.

What may be even more newsworthy, however, is that Clay Aiken’s name no longer appears on the RCA artist roster. There has been no confirmation that he has been dropped, but not appearing on the list would indicate there may indeed have been a parting of the ways. Sales of Clay’s last album, On My Way Here, were disappointing, and combined with the controversy over his “coming out,” that might just have been the proverbial straw.

Idol Albums on the Charts

Carrie Underwood’s Carnival Ride got a nice bounce as a result of her appearance on the CMAs. The album moved 21,000 copies and jumps from #49 to #34 on the Billboard 200. The album drops one spot to #9 on Top Country Albums.

Kellie Pickler also benefited from her appearance on the CMA show. Her self-titled sophomore album sold 9,000 copies, pushing it up from #90 to #78 on the Billboard 200. It charted at #17 on Top Country Albums. Sales now total 101,000. Don’t count Kellie out just yet! The second single, “Best Days of Your Life,” a collaboration with country megastar Taylor Swift, has just hit the charts, and I think this will propel sales for the CD.

Jennifer Hudson drops from #16 to #33 on the Billboard 200, and from #4 to #6 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Sales could perk up a bit, though, with the release of the second single from the album, “If This Isn’t Love.” The album has been certified platinum by the RIAA.