Idol Chartwatch, December 1: Daughtry Hits it Big

The numbers are in and Daughtry is a hit. The CD sold 304,000 copies in its first week and debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200. Chris beat out Snoop Dogg, the Beatles, and even the latest “Now” release, and was second only to Jay-Z who sold nearly 700,000 copies of Kingdom Come to sit comfortably atop the chart.

How can this be explained? Chris Daughtry finished fourth on Idol, and no fourth place (or even third place) finisher has ever sold anything close to 300,000 copies in one week.

There are a number of factors at play here. First, Daughtry couldn’t have been released at a better time. It was on the shelves as people hit the stores for one of the biggest holiday shopping days of the season.

But there’s more than just good timing. Chris was allowed to record the kind of music that his fans expected and appreciate. This is rare indeed, and certainly contributed to the outstanding first week sales.

Plus he had some of his own material on the album. The powers-that-be need to take a look at this and rethink the way they try to "package" Idol winners and runners-up. I think Chris’ success is significant for this very reason.

Note that Chris’ first week sales exceeded those of Kelly Clarkson’s Thankful (297,000), Clay’s Merry Christmas With Love (270,000), Kelly’s Breakaway (250,000), Fantasia’s Free Yourself (240,000), and Bo’s The Real Thing (227,000).

Daughtry also charted on the Digital Sales chart (#2), the Internet Album Sales chart (#4), and was #1 on the Top Rock chart.

Rock Star Supernova made its chart debut with somewhat less of a splash. The album was #101 on the Billboard 200 and #13 on the Internet Album Sales chart. It did debut at #4 on the Canadian chart, however.

Carrie Underwood’s Some Hearts sold over 100,000 copies last week, ending up at #19 on the Billboard 200. That’s right, 100,000 copies in one week a year after its release! This surge in sales also moved the album up one spot to #2 on the Country chart.

Kellie Pickler's Small Town Girl is hanging in there as well, and was #57 on the Billboard 200 and #9 on the Country chart. Miranda Lambert’s Kerosene was #73 on the Country chart.

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

• Clay’s A Thousand Different Ways was #155 on the Billboard 200. Merry Christmas with Love was #30 on the Holiday chart.
• Ruben's The Return was #169 the Billboard 200 and #28 on the R&B/Hip-Hop list.
• Kelly Clarkson’s Breakaway returned to the Billboard 200 at #198.
• 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 #88 on the Billboard 200.
• Andrea Bocelli’s Under Desert Sky featuring a duet with Katharine McPhee (“Can’t Help Falling in Love”) was #36 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 #103 on the Billboard 200, and #5 on the Compilation chart.
• Wow Gospel 2006, featuring George Huff’s “Brighter Day,” was #15 on the Gospel listing.
• The Gospel featuring Tamyra Gray’s “Now Behold the Lamb” was #37 on the Gospel chart.
• Body + Soul Gospel featuring Ruben Studdard’s “I Need an Angel” was #39 on the Gospel chart.
• America’s Got Talent’s Bianca Ryan’s self-titled album was #110 on the Billboard 200 this week.

This Week’s Idols’ Singles’ Charts

It’s always exciting when a new Idol single hits the charts, and this week there are two new entries. Chris Daughtry’s “It’s Not Over” debuted at #65 on the Hot 100 and was #52 on the Pop 100. It also charted on Hot Digital Tracks (#48) and Hot Digital Songs (#52). Look for airplay on this one next week. The other new entry is from Kimberley Locke whose new single, “Jingle Bells,” debuted at #17 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Fantasia’s “Hood Boy” was #53 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles chart and #52 on the R&B Airplay Charts. Ruben’s single, “Change Me,” was #21 on both the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles and Airplay Charts and #2 on the R&B Adult airplay list.

Carrie’s single, “Before He Cheats,” remained #1 on the country chart, and was #19 on the Hot 100, #25 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, #32 on the Pop 100, #13 on Hot Digital Tracks, and #18 on Hot Digital Songs. Kellie Pickler’s “Red High Heels” remained #25 on the Country chart and Josh Gracin’s “I Keep Coming Back” was #45 on the same list.

Katharine’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” / “My Destiny,” rose one spot to #3 on the Single Sales chart this week and Taylor’s “Do I Make You Proud” / “Takin’ it to the Streets” rose two spots to #5 on the same list. Kelly Clarkson’s “Because of You” was #7 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Mario Vazquez’ “Gallery” was #61 on the Hot 100, #55 on the Hot 100 Airplay, #33 on the Pop 100, and #20 on the Pop 100 Airplay chart.

Upcoming Idol Releases

Katharine McPhee’s CD has been pushed back again, this time to January 30, 2007. This is a full six weeks from the December 19 date. It’s hard to know exactly what’s happening with this, but I suspect that Clive took a listen and wasn’t satisfied.

It’s also possible that the negative reaction to her “leaked” tracks, including “Open Toes,” forced a rework on the entire concept. Whatever the reason, delaying a previous season’s contestant’s debut CD this long does not bode well for its success. Idol 6 will be in full swing and there’ll be a whole new “crop” of Idols to watch. Katharine just might get lost in the shuffle.

Taylor fans are counting down the days until his December 12th release date, and he’ll be out and about doing promotion for the album in the upcoming weeks. Also due out the same day is Fantasia’s second, self-titled CD. Two Idol releases on the same day? Remarkable!

And finally, Elliott Yamin has announced that he has signed a publishing deal with Sony, and will be releasing a cover of Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas” on AOL next week. This is not the same as a recording deal, but rather an arrangement by which Sony will compensate him for songs that he has written or co-written. I’m not sure what this means, really, but Elliott does report that he has been recording in Nashville and Atlanta, and will have new videos up on his MySpace page shortly.

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 website at www.idolthoughts.net. Donna loves mail, so shoot her an email at foxydonna@earthlink.net.

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