First American Idol Winner Tops the Pop Charts
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – America’s love affair with “American Idol” helped pushed the album debut of the reality show’s winner, Kelly Clarkson, to the top of this week’s U.S. pop charts, industry trackers said on Wednesday.
Winning the talent search contest on the smash hit TV show last year led the bubbly Clarkson, a former cocktail waitress, to instant celebrity and a recording contract with Bertelsmann AG’s RCA Records.
Shortly after claiming victory on “American Idol,” Clarkson scored a No. 1 hit single in September with “A Moment Like This,” the song she performed on the show.
Now, more than six months after the single, Clarkson’s long-awaited debut album, “Thankful,” featuring 12 songs, sold nearly 300,000 copies for the week ended April 20, its first week of release.
The album features Clarkson singing pop, gospel, R&B and several ballads and tracks that will appeal to her 20-something peers.
While Clarkson’s appeal is likely to continue, the album’s top position is expected to be usurped next week by Madonna’s new album “American Life,” released on Tuesday by AOL Time Warner’s Warner Bros., which is expected to sell between 200,000 and 250,000 units, retail experts said.
Despite mixed reviews for the pop icon’s latest album, the CD arrived with Madonna’s typical dose of controversy, which helped stoke public interest for her first album in almost three years.
In recent weeks, the video for the album’s first single was pulled due to offending images of her throwing a hand grenade at a George W. Bush look-alike — an image Madonna said might be misunderstood while the nation was at war with Iraq.
The move probably only helped fuel sales for the album, industry pundits said.
“There’s a great awareness about the album. Madonna’s one of the few people who can get a lot of attention for telling people not to see a video,” said Geoff Mayfield, director of charts for Billboard Magazine, who predicts the album will open at No. 1.
Industry experts predict that Clarkson’s “Thankful” will see a typical 40 to 50 percent falloff in the current week, particularly since last week got a push from the Easter holiday, which typically boosts retail activity.
Ranking second on the pop charts this week was the latest album by rapper 50 Cent called “New Breed,” which sold 246,381 units in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
The new album by the ex-crack dealer comes close on the heels of his hit album, “Get Rich or Die Tryin”‘ which sold a whopping 872,000 copies in its first week in February.
Issued on Interscope Records’ Aftermath imprint, 50 Cent’s launch in February ranked as the biggest opening week for a major-label debut by any recording artist since SoundScan began tracking sales.
Ranking third this week on the charts was Fleetwood Mac’s “Say You Will,” which sold 217,950 units.
The debut album of Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis Presley, who passed away over 25 years ago, slipped from No. 5 last week to No. 14 in the latest week, with her debut album, “To Whom It May Concern,” selling about 85,000 units in the latest week.
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