Glee to debut at #1, Twilight #2, Christina was robbed placing #3
It was Team Jacob and Team Edward versus the Gleeks this past week in the race to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, as the "Twilight Saga: Eclipse" soundtrack went up against the latest installment of the "Glee" soundtrack series -- "Journey to Regionals."
Well, Gleeks rejoice! The "Journey to Regionals" EP debuts at No. 1 with 152,000 sold according to Nielsen SoundScan, besting the "Eclipse" album at No. 2 with 144,000.
The new "Glee" set is the fifth soundtrack album release from "Glee" since the TV series launched a year ago on Fox, and the third "Glee" set to hit No. 1 following "The Power of Madonna" EP and "The Music: Volume 3 - Showstoppers."
Last week, industry prognosticators initially thought "Eclipse" was a good bet for No. 1, with a possible first week tally of around 140,000 to 160,000, while "Glee" was aiming for a number in the range of 110,000 to 130,000. As it turns out, while "Eclipse" performed to expectations, the "Glee" album bested the predictions and held up better through the week than anticipated.
However, the chances of "Glee: The Music, Journey to Regionals" holding on to the No. 1 slot next week are pretty much non-existant, as a certain red-hot act is primed to explode atop the tally next week. According to industry prognosticators, Drake's debut full-length studio album "Thank Me Later," which hit retail yesterday (15), is projected to sell in the range of 425,000 to 475,000 -- if not more -- by week's end on June 20.
If it moves as much as sources think, it'll mark one of the biggest sales weeks of the year for a single album. Currently, 2010's best frames were earned by Sade's "Soldier of Love" (502,000 off its debut in February) and Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" (481,000 in its debut week in late January).
Back on this week's chart, Christina Aguilera's fourth English-language studio album, "Bionic," bows at No. 3 with 110,000. Her last effort, the 2006 double-length album "Back to Basics," bowed at No. 1 with 346,000 copies sold. Over on the Digital Songs chart, her new album's title track debuts at No. 39 with 43,000 downloads, while the set's first single, "Not Myself Tonight," re-enters at No. 56 with 30,000 (up 149%). Katy Perry's "California Gurls" retains the No. 1 slot with 353,000 -- up 11%. The top debut on Digital Songs this week is Justin Bieber's "Never Say Never" from the new "Karate Kid" movie, fighting its way to a No. 15 bow with 76,000. The song also features "Karate" star Jaden Smith.
On the Billboard 200 albums chart, Plies' "Goon Affiliated" arrives at No. 5 with 56,000 -- marking the rapper's fourth chart entry since his "Real Testament" debut in 2007. His last release, 2008's "Da Realist," opened at No. 14 with 114,000 sold.
Two more new entries grace the top 10 this week, as Dierks Bentley's "Up On The Ridge" climbs in at No. 9 with 38,000 and Jewel's "Sweet and Wild" debuts at No. 10 with 31,000. It's the fifth consecutive top 10 set for Bentley, whose last release, 2009's "Feel That Fire," entered at No. 3 with 71,000. "Sweet and Wild" is Jewel's seventh top 10 effort. Her last regular studio release was 2008's "Perfectly Clear," which started at No. 8 with 48,000.
Last week's No. 1 album, Jack Johnson's "To the Sea" floats down to No. 4 with 89,000 (down 63%). Justin Bieber's "My World 2.0" drops four rungs to No. 6 (49,000; down 7%), "Glee, the Music, Volume 3: Showstoppers" slips four to No. 7 (40,000; down 11%) and Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" also falls four to No. 8 (39,000; down 5%).
Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending June 13) totaled 5.49 million units, up 6% compared to the sum last week (5.16 million) and down 14% compared to the comparable sales week of 2009 (6.35 million). Year to date album sales stand at 136.1 million, down 11% compared to the same total at this point last year (153.0 million).
Digital track sales this past week totaled 21.6 million downloads, down 4% compared to last week (22.6 million) and up 2% compared to the comparable week of 2009 (21.1 million). Year to date track sales are at 532.2 million, up less than 1% compared to the same total at this point last year (530.7 million).
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