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Susan Boyle Breaks Alicia Keys' #1 Album Debut Streak; Robin Thicke Gets Top 10

 

Sarah Boyle's I Dreamed A Dream album continues to lock up the top slot on the Billboard 200 chart for a fourth week in a row, selling 661,000 copies (up 14%), according to Nielsen SoundScan. Dream has now sold a total of 2,465,000 copies and is the second-best selling album of 2009. Only Taylor Swift's Fearless -- with 2,933,000 sold -- is standing in its way. With two weeks left in the 2009 tracking year, anything is possible.

R&B diva Alicia Keys has to play runner-up to Boyle, as her fourth studio album The Element of Freedom debuts at No. 2 with 417,000. Keys' last effort, As I Am, was released during Thanksgiving week of 2007 and started with 742,000 at No. 1.

Freedom's bow at No. 2 breaks a remarkable streak of No. 1 debuts for Keys. All four of her previous albums -- three studio sets plus an Unplugged release -- started at No. 1. However, Keys still has a chance of eventually reaching No. 1. The set could rise to the top next month when (and if) the Boyle hysteria dies down.

The second-biggest new arrival to the Billboard 200 is Robin Thicke's Sex Therapy: The Session, which begins at No. 9 with 123,000. It's the singer's third top 10 set in a row, following The Evolution of Robin Thicke (No. 5 in 2007) and Something Else (No. 3 in 2008). The latter album opened with a sales frame of 137,000 copies in October of that year.

Chris Brown's Album Sets To Flop; Susan Boyle Continue To Rule American Music Charts

Trouble R&B star Chris Brown seems to cannot shake the negative publicity that has plagued his career for all of 2009.  As sales predictions are set for album released this week in America, experts suggest that Brown's new Graffiti album may shift only 90,000 - 110,000 based on its first day sales tally from Tuesday.  If that is the case, Brown could suffer a flop.  His 2007 album Exclusive and his 2005 self-titled debut sold 290,000 and 154,000 respectively in their first sales weeks.

In other music chart news, traditional pop star Susan Boyle from "Britain's Got Talent" has domination album sales once again.  In its second week in stores, Boyle's I Dream A Dream sold more than 500,000 copies which bolstered sales to more than 1.2 million.  With the news of Brown achieving such disappointing number of album units sold, experts project that Boyle will remain on top for a third weeks with sales between 500K to 600K.

Only one could wonder how Chris' record label will deal with this crisis.  While there are mixed feelings about the beleaguered singer bouncing back to being a R&B star, would Jive Records really dump the crooner if his album does not sell well over the next few months?

 

G-LINKED: "Video Phone" Gets Slammed + More...

Beyonce's new video for her song "Video Phone" has to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. And that’s with no exception to anything. Not Madea Goes To Jail. Not "The Tiny and Toya Show." Not even Soul Plane.

The "Video Phone" clip which finds Beyoncé throwing her ass and breasts around like an average video ho and painting herself white ala Bettie Paige among a number of other ludicrous visuals is the most coonish thing I’ve seen since "Soulja Girl." I thought after [President] Obama took office shit like this was supposed to stop.

It’s not that the video, and it’s accompanying five minute jingle isn’t so much stupid as it is pointless and horribly juvenile. What the hell is this about? Is she promoting X-Tube membership? Rainbow apparel? I don’t get it. If BET still had a time slot for the uncut videos this would be on it round the clock.

Beyoncé is reaching and trying to hold onto whatever credibility as an “artist” she has left. This is overreaching. It’s not working. Someone told me she’s on her way to being a legend. I don’t see it. If she doesn’t switch it up soon Rihanna's going to eclipse her.

Read the rest of the story at Art Nouveau.

Also, check these out:

• Michael Jackson's "This Is It" DVD hits stores in January 2010 (Billboard)
• Traditional pop singer Susan Boyle smashes sales radio in the UK with debut album; while Rihanna's Rated R gets unnoticed. (Billboard)
• Transexual newspaper columnist for the L.A. Times died (365Gay)
• List of 2009's Best Albums (Art Nouveau)
• List of 2009's Best Songs (Art Nouveau)
• Rapper calls out Mase's sexuality and pastoral capabilities in new diss track (Hip-Hop Wired)

Rihanna Gets Trumped By Susan Boyle, Adam Lambert and Lady Gaga On Album Charts

Pop superstar Rihanna failed to meet sales expectations since the release of her Rated R album on November 23.  With more than 180,000 copies sold, Rihanna can brag about having her best debut sales week to date.  Conversely, with expectations of over 300K units, the actual number is quite underwhelming when reported CD sales at $3.99 and $0.99 failed to propel sales even higher.

Rated R fell behind traditional pop newcomer Susan Boyle's record-breaking sales of more than 660,000 for I Dreamed A Dream.  Her story about her humble beginnings and appearances on "Britian's Got Talent" and "America's Got Talent" propelled worldwide interest in Boyle.  Thus, she earned 2009's highest album sales within the debut week in America, beating rapper Eminem's Relapse, and beat R&B singer Ashanti's self-titled debut as the new female artist with the highest first-week sales for a debut album.

Adam Lambert's For Your Entertainment sold more than 196,000 units, and Lady Gaga's Fame Monster EP sold approximately 181,00 units.  Both artists received a lot of attention for their recent jaw-dropping performances on last week's American Music Awards.

Unfortunately, Latin-pop sensation Shakira's recent performances and promotion generated less than 100K in sales in her debut week of She Wolf as did British R&B singer Jay Sean with his U.S. debut despite earning a #1 single with "Down" featuring rapper Lil' Wayne.