March 26, 2008

By Editor: Keith Caulfield; Contributors: Silvio Pietroluongo, Gary Trust, Alex Vitoulis; Editorial Director: Geoff Mayfield

MTV favorite Danity Kane scores its second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 as its sophomore set enters with 236,000. It's the second-biggest sales week of the year and the best sales week for a female group since 2006 ... The Easter bunny's paw prints are all over the chart this week as kid-friendly acts bound up the list ... Miley Cyrus makes history as the first female artist in 11 years to chart two concurrent top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 ... Rapper Flo Rida, who owns the biggest-selling digital track download of all time with "Low," takes a lukewarm bow at No. 4 with his debut album, "Mail on Sunday" ... Gnarls Barkley's rushed-to-market "Odd Couple" album climbs into the top 20 ... In Progress Reports, we've got news on Madonna and Justin Timberlake, Fergie and "American Idol."

FLASH POINTS


• Danity Kane goes two for two at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 as its sophomore album, "Welcome to the Dollhouse," gives the act its second chart-topper. "Welcome" starts with 236,000 -- selling just a tad more than the 234,000 that greeted the vocal group's self-titled debut in 2006 ... The 236,000 start for "Welcome" is the second-biggest sales week of the year -- only Jack Johnson's "Sleep Through the Static" had a bigger week when it debuted at No. 1 with 375,000 in February ... The last female group to sell more than 236,000 in a week was Dixie Chicks, when their "Taking the Long Way" album moved 271,000 in its second week of release in June 2006.

• With the Nielsen SoundScan tracking week having ended on Easter Sunday, March 23, the Billboard 200 is overrun with albums that benefit from the holiday. It's a safe bet that Jonas Brothers' self-titled set (No. 12, up 107%) and the "Kidz Bop 13" album (No. 16, up 104%) found their way into some Easter baskets. Speaking of Easter-friendly acts and albums, kid superstar Miley Cyrus chalks up yet another milestone this week -- she's got two albums in the top 10 of the Billboard 200. The "Hannah Montana 2"/"Meet Miley Cyrus" set is No. 6 with a 75% gain while her "The Best of Both Worlds Concert" is No. 10 with a 49% increase. The last artist to have two albums in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 at the same time was Ray Charles on the chart dated Nov. 20, 2004. He was No. 7 with "Genius Loves Company" and No. 9 with the "Ray" soundtrack. Cyrus is the first female artist to notch two concurrent top 10 sets since LeAnn Rimes did the trick on March 22, 1997. That week she was No. 2 with "Unchained Melody/The Early Years" and No. 10 with "Blue."

• He may have the best-selling digital track download of all time, but Flo Rida can't quite make the same sort of magic happen on the Billboard 200, as his debut album, "Mail on Sunday," bows at No. 4 with 86,000. The rapper's "Low" has sold 3.3 million downloads since it was released in November of last year. The tune was also the most-heard song on U.S. radio for four consecutive weeks in late January through mid-February ... Another hip-hopper, Rocko, also debuts this week on the Billboard 200. The Rocky Road/Island Urban artist sees his "Self-Made" set enter at No. 21 with 28,000.

• A few steps above Rocko is the return of Gnarls Barkley, whose second set, "The Odd Couple," debuts at No. 18 with 31,000. The record was rushed to market last Tuesday, March 18, weeks ahead of its original April 8 release date. The album had leaked online a few weeks ago, although that was not cited as the official reason for the release-date change. It started selling digitally March 18 while brick-and-mortar retailers began selling the physical version of the album as soon as they received it last week. Fifteen percent of the album's first-week total consisted of CDs.

• Other interesting debuts and moves this week on the Billboard 200 include ... The soundtrack to "Enchanted" bolts 149-39 with a 281% gain after the film hit DVD March 18 ... Sheek Louch's "Silverback Gorilla" lumbers in at No. 41 with 17,000 in its debut week ... Irish/Scottish male vocal group Celtic Thunder starts at No. 48 with its PBS-fueled debut (16,000). The act has been seen all month on PBS affiliates in its live concert of the same name ... Paris-born Israeli singer Yael Naim bows on the Billboard 200 with her self-titled album, which contains the Apple MacBook Air jingle "New Soul."

The Billboard 200 Sales data provided and compiled from Nielsen SoundScan
*1	New	DANITY KANE Welcome To The Dollhouse (Bad Boy / AG)	*11	15	SOUNDTRACK Alvin And The Chipmunks (Fox / Razor & Tie)
2	2	VARIOUS ARTISTS NOW 27 (Sony BMG / EMI / Universal / Zomba / Sony BMG Strategic Marketing Group)	*12	17	JONAS BROTHERS Jonas Brothers (Hollywood )
3	1	RICK ROSS Trilla (Slip-N-Slide / Def Jam / IDJMG)	*13	13	ALICIA KEYS As I Am (MBK / J / RMG)
*4	New	FLO RIDA Mail On Sunday (Poe Boy / Atlantic / AG)	14	5	ALAN JACKSON Good Time (Arista Nashville / SBN)
*5	4	JACK JOHNSON Sleep Through The Static (Brushfire / UMRG)	*15	33	CARRIE UNDERWOOD Carnival Ride (Arista / Arista Nashville / RMG/SBN)
*6	16	MILEY CYRUS Hannah Montana 2 (Soundtrack)/Meet Miley Cyrus (Hollywood / Walt Disney)	*16	31	KIDZ BOP KIDS Kidz Bop 13 (Razor & Tie )
7	3	SNOOP DOGG Ego Trippin (Doggystyle / Geffen / IGA)	17	8	JANET Discipline (Island / IDJMG)
*8	12	TAYLOR SWIFT Taylor Swift (Big Machine )	*18	New	GNARLS BARKLEY The Odd Couple (Downtown / Atlantic / AG)
*9	7	SARA BAREILLES Little Voice (Epic / Sony Music)	*19	18	COLBIE CAILLAT Coco (Universal Republic / UMRG)
*10	10	MILEY CYRUS Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: The Best Of Both Worlds Concert (Hollywood / Walt Disney)	*20	48	VARIOUS ARTISTS Radio Disney Jams 10 (Walt Disney )
* indicates titles with greatest sales gains this week

MARKET WATCH

• Album units, current chart week: 8.83 million units
• UP 11.3% from last issue's charts: 7.94 million units
• UP 1.3% from same week, 2007: 8.72 million units
• This week: The top three albums sell more than 100,000 copies.
• This week last year on The Billboard 200: Modest Mouse's "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank" sailed in at No. 1 with 129,000. Joss Stone's "Introducing Joss Stone" landed at No. 2 with 118,000, Elliott Yamin's self-titled set bowed at No. 3 with 90,000 while Marques Houston's "Veteran" began at No. 69,000.





BORDERLINES

• The No. 100 album this week, Rodney Atkins' "If You're Going Through Hell" (Curb), sold 9,000.
• The No. 100 album for the same week of 2007, Omarion's "21" (T.U.G./Epic/Columbia), sold 8,000.
• Average total of the No. 100 album for the same week of the year during the past 10 years (1999-2008): 12,772.



PROGRESS REPORTS

• Madonna and her recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductor Justin Timberlake enjoy another special moment together as "4 Minutes" debuts at No. 23 on the CHR/Top 40 airplay chart, the list's highest entry since Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man" roared in at No. 21 in June 2006. "4 Minutes" is also Madonna's best start on the tally since "Frozen" opened at No. 16 in February 1998.


• Down at the bottom of the CHR/Top 40 chart at No. 38, Fergie enters with "Finally," the sixth charting single from her solo debut, "The Dutchess." The set is just the fifth album in the chart's 15-plus-year history to produce six chart hits. Timberlake's "FutureSex/LoveSounds" was the most recent in October; while Gwen Stefani was the last female to crack open a chart six-pack in 2006 with tracks from her debut solo album, "Love.Angel.Music.Baby." Janet Jackson (1994) and Backstreet Boys (1998) also accomplished the feat.


• "American Idol" talent appraisers Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson enter the Adult Contemporary chart with "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow" at No. 29. The song marks Jackson's maiden voyage on the chart and Abdul's first hit since "My Love Is for Real" spent a week at No. 40 in June 1995. "Dance" is her ninth title to reach the list; "Rush Rush" remains her biggest hit on that chart, having spent five weeks at No. 1 in 1991 ... This week, the Adult Contemporary chart features six songs by former "Idol" contestants. Chris Daughtry's namesake band is at Nos. 3, 18 and 20 while Elliott Yamin, Jordin Sparks and Kimberley Locke are at Nos. 7, 13 and 21, respectively.

Top Country Albums Sales data provided and compiled from Nielsen SoundScan
*1	2	TAYLOR SWIFT Taylor Swift (Big Machine )
2	1	ALAN JACKSON Good Time (Arista Nashville / SBN)
*3	3	CARRIE UNDERWOOD Carnival Ride (Arista / Arista Nashville / RMG/SBN)
*4	8	RASCAL FLATTS Still Feels Good (Lyric Street / Hollywood)
5	4	GARTH BROOKS The Ultimate Hits (Pearl )
*6	7	ROBERT PLANT / ALISON KRAUSS Raising Sand (Rounder )
*7	10	CARRIE UNDERWOOD Some Hearts (Arista / Arista Nashville / RMG)
8	6	SUGARLAND Enjoy The Ride (Mercury / UMGN)
9	5	EAGLES Long Road Out Of Eden (ERC )
*10	11	TRACE ADKINS American Man: Greatest Hits Volume II (Capitol Nashville )
* indicates titles with greatest sales gains this week

Top Pop Catalog Albums Sales data provided and compiled from Nielsen SoundScan
1	1	MICHAEL JACKSON Thriller 25 (Legacy / Epic / Sony BMG)
*2	New	CHRIS TOMLIN Arriving (Sixsteps / Sparrow)
3	2	VARIOUS ARTISTS I Can Only Imagine: Platinum Edition (INO / Time Life)
*4	5	THE BEATLES 1 (Apple / Capitol)
*5	3	GUNS N' ROSES Greatest Hits (Geffen / IGA)
*6	4	BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS Legend: The Best Of Bob Marley And The Wailers (Tuff Gong / Island / UMe)
*7	10	MICHAEL BUBLE It's Time (143 / Reprise / Warner Bros.)
8	7	MICHAEL JACKSON Number Ones (MJJ / Epic / Sony Music)
9	8	JOURNEY Journey's Greatest Hits (Legacy / Columbia / Sony BMG)
10	9	QUEEN Greatest Hits (Hollywood )
* indicates titles with greatest sales gains this week

A LOOK AHEAD

• Among the titles released this week, due on next week's charts: the Raconteurs' "Consolers of the Lonely," Panic at the Disco's "Pretty. Odd.," Day26's "Day26," the B-52s "Funplex" and Counting Crows' "Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings."

• Next week's Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2007 when: The entire top four of the Billboard 200 welcomed new entries. Tim McGraw's "Let It Go" started at No. 1 with 325,000 while "Now 24," Young Buck and Mims rounded out the quartet of debuts. Additionally, Good Charlotte, Elton John and Jennifer Lopez bowed at Nos. 7, 9 and 10, respectively. The top three albums each sold 100,000.

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