March 25, 2009

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

Kelly Clarkson's "All I Ever Wanted" stays put at No. 1 for a second week on the Billboard 200 while the chart's top debut comes from Gorilla Zoe's "Don't Feed Da Animals" at No. 8 . . . The "Twilight" soundtrack storms back into the top three after it was reissued last week on the eve of the film's DVD release . . . Next week's Billboard 200 should perk up with a flurry of big names, including new efforts from Martina McBride and Mastodon, and the "Hannah Montana" movie soundtrack . . . In Progress Reports, we've got news on the Pussycat Dolls, Brad Paisley and Soulja Boy Tell'em.


FLASH POINTS

• It's a hold-steady kind of week on the Billboard 200 as Kelly Clarkson's "All I Ever Wanted" remains at No. 1 for a second frame, shifting 90,000 (down 65%). U2's "No Line on the Horizon" moves up one slot to No. 2 with 76,000 (down 42%) while the-Dream's "Love Vs. Money" slides down two positions to No. 4 with 56,000 (down 63%) in its second week.

• The "Twilight" soundtrack rebounds to No. 3 with 74,000 (up 251%) after the set was relaunched March 17 with five bonus tracks and a DVD with interviews and music videos. The timing of the reissue coincides with the DVD bow of the hit film on Saturday, March 21. Summit Home Entertainment, which released the "Twilight" DVD, announced that it sold 3 million copies of the movie in its first day of release.

• The chart's highest debut comes from rapper Gorilla Zoe, who enters with his sophomore set, "Don't Feed Da Animals," at No. 8 with 31,000. The Block/Bad Boy South artist's first effort, 2007's "Welcome to the Zoo," debuted and peaked at No. 18 with a 35,000 entrance. Over on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, "Animals" starts at No. 2, giving the rapper his second top 10 on that list.

• The Decemberists' "The Hazards of Love" starts at No. 14 with 19,000 following its early exclusive release through iTunes and on 180-gram vinyl in select indie stores. Yesterday (March 24) the set became available in all standard physical and digital formats.

• After a slow week on the chart in terms of new releases, next week's tally should bring an influx of fresh blood. Among the albums looking to make grand entrances: the soundtrack to the "Hannah Montana" movie, Martina McBride's "Shine," Mastodon's "Crack the Skye" and the "Now 30" compilation. On the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart, we'll see the arrival of Sony Legacy's lavish reissue of Pearl Jam's 1991 debut, "Ten."

The Billboard 200 Sales data provided and compiled from Nielsen SoundScan
1	1	KELLY CLARKSON All I Ever Wanted (S / 19 / RCA / Sony Music)	*11	New	TWIZTID W.I.C.K.E.D. (Psychopathic )
2	3	U2 No Line On The Horizon (Island / Interscope / IGA)	12	13	T.I. Paper Trail (Grand Hustle / Atlantic / AG)
*3	14	SOUNDTRACK Twilight (Summit / Chop Shop / Atlantic / AG)	13	11	THE FRAY The Fray (Epic / Sony Music)
4	2	THE-DREAM Love VS Money (Radio Killa / Def Jam / IDJMG)	*14	New	THE DECEMBERISTS The Hazards Of Love (Capitol )
*5	6	LADY GAGA The Fame (Streamline / KonLive / Cherrytree / Interscope / IGA)	*15	42	CARRIE UNDERWOOD Carnival Ride (19 / Arista Nashville / SMN)
6	5	TAYLOR SWIFT Fearless (Big Machine )	*16	New	STATIC-X Cult Of Static (Reprise / Warner Bros.)
7	7	NICKELBACK Dark Horse (Roadrunner )	17	18	KINGS OF LEON Only By The Night (RCA / RMG)
*8	New	GORILLA ZOE Don't Feed Da Animals (Block / Bad Boy South / Bad Boy / AG)	18	16	KANYE WEST 808s & Heartbreak (Roc-A-Fella / Def Jam / IDJMG)
9	8	BEYONCE I Am...Sasha Fierce (Music World / Columbia / Sony Music)	19	21	JASON MRAZ We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. (Atlantic / AG)
10	9	JAMIE FOXX Intuition (J / RMG)	20	4	J. HOLIDAY Round 2 (Music Line / Capitol)
* indicates titles with greatest sales gains this week

MARKET WATCH

• Album units, current chart week: 6.1 million units
• DOWN 7.36% from last week's charts: 6.6 million units
• DOWN 30.6% from same week, 2008: 8.8 million units
• This week: No albums sell more than 100,000 copies.
• This week last year on the Billboard 200: Danity Kane's "Welcome to the Dollhouse" debuted at No. 1 with 236,000 while Flo Rida's "Mail on Sunday" began at No. 4 with 86,000. The previous week's champ, Rick Ross' "Trilla," fell to No. 3 with 90,000 (down 54%).



BORDERLINES

• The No. 50 album this week, the "Punk Goes Pop Volume Two" compilation (Fearless), sold 9,000.
• The No. 50 album for the same week of 2008, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss' "Raising Sand" (Rounder), sold 16,000.
• Average total of the No. 50 album for the same week of the year during the past 10 years (2000-2009): 21,547.


PROGRESS REPORTS

• Brad Paisley claims the highest debut of his career on the Hot Country Songs chart as "Then" enters at No. 26. It's the best bow for any single since Taylor Swift's "Love Story" entered at No. 25 on the chart dated Sept. 27, 2008. "Then" is the first single from Paisley's new album "American Saturday Night," due June 30. Paisley performed "Then" on the March 18 edition of "American Idol."

• Soulja Boy Tell'em rings up his second No. 1 on the Rhythmic radio airplay chart as "Kiss Me Thru the Phone" (featuring Sammie) climbs to the top in its eighth week on the tally. Soulja Boy's previous topper came with "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" in 2007, which reigned for seven weeks. It's the first No. 1 for Sammie. Over on the Mainstream Top 40 airplay chart, "Kiss Me" rises from No. 13 to No. 12 in its sixth week on the list.

• Also on the Mainstream Top 40 chart, the Pussycat Dolls land their eighth hit as "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" bows at No. 37. The single is credited to A. R. Rahman and the Pussycat Dolls Featuring Nicole Scherzinger and is a reworking of the original "Jai Ho!" song from the "Slumdog Millionaire" soundtrack by Oscar-winning composer Rahman. This is his first Billboard airplay chart hit.





A LOOK AHEAD

• Among the titles released this week, due on next week's charts: the soundtrack to the "Hannah Montana" movie; Pearl Jam's deluxe reissue of "Ten"; Martina McBride's "Shine"; Mastodon's "Crack the Skye"; Yanni's "Yanni Voices"; the "Now 30" compilation; Papa Roach's "Metamorphosis"; Blue October's "Approaching Normal"; the Broadway Cast Recording of "Shrek: The Musical"; deluxe reissues of Radiohead's "Pablo Honey," "The Bends" and "OK Computer"; John Rich's "Son of a Preacher Man"; Keri Hilson's "In a Perfect World"; the wide physical release of the Decemberists' "The Hazards of Love"; Eric Church's "Carolina"; and RBD's "Para Olvidarte de Mi."

• Next week's Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2008 when: Day26's self-titled album entered atop the list with 190,000 while Panic at the Disco's "Pretty, Odd" started at No. 2 with 139,000. Counting Crows' "Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings" debuted at No. 3 with 106,000. The previous week's No. 1, Danity Kane's "Welcome to the Dollhouse," slipped to No. 4 with 89,000 (down 62%).

Subscribe to Billboard magazine today!