December 04, 2009

By By Keith Caulfield, L.A.

On next week's Billboard 200 albums chart, the sweet sounds of Susan Boyle's album "I Dreamed a Dream" may be replaced by the holiday tunes of Andrea Bocelli as the latter's "My Christmas" set could rise to the top.

Industry prognosticators suggest that U.K. phenomenon Boyle is going toe-to-toe with Bocelli for the top slot and each artist's album could shift somewhere between 375,000 and 400,000 copies by week's end on Dec. 6. If Bocelli reaches No. 1, it will be the Italian's tenor's first chart-topping set. "My Christmas" has been lodged in the No. 2 slot for the past three weeks after debuting at No. 3 a month ago.

Boyle's "I Dreamed a Dream" rocked the Billboard 200 this past week when it bowed atop the tally with the year's best sales frame for an album, shifting 701,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Among the other albums in the hunt for high debuts on next week's chart include R. Kelly's new album, "Untitled," which looks solid for a top 10 bow with perhaps 100,000 copies. Outside the top 10, look for new entries from fourth-place 2009 "American Idol" finisher Allison Iraheta with "Just Like You," rapper Juvenile with "Cocky and Confident" and the soundtrack to "Alvin and the Chipmunks: the Squeakquel."

Nielsen SoundScan's sales tracking week, as reflected in Billboard's sales charts, runs from Monday through Sunday of each week. Next week's album charts will be revealed on Dec. 9 and will reflect data through the week ending Dec. 6.

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