Check out this  week’s Idol Billboard charts  here.

  • Record sales are extremely sluggish this week overall. According to Billboard, “Every top 10 title on The Billboard 200 experienced a sales hit of 27% or more. Overall, album sales are down 34% from last week’s total and 18% compared to the same week a year ago at 9.41 million units.”
  • The soundtrack for “Dreamgirls”, featuring Jennifer Hudson, is #1 on the Billboard 200 this week.   It’s the first time a soundtrack has reached #1 since “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou”, in 2002.  However, “Dreamgirls” registers the lowest sales total [66,355]  for a No. 1 album since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991.
  • “Dreamgirls” is also #1 on the R&B and Soundtrack charts this week.
  • DAUGHTRY, at #3, sold 55,916 units this week.  The single, “It’s Not Over” made a significant jump on the Hot 100, from #38 to #28.   On the Hot 100 Airplay chart, it jumped from #51 to #41.
  • Taylor Hicks falls from #36 to #47, selling about 18,900 this week.   A single, “Just to Feel That Way” is set to be released soon.   There’s no specific release date yet, however.

Ken Barnes from USA Today’s Idol Chatter  blog has a detailed breakdown of Idol sales numbers.  Ãƒâ€š  Check out Donna Reynolds’ weekly  Idol Chartwatch  from FoxesonIdol.com.

thanks kirsten