Carrie Underwood's "Blown Away" may find itself at No. 1 for a second week on the Billboard 200 albums chart, fending off Adele's "21." Industry sources suggest Underwood's fourth album will sell between 95,000 and 110,000 by the end of the tracking week on Sunday, May 13. Adele's "21" may have to settle for the runner-up slot -- unless the Mother's Day holiday really smiles on the big-selling set. The new Billboard 200 chart's top 10 will be revealed on the morning of Wednesday, May 16.
Next week's highest debut will likely be rock act Silversun Pickups' "Neck of the Woods" with perhaps 40,000. It might be one of only two debuts in the top 10 next week, courtesy of a light release schedule.
It's a bit unusual that few big-named albums were released this week, considering the Mother's Day weekend can be counted on for a lot of female-driven sales. To compare, during last year's Mother's Day week, there were eight debuts in the top 10. The new arrivals were led by Beastie Boys' "Hot Sauce Committee Part Two" (No. 2), the "Now 38" album (No. 3), Fleet Foxes' "Helplessness Blues" (No. 4), Jennifer Lopez's "Love?" (No. 5), Stevie Nicks' "In Your Dreams" (No. 6), Sade's "Ultimate Collection" (No. 7), Musiq Soulchild's "Musiqinthemagiq" (No. 8) and SIXX:AM's "This Is Gonna Hurt" (No. 10). (Adele's "21" was in its seventh nonconsecutive week at No. 1.)
As for next week's second-highest debut? Tank's fifth album "This Is How I Feel" could see a start in the top 10, while Karmin's debut set "Hello" is on course for a top 20 arrival. Keane's latest, "Strangeland," is also poised for a top 20 entry.
On Nielsen SoundScan's Building chart (below), Underwood is No. 1 while Adele's "21" is planted at No. 2. The Building tally is a precursor to the final Billboard 200 ranking -- reflecting the first four days (Monday through Thursday) of SoundScan's tracking week as reported by six major merchants.
As for the rest of the Building Chart: The "Now 42" compilation is in third place, Lionel Richie's "Tuskegee" is in fourth and Norah Jones' "Little Broken Hearts" is No. 5. Silversun Pickups is No. 6, One Direction's sturdy "Up All Night" is No. 7, B.o.B's "Strange Clouds" is No. 8 and Jack White's "Blunderbuss" is No. 9. Rounding out the top 10 of the Building chart is Karmin's "Hello" at No. 10.
Nielsen SoundScan Building Chart
Rank LW Artist Title
1 1 Carrie Underwood "Blown Away"
2 4 Adele "21"
3 3 Various Artists "Now 42"
4 6 Lionel Richie "Tuskegee"
5 2 Norah Jones "Little Broken Hearts"
6 NEW Silversun Pickups "Neck of the Woods"
7 8 One Direction "Up All Night"
8 5 B.o.B "Strange Clouds"
9 7 Jack White "Blunderbuss"
10 NEW Karmin "Hello"
The Building Chart reflects the first four days (Monday through Thursday) of SoundScan's tracking week (which ends Sunday) as reported by six major merchants: iTunes, Trans World Entertainment, Best Buy, Starbucks, Target and Anderson Merchandisers. Billboard estimates that they make up about 85% of all U.S. album sales.
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