Omarion tops charts with '21'
Gift cards shake album chart
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Sales represented a 51% spike from the 19.9 million digital tracks sold during the same seven-day span a year ago. Both years saw a 108% increase in sales over the previous week.
Traditionally, a week filled with sales based on gift cards being redeemed, the album chart saw a reshuffling that put hip-hop back in the driver's seat in the top 10. Omarion, the former B2K singer, secured the No. 1 slot on the nation's album sales chart for the second time, selling 119,000 copies of his sophomore disc "21" in the week ended Sunday. His debut, "O," was also a chart topper.
Top 10 saw most albums take post-holiday dips of between 45% and 78%, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Post-holiday buying caused quite a shakeup, giving significant boosts to "Dreamgirls" and "Eminem Presents: The Re-up" and pushing Carrie Underwood, Bow Wow, Rascal Flatts, Josh Groban and Taylor Hicks down the charts.
Columbia's soundtrack to "Dreamgirls" skyrocketed to No. 3 from No. 31 on sales of 104,000. Disc's cume is now 386,000 in four weeks of release. "The Re-up," an Interscope/Slim Shady compilation, rose 17 slots to No. 7 on sales of 84,000.
In addition, the "Dreamgirls Collectors Edition" version of the soundtrack was the only album in the top 100 to post a sales gain. Disc sold 26,000 copies, a 6% rise from the week before, rising 78 slots to No. 60.
The other top 20 debut came from San Diego rockers Switchfoot, whose "Oh! Gravity" (Columbia) opened at No. 18 on sales of 63,000.
Last week's No. 1, Nas' "Hip-hop Is Dead" (Def Jam), slid 71% on sales of 101,000, and landed at No. 4.
Buoyed by the Omarion and Switchfoot debuts, the week was particularly strong for Sony BMG-owned Columbia: Diskery has five albums in the top 20.
Top digital single of the week was "Fergalicious" by Fergie. Among the acts that benefited in album sales from post-Christmas gift selection were Justin Timberlake (No. 8), Beyonce (No. 12), My Chemical Romance (No. 16), Incubus (No. 30), The Game (No. 35), 30 Seconds to Mars (No. 39), and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, whose "Don't You Fake It" rose to No. 47 from 101 on sales of 32,000.
