Slow week produces no new names in top 50. By Gil Kaufman Taylor Swift Photo: Steve Granitz/ WireImage After gorging themselves on new releases over the holidays, music consumers seemed like they were in the mood to nest and cuddle up with the usual suspects during the final chart week of 2010. According to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan, Taylor Swift will once again hang on to the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart next week thanks to sales of 77,000 for Speak Now, which saw a 72 percent drop in business from the week before, even as the 21-year-old newly single singer zeroed in on 3 million in sales in just over two months in stores. With every album in the top 30 suffering from significant double-digit losses, the traditionally slow final week of the year was especially lethargic. Rounding out the top 10 are Eminem , Recovery (#2, 63,000, down 54 percent); Rihanna , Loud (#3, 62,000, down 44 percent); Nicki Minaj , Pink Friday (#4, 61,000, down 54 percent); Kanye West , My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (#5, 58,000, down 54 percent); the “Tron: Legacy” soundtrack by Daft Punk (#6, 54,000, down 22 percent); Bruno Mars , Doo-Wops & Hooligans (#7, 45,000, down 46 percent); Mumford & Sons , Sigh No More (#8, 39,000, down 29 percent); Katy Perry ‘s nearly platinum Teenage Dream (#9, 38,000, down 62 percent) and Keyshia Cole , Calling All Hearts (#10, 37,000, down 71 percent). It was no party for Jamie Foxx ‘s Best Night of My Life, which shed 75 percent of its business in week two to land at #11 on sales of 36,000. Keri Hilson also saw a significant dip in week two of her No Boys Allowed, which slips four spots and 68 percent to #15 after moving 33,000 copies. As the trial for his former doctor revs up, sales of the first posthumous studio album from late pop icon Michael Jackson , Michael, are slowing down. The disc slips 13 spots in its third week, as sales dropped off by 82 percent to 27,000. And on the cusp of a new season of a revamped “American Idol,” the chart battle between last season’s winner and runner-up has turned into a dud. Slipping another 15 spots to #62 in its third week, Farmer’s Daughter, the debut from the dreadlocked #2 finisher, soul mama Crystal Bowersox , sold 11,000 copies for a to-date total just north of 106,000. Meanwhile, winner Lee DeWyze ‘s major-label debut, Live It Up, dipped 68 percent as it slips another 45 slots to #170 while moving more than 4,000 copies for a seven-week total just over 102,000. Those figures make the pair of albums the weakest debuts by #1 and #2 “Idol” finishers in recent history. Over on the iTunes tally, the “Tron” soundtrack is tops on the albums chart, followed by Eminem, Swift, West, Mumford & Sons, Mars, Rihanna, Ke$ha ‘s Cannibal, the self-titled debut from Big Time Rush and Minaj. Sales figures aren’t provided, but the singles chart is topped by Mars’ “Grenade,” which edges out Perry’s “Firework.” The rest of the list includes Ke$ha, “We R Who We R,” Enrique Iglesias , “Tonight,” Pink , “Raise Your Glass,” Black Eyed Peas , “The Time (Dirty Bit),” Rihanna/Drake, “What’s My Name,” Wiz Khalifa , “Black and Yellow,” Trey Songz , “Bottoms Up” and Nelly , “Just a Dream.” With no new major releases this week, the charts are likely to look similar next week, at least until the Decemberists hit stores on the 18th with The King Is Dead.
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Taylor Swift Holds On To Billboard Top Spot
