“Michael” sold 228,000 copies on its first week which is good for third place on the Billboard 200 chart for the week of January 1, 2011. Although the album did much better worldwide, selling 3 million copies while topping the charts in Germany, Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands.

The posthumous album was bested by two female artists, Taylor Swift and Susan Boyle.

Taylor Swift returned to the No. 1 slot on the U.S. pop album chart on Wednesday, nudging reigning champ Susan Boyle down to No. 2.

Swift’s “Speak Now” sold 259,000 copies during the week ended December 19, it’s third nonconsecutive week at no. 1. The album has now sold 2.6 million units making it this year’s 3rd best-selling album overall behind Eminem‘s “Recovery” with 3.2 million and Lady Antebellum‘s “Need You Now” with 3 million.

Susan Boyle‘s “The Gift” settled for second place this week with 254,000 copies sold and a six week-total of 1.6 million.

Here is the list of Top 10 Best-selling Albums for the week of January 1, 2011:

1. Speak Now – Taylor Swift
2. The Gift – Susan Boyle
3. MICHAEL – Michael Jackson
4. O Holy Night – Jackie Evancho
5. Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album – Glee Cast
6. Love Letter – R Kelly
7. Last Train to Paris – Diddy – Dirty Money
8. Pink Friday – Nicki Minaj
9. Born Free – Kid Rock
10. Glee: The Music Vol. 4 – Glee Cast

Source: Billboard

‘MICHAEL’ Fails to Top the Billboard 200 Chart originally appeared on Starmometer on December 24, 2010.

Velvet presents a unique opportunity to join Susan Boyle as she reviews her extraordinary journey from Britain’s Got Talent hopeful to global entertainment phenomenon in I DREAMED A DREAM: The Susan Boyle Story on New year’s eve. 



Susan Boyle is most known as the singer who took the world’s attention when she appeared as a contestant on the reality TV program Britain’s Got Talent wherein she sang ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ from the musical Les Miserable. Her first album of the same title was recently released and debuted as the number one best selling CD around the globe. She continues to be No. 1 on the US album chart as her album sold over 1.2 million copies in just its second week.

Boasting of a commanding voice that shook international charts, wherein she received a standing ovation after her first performance on the reality show, Boyle is still creating media frenzy whether in various shows, interviews and online videos and websites. 



A combination of celebrity interviews, stunning performance and documentary footage will tell this story in a way that hasn’t been seen before. Recorded at ITV’s London studios, this one hour experience will be a celebration of Susan Boyle and her remarkable story.



Get to know more of the person with the simple face yet powerful voice as Velvet digs deeper and exposes the story behind Susan Boyle in a docu musical presentation – I DREAMED A DREAM: The Susan Boyle Story on January 1, 2010 at 12 midnight. Encore telecasts will be on January 2 (Saturday), 10pm, January 3 (Sunday), 5:30pm, January 4 (Monday), 10am and January 20 (Wedesday), 12 midnight, Tune in to Velvet (SkyCable Channel 53) now available on SkyCable Platinum, SkyCable Gold, SkyCable Silver and other quality cable operators nationwide. Log on to www.velvetchannel.multiply.com for more details.

Be Inspired by Susan Boyle’s Story on New Year’s Eve originally appeared on Starmometer on December 30, 2009.

TOP 10 CELEBRITY STORIES of 2009

1. Susan Boyle’s overnight worldwide stardom through the power of internet. Susan Boyle’s celebrity status developed within hours on a worldwide level, and is a classic example of a top celebrity news event; and it’s here to stay.

2. Kanye West grabbing the microphone from Taylor Swift. This certainly created a very loud buzz. O an awards night televised worldwide and seen on YouTube many times over. Such an insanity which is unbelievable but did happen.

3. Carrie Prejean’s response to Perez Hilton’s question about gay marriage. Miss California became an instant celebrity, far more so than had she actually won the Miss USA pageant. Her answer that was so old age did make people see her in a different light.

4. Jon and Kate Gosselin’s marriage. Though tens of thousands of marriages are on the rocks at any given time, America developed a fascination for Jon and Kate Gosselin’s deteriorating marriage, perhaps because they saw in it a little bit of their own marriage? Or maybe America immersed itself in Jon and Kate’s troubles to make their own private lives seem not so bad?

5. Rihanna getting beaten up by Chris Brown. When a pop star gets beaten up by another pop star, this is always major celebrity news. Especially when the victim is stupid enough to go back to the abuser, and especially when she snootily tells concerned family and fans to bug off.

No. 6 – Whitney Houston’s comeback. This created some high waves for a while, and though not the strongest celebrity news story of 2009, it had no competition as far as story topic, either. How many washed up, drug addicted, once-terrific-voiced singers who stayed in an abusive marriage for many years, decide to make a comeback, and then bomb at Central Park with a damaged-sounding voice and a stupid-sounding song?

No. 7 – Death of John Travolta’s son, Jett, in the Bahamas. This had a few interesting angles to it because Travolta is a Scientologist, and speculation grew that his religion was responsible for the boy’s death. Another angle that this took: Jett apparently had autism, though John Travolta denied this, despite videos and photos that depict a boy who had a handicap.

No. 8 – David Letterman’s joke about Sarah Palin’s daughter. This carried a lot of weight in the celebrity news world for weeks, because Sarah Palin would not drop it and get on with her drama queen life. David Letterman finally relented and apologized, but it’s obvious he did so to avoid losing more fans. If Sarah Palin actually thought that Letterman’s apology was sincere and from the heart, she’s dumber than her hairdo looks. What’s the point of an apology if you must nag, nag, nag, nag and demand, demand, demand and demand it via media outlets? Letterman’s apology was as fake as Palin’s never-ending smile during her GOP speech.

No. 9 – Michael Phelps smoking pot. What’s a superhuman athlete boy-next-door wholesome young man doing smoking a bong? Wasn’t winning eight gold medals in one Olympics, and earning millions of dollars in endorsements, enough to keep Michael Phelps too high on happiness to even think of ingesting an illegal brain-cell-damaging drug? Unless he was smoking pot to numb pain from his swimming workouts? You know, that “medical marijuana” thing? Michael Phelps tarnished his image after his bong photo was leaked. And if you think I’m being too critical, don’t forget that Phelps HIMSELF apologized for smoking the bong!

No. 10 – Michael Jackson’s death. This celebrity news was the absolute king of 2009′s top celebrity stories. In fact, this was one of the top celebrity stories of all time, with dozens of layers and dimensions, and each time one unfolds, more layers appear. Michael Jackson’s death was the ultimate celebrity story of 2009 and of the decade, and one of the biggest of all-time celebrity stories, paralyzing the masses on a global level.

Source: Associated Content

Top 10 Celebrity Stories of 2009 Revealed originally appeared on Starmometer on December 6, 2009.

The Youtube singing sensation sold 701,000 copies in its first week according to Nielsen SoundScan. Susan’s debut album did not only topped the chart but it also registered the best sales week for an album in the U.S. for 2009 breaking Eminem‘s previous record of 608,000.

Furthermore, the arrival of “I Dreamed a Dream” also marks the best opening week for a female artist’s debut album since SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991. Boyle bested Ashanti for the title, as the latter’s self-titled debut album began with 503,000 in 2002.

On the other hand, American Idol season 8 runner-up Adam Lambert could only manage the no. 3 position as his album entitled “For Your Entertainment” has sold 198,000 on its first week. Andrea Bocelli‘s “My Christmas” performed better with 218,000. However, Lambert bested last year’s runner-up David Archuleta whose debut album sold 183,000 on its first week.

Here are the front-runners on Billboard 200 this week:

1. Susan Boyle “I Dreamed a Dream” – 701,000
2. Andrea Bocelli “My Christmas” – 218,000
3. Adam Lambert “For Your Entertainment” – 198,000
4. Rihanna “Rated R” – 181,000
5. Lady Gaga “The Fame Monster” – 174,000
6. Lady Gaga “The Fame” – 151,000
7. Miley Cyrus “The Time Of Our Lives” – 150,000
8. Taylor Swift “Fearless” 125,000
9. Carrie Underwood “Play On” – 124,000 (Up 44% from last week, woohoo!)
10. Norah Jones “The Fall” – 110,000

Susan Boyle Debuts at No. 1, Adam Lambert at No. 3 on Billboard 200 originally appeared on Starmometer on December 3, 2009.

48-year-old Susan Boyle had been expected to win the 3rd season of the British reality talent competition. Her performance in April of “I Dreamed a Dream” catapulted her to international stardom.

She sang the same song in Saturday’s final but the public voted in favor of the dance group Diversity. Saxophonist Julian Smith was third.

The 10-member troupe from Essex, England and London receives 100,000 pounds ($160,000) and will perform at the Royal Variety Performance in front of the Queen.

Prior to the finals, Boyle appeared on U.S. talk shows hosted by Oprah Winfrey and Larry King.

Video Links:

Susan Boyle – Britain’s Got Talent Finals

Diversity – Britain’s Got Talent Finals

‘Diversity’ Wins Britain’s Got Talent, Susan Boyle 2nd Place originally appeared on Starmometer on May 31, 2009.