Susan Boyle and Taylor Swift duke it out for No. 1 on the Billboard 200

T.I.'s 'No Mercy' is the week's top debut

By Melinda NewmanWednesday, Dec 15, 2010 1:41 PM

Susan Boyle

Credit: Shizuo Kambayashi/AP

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One thing is for sure: Susan Boyle is having a great Christmas. Her holiday-themed sophomore set, “The Gift,” stays at No. 1, gathering its fourth week atop the Billboard 200 albums chart.

The album has now sold more than 1.4 million copies in five weeks, according to Nielsen SoundScan, including 243,000 this week.

Taylor Swift’s “Speak Now” holds at No. 2, but sees a sales uptick of 11% to 201,000 copies, according to Billboard.com. “Glee’s” Christmas album sees a tremendous 49% surge to climb 4-3 with sales of 193,000.

At No. 4, T.I.’s “No Mercy” is this week’s highest debut of the week. While the title sells a respectable 159,000, it’s a far cry from his last set, 2008’s “Paper Trail,” which arrived atop the leader board with opening sales of 568,000.

Only one other new title bows in the Top 10: Daft Punk’s score for “Tron: Legacy.” The set comes in at No. 10 with sales of 71,000, which is more than two times the French duo’s previous best week. Additionally “Tron: Legacy” is the first score album to land in the Top 10 since 2005’s “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.”

Another fun fact: With two “Glee” sets in the Top 10 (in addition to the Christmas set, “Season Two: Volume 4” stands at No. 8), there are three soundtracks in the top 10 for the second time this year.

Year-to-year numbers continue to be glum. Year-to-date album sales are 291.45 million, down 13% compared to last year. Digital sales are up from last year, but only by 1%. Year-to-date digital tracks have sold 1.065 billion.