Susan Boyle Breaks Alicia Keys’ Streak Of #1 Debuts

Alicia Keys may chirp on Jay-Z’s “Empire State Of Mind,” which is currently enjoying its fifth week atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart, but her album The Element Of Freedom proved to be no match for reigning Scottish hellion Susan Boyle.

Now in its fourth week of cashing it in at #1 on Billboard‘s Top 200 Albums chart, Boyle’s I Dreamed A Dream has racked up sales of 2.4 million. (The set of standards actually sold 661,000 copies in the last week alone, up from the previous week’s tally of 582,000.)

Keys’ The Element Of Freedom sold enough (417,000) out of the gate to bump Andrea Bocelli’s holiday collection My Christmas down from the runner-up position. But these first week sales are quite a drop from those of Keys’ previous studio album, As I Am (742,000). This also breaks Alicia’s four-album streak of LPs debuting at the top of the chart.

One reason could be that Keys has yet to knock a smash hit single from The Element Of Freedom out of the park. (If her label is smart, they’ll hop to promoting that Beyonce duet!)

Elsewhere, Robin Thicke’s Sex Therapy: The Session slides in at #9 after selling 123,000 during its first week. And if you’re wondering if splurging on Leona Lewis’ to sing ballad “I See You” was money well spent by James Cameron & Co., the Avatar soundtrack has debuted at #172 after opening sales of 10,000. Hey, at least the song got a Golden Glob nomination, right? Anyone?

On a final note, though the actual Billboard chart won’t be published till tomorrow, Hits Daily Double shows that Chris Brown (who debuted at #7  last week) has fallen to #32 with Graffiti.

The Top 10 of Billboard‘s Top 200 Albums:

1. Susan Boyle, I Dreamed A Dream 2. Alica Keys, The Element Of Freedom *new* 3. Andrea Bocelli, My Christmas 4. Taylor Swift, Fearless 5. Carrie Underwood, Play On 6. Lady Gaga, The Fame 7. Michael Buble, Crazy Love 8. Justin Bieber, My World 9. Robin Thicke, Sex Therapy: The Session *new* 10. Various, Glee: The Music, Volume 2