Music

The 'Christmas' album beats new entries Nickelback's 'Here and Now', Rihanna's 'Talk That Talk', and Mary J. Blige's 'My Life II... The Journey Continues (Act 1)'.

• Dec 1, 2011

AceShowbiz - After holding the runner-up position firmly for two weeks in a row, Michael Buble finally claims the top spot on Billboard Hot 200 this week. He leads the U.S. Album chart just a little bit ahead of strong competitor Nickelback. His latest holiday album "Christmas" sold just over 227,000, while the band's effort "Here and Now" bows a bit under 227,000.

This marks Buble's third chart topper and best sales week. He previously topped the weekly rundown with his 2007's "Call Me Irresponsible" (212,000 copies) and 2009's "Crazy Love" (203,000 copies). As for Nickelback, it becomes their fifth top 10 and third consecutive set to arrive in the top 2. Three years ago, they entered No. 2 with 326,000 copies of "Dark Horse" sold.

The other new entries blocked from the first position on the chart are Rihanna's Talk That Talk" and Mary J. Blige's "My Life II... The Journey Continues (Act 1)". The former lands at No. 3 with 197,000, while the latter rounds up the top 5 with 156,000. Sandwitched by the ladies' albums is last week's champ Drake's "Take Care" which falls to No. 4 with 173,000.

Fellow Canadian artist Justin Bieber also takes a tumble. His charity holiday album "Under the Mistletoe" is pushed down from the fifth to the sixth place. The same goes to Adele's "21" which falls from No. 3 to No. 7, and Coldplay's "Mylo Xyloto" which is forced to give up No. 9 to sit at No. 10.

The fourth and final new entry on the top 10 this week is DAUGHTRY's "Break the Spell". The album bows at No. 8 by selling 129,000 copies in its opening week. In the next spot, there is Scotty McCreery's "Clear as Day" which actually has been long kicked out of the top 10. It jumps back to the list by rising from No. 13 to No. 9 with 88,000 (up 165|percent|).

Top 10 of Billboard Hot 200:

1. "Christmas" - Michael Buble (227,000)
2. "Here and Now" - Nickelback (227,000)
3. "Talk That Talk" - Rihanna (198,000)
4. "Take Care" - Drake (173,000)
5. "My Life II... The Journey Continues (Act 1)" - Mary J. Blige (156,000)
6. "Under the Mistletoe" - Justin Bieber (142,000)
7. "21" - Adele (140,000)
8. "Break the Spell" - DAUGHTRY (129,000)
9. "Clear as Day" - Scotty McCreery (88,000)
10. "Mylo Xyloto" - Coldplay (79,000)