Ruben Too "Soulful" for Competition

Chalk up another victory for Ruben Studdard.

The reigning American Idol champ squashed the competition with his debut album, Soulful, opening on top of the album chart by selling more than 416,000 copies last week, according to Nielsen SoundScan numbers released Wednesday.

Though the Velvet Teddy Bear vanquished the chart competition, his debut album didn't quite measure up to that of Idol rival Clay Aiken. Aiken, who finished behind Studdard on the show by less than 1 percent of the vote, bested Studdard in a head-to-head duel in June on the single chart, selling 393,000 copies to Studdard's 286,000. Just last month, Aiken made an even stronger statement as his debut, Measure of a Man, moved 613,000 first-week copies, still the mark to beat for Idol participants.

The Studdard-Aiken sales contest couldn't be more different from that of the first season's competitors. Inaugural Idol champ Kelly Clarkson debuted at number one with 279,000 copies of Thankful in April, while her runner-up, Justin Guarini, debuted at 20 with just 57,000 copies of his self-titled disc last June. Clarkson's Thankful currently sits at number 92 in its 35th week, while Justin Guarini is long gone from the charts entirely and he has reportedly been dumped by his record label.

With Studdard in the top spot, Alicia Keys' sophomore release, The Diary of Alicia Keys, dropped to number two with 342,000 copies. Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 14 trailed at three, Toby Keith's Shock'n Y'All came in at four, and Josh Groban's Closer was at five.

Last October, Rod Stewart's As Time Goes By...Great American Songbook: Vol. II nearly bumped Clay Aiken from the top spot, but the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer wound up peaking at number two and quickly dropped from the Top 10. This week, Songbook reentered the Top 10 at number seven thanks to a string of recent television appearances, including Good Morning America and The Late Show with David Letterman.

The rest of the Top 10, all holdovers, included OutKast's multiple-Grammy-nominated Speakerboxxx/The Love Below at six, Hilary Duff's Metamorphosis at eight, The Very Best of Sheryl Crow at nine and Britney Spears' In the Zone at 10.

Philly neo-soul singer Musiq nabbed the week's second-best bow with Soulstar moving nearly 156,000 copies at 13. After a seven-year hiatus, Westside Connection returned to the charts with Terrorist Threats selling 136,000 copies at 16. The three-emcee group features all-star rappers Ice Cube, Mack-10 and WC.

Avant's third release, Private Room, sold 128,000 copies giving the Cleveland-based R&B crooner a number-18 bow. The Big Tymers, a New Orleans rap duo that cofounded Cash Money Records, dropped in at 21 with Big Money Heavyweights. Neptunes protégé Kelis scored a solid debut bow at 27 with Tasty, featuring the naughty radio hit "Milkshake."

With urban debuts dominating, new rock releases were shut out of the Top 20. The Offspring and Hoobastank had the week's highest rock debuts, with the Offspring's Splinter opening at 30, while Hoobastank's The Reason checked in at 45. (For those keeping score at home, the Offspring originally intended to usurp the title of Guns N' Roses forever-in-the-works album Chinese Democracy, but the O.C. punks went with Splinter at the last moment. Says Offspring guitarist Noodles, "It's a stupid title, and we felt we took the joke as far as was prudent.")

Other notable debuts included actor Nick Cannon's self-titled at 83 and Canadian singer Fefe Dobson at 111 with her own eponymous disc.

Meanwhile, over on the singles charts, Mercy Me's 10-week reign at number one finally ended. Madonna's "Nothing Fails" took over the top spot, knocking the Christian pop-rockers' "I Can Only Imagine" all the way down to number five.

Here's a recap of the Top 10 albums for the week ended Sunday:

1. Soulful, Ruben Studdard
2. The Diary of Alicia Keys, Alicia Keys
3. Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 14, various
4. Shock'n Y'All, Toby Keith
5. Closer, Josh Groban
6. Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, OutKast
7. As Time Goes By...Great American Songbook: Vol. II, Rod Stewart
8. Metamorphosis, Hilary Duff
9. The Very Best of Sheryl Crow, Sheryl Crow
10. In the Zone, Britney Spears