Rigged or Not, Idol Still Wild
Frank Micelotta/FOX
AT&T insists there was no monkeying with the votes. Fox stands by the results. And now, in the ultimate blow to conspiracy theorists who think Adam Lambert was jobbed, fans have voted with their pocketbooks.
Kris Allen really is the champ.
A week after going head-to-head on the surprising American Idol finale, the two singers' battle spilled over to the charts, with Allen's rendition of the Kara DioGuardi-penned victory single "No Boundaries" handily trumping Lambert's.
Allen's rendition, one of five songs the newly crowned Idol placed in Billboard's Hot 100, debuted at No. 11 with 134,000 downloads. Lambert's version fell short selling 36,000 copies at No. 72.
Lambert charted highest with "Mad World" selling 115,000 digital copies at No. 19. Ironically, both the original version by Tears for Fears and an earlier cover by Gary Jules failed to crack the Hot 100 in their time.
All told, the two had nine songs cracking the charts.
Allen's other chart entries included "Heartless" (No. 16), "Ain't No Sunshine" (No. 37), "Apologize" (No. 66) and "Falling Slowly" (No. 94), while Lambert also charted with "A Change Is Gonna Come" (No. 56) and "One" (No. 82).
Though the champ won the singles battle, Lambert won the battle of "Season 8 Performances." Available exclusively through iTunes, Lambert's package sold 16,000 copies to Allen's 10,000, debuting at Nos. 33 and 50 respectively on the Billboard 200.
Remarkably, the nine Hot 100 bows don't top David Cook's postwin week in which he set the all-time chart record with 11 debuts, including a No. 3 bow for "Time of My Life." Season five's Taylor Hicks still remains the last champ to debut at No. 1 with a victory single.
Fittingly, Cook also cracked the charts this week at No. 24, selling 103,000 downloads of "Permanent," which he performed on the season finale. All proceeds from the song's sales benefit the Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure organization.
Past contestants Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, Jordin Sparks and Kellie Pickler also have songs on the chart giving American Idol a total of 18 spots on the Hot 100.
Nevertheless, the week's big irony is that another Fox series scored the week's top debut. The Glee cast debuted at No. 4 with a cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" that moved 177,000 digital copies. Not only does that top the Idol stars, it even tops the original version, which peaked at No. 9 back in 1981.
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