Nothing quite captures the holiday spirit like American Idol stars fighting for stocking-stuffer supremacy.

And once again Bo Bice's strong showing was no match for the force that is Carrie Underwood. The country songbird, who beat the country rocker on the fourth American Idol last spring, proved her supremacy in record sales.

For the week ended Sunday, Bice's debut album The Real Thing sold 227,000 first-week copies to land at number four, according to Nielsen SoundScan. By comparison, Underwood's Some Hearts, which moved 315,000 copies in its opening five weeks ago, sold 271,000 last week to jump to number two.

Underwood and Bice previously released dueling CD-single versions of "Inside Your Heaven" a week apart last June. While both singers topped the singles chart in their respective weeks, Underwood sold slightly more first-week copies; to date, her single's outsold Bice's 444,000 to 331,000.

Still it was a good showing in an otherwise glum week for Bice, who was rushed to the hospital in Las Vegas over the weekend after suffering complications from intestinal surgery earlier this year. Bice was forced to cancel an appearance on Monday's Radio Music Awards, but his publicist says the singer is back home and on the mend.

Neither Idol alum was a match for Eminem, however, who held the top spot for a second straight week as his Curtain Call retrospective sold another 324,000 discs. Still, Idol was the focus of the album chart, with Underwood and Bice joined in the Top 10 by original champ Kelly Clarkson's Breakaway at eight, the three discs accounting for nearly 700,000 in sales last week.

Moreover, Clarkson's quadruple-platinum smash has now spent 55 consecutive weeks in the Top 20, a feat not accomplished in more than five years, and Clay Aiken's holiday-themed Merry Christmas with Love just passed the million-copy mark. The new American Idol season premieres Jan. 17 on Fox.

Outside the Idol world, Mariah Carey had plenty to celebrate. The Emancipation of Mimi climbed a spot to seven on 191,000 copies, up 50,000 discs from last week. Her 36-week tally now tops 4.5 million copies. Her smash hit "We Belong Together" topped Billboard's year-end Hot 100 list, having spent 14 weeks at number one, the longest such run for any artist in eight years.

Last but not least, her new Mimi-generated hit, "Don't Forget About Us," ruled this week's Hot 100, giving her the 17th number one single of her career. She has now tied Elvis Presley for the most number ones by a solo artist and ranks behind only the Beatles, who notched 20 chart-toppers, on the all-time list.

Meanwhile, several notable newcomers had varying degrees of success.

Ludacris Presents...Disturbing Tha Peace just missed the Top 10, selling 151,000 for a number 11 bow. The collection features songs and appearances by Jamie Foxx, Stat Quo, Trick Daddy, Redman and, yes, Ludacris himself.

Soul survivor Anthony Hamilton entered at 19 as Ain't Nobody Worryin' sold 112,000. After a series of false starts at different record labels, the North Carolina-born singer finally caught buzz for his vocals on the Grammy-nominated Nappy Roots hit "Po' Folks." He then broke big with 2003's platinum-selling So So Def release Comin' from Where I'm From and earned another Grammy nod for vocals on Jadakiss' "Why."

Reggaeton star Daddy Yankee's deluxe CD/DVD reissue Barrio Fino en Directo checked in at 24 with sales of 103,300. The disc topped Billboard's Latin album chart.

Finally, the soundtrack to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe opened at 43 and the Youngbloodz's Ev'rybody Know Me followed at 44.

Overall, album sales jumped nearly 29 percent from last week but are still down 11 percent from the same period last year.

Here's a rundown of the Top 10 albums, per Nielsen SoundScan:

1. Curtain Call, Eminem
2. Some Hearts, Carrie Underwood
3. Now That's What I Call Music! 20, various
4. The Real Thing, Bo Bice
5. The Road and the Radio, Kenny Chesney
6. All the Right Reasons, Nickelback
7. The Emancipation of Mimi, Mariah Carey
8. Breakaway, Kelly Clarkson
9. Monkey Business, Black Eyed Peas
10. The Legend of Johnny Cash, Johnny Cash