Michael Buble is having a great Christmas. After topping the Billboard 200 this week with the slimmest of margins over Nickelback with his holiday album, “Christmas,” it looks like the crooner is on top to stay through the holidays.
Buble is on track to sell around 275,000 copies of his holiday sparkler next week, giving him a 2-to-1 lead over his next competitor, Adele”s “21,” which likely soars five spots back to No. 2 following her six Grammy nominations.
With major releases slowing to a trickle (other than the Black Keys next week) until 2012, we”re likely to see no debuts in the Billboard top 10 next week, but here”s how it looks so far: Justin Bieber”s holiday title, “Under the Mistletoe” is neck and neck with “21” for second place. Former No. 1 title, “Take Care” from “Drake” could hit the 100,000 mark while remaining at No. 4, and Mary J. Blige”s “My Life ll-The Journey Continues” will stay at No. 5.
There”s a dead heat between Nickleback”s “Here & Now” and Rihanna”s “Talk That Talk” for No. 6 and No. 7 with each slated to sell upwards of 75,000. Andrea Bocelli”s “Concerto: One Night In Central Park” looks good for No. 8, while “Now 40” and Coldplay”s “Mylo Xyloto” should be No. 9 and No. 10 next week respectively (although Coldplay may get its butt kicked by little Jackie Evancho and her latest holiday offering).