When it comes to television ratings, new series “Glee” proved to be no match for lead-in “American Idol.” But while “Glee” has shown no signs of becoming a television phenomenon, the dramedy did manage to make a hit of its musical tie-in.
Tomorrow’s Billboard Hot 100 chart will reveal that “Don’t Stop Believin’,” which was performed by the cast in the premiere’s final moments and used aggressively during the marketing campaign, is the week’s “Hot Shot Debut.” With 177,000 digital downloads, the song will land at number four. Journey’s original version of the song was an aggressive download subject again this week–42,000 purchased a copy–but the 1981 track never broke past number 9 on the Hot 100 in its heyday.
The debut for the “Glee” song tops all nine chart debuts for “American Idol” contestant singles. Kris Allen’s victory song “No Boundaries” tops the list at number 11 with 134,000 downloads, a drop of more than 100,000 from “Time of My Life,” the first single released by season seven winner David Cook.
Other “Idol” debuts on the chart include Allen’s “Heartless” (16), “Ain’t No Sunshine” (37), “Apologize” (66) and “Falling Slowly” (94) and four singles from runner-up Adam Lambert, including “Mad World” (19), “A Change is Gonna Come” (56), “No Boundaries” (72) and “One” (82). While Allen consistently trailed season seven winner Cook on the charts, Lambert managed to outperform David Archuleta, last year’s runner-up.
An interesting note is that despite losing by what sources say was a significant margin, Lambert’s “Season 8 Favorite Performances” collection earned more downloads than Allen’s compilation, landing seventeen places higher on this week’s Billboard 200. On an individual single basis, however, Allen dominated Lambert.
In addition to boosting sales for its top two contestants, “Idol” also produced chart bumps for other related acts. Former winners David Cook and Carrie Underwood moved to 24 and 79 on the Hot 100 with “Permanent” (performed on the finale) and “Home Sweet Home” (performed on the penultimate episodes), respectively. Keith Urban, who dueted with Kris Allen on “Kiss a Girl” moved to 20.