Fueled by a title track that will become her best-charting single to date, Demi Lovato is set to lead all newcomers on the album charts next week.
“Here We Go Again,” the sophomore offering from the Disney Channel star, is tracking for a debut sales week of 110-120,000, according Hits Daily Double. Released less than a year after her debut “Don’t Forget,” the new album is capitalizing on the hype for Lovato’s summer tour with David Archuleta.
Lovato’s profile has risen in past last year; the freshman album posted opening week sales of 89,000 last September.
“Here We Go Again” is not a lock for the top spot on the album sales chart–the Michael Jackson “Number Ones” collection continues to sell, while Daughtry’s “Leave this Town” could remain in contention by holding onto just 45% of its 269,000 opening week sales figure.
What is for certain, however, is that “Here We Go Again” will top all other album debuts. The next best performer looks to be sixth “American Idol” winner Jordin Sparks’ “Battlefield,” which is paced for a bow in the 45-50,000 range. The drop of more than 50% from her debut album is a disappointment for Sparks, who continues to have the worst single success-to-album sales ratio of any “Idol” winner. Despite producing major Top 40 hits like “Tattoo,” “No Air” and “One Step at a Time,” Sparks’ self-titled debut barely went platinum, and it apparently did little to fuel interest in the new album (which already has a solid hit single in “Battlefield”).
“Burn Burn,” the latest from Our Lady Peace, will fall in the 10-15,000 range. Tracking was not available on Sugar Ray’s “Music for Cougars” and Brooke Hogan’s “The Redemption,” but neither was expected to make a big splash.
Updated: Based on final sales totals from HITS, which usually vary by a few thousand from Billboard/Nielsen Soundscan, Lovato’s “Here We Go Again” will land at number one on the Billboard 200 with 114,000 sales (sales-wise, it still falls behind the ineligible “Number Ones” from Michael Jackson, of which 161,173 units were moved). Sparks’ “Battlefield” slides into the top ten with 48,418 sales, while none of the other new albums made a mark.