Thanks ,enjoy reading the updates!

No problem!!!

Totally Hits 2004 – with its trifecta of Kelly Clarkson’s “The Trouble With Love Is,” Ruben’s “Sorry 2004,” and Clay Aiken’s “Invisible” – dropped to #32 from #19.

Locke’s fellow American Idol 2 runner-up Clay Aiken’s Measure of A Man dropped 10 spots from #129 to #139, while AI2 winner Ruben Studdard’s Soulful album dipped more sharply, dropping 31 spots from #137 to #168, after 24 weeks on the chart.


AI2 winner Ruben Studdard’s Soulful album dipped more sharply, dropping 31 spots from #137 to #168, after 24 weeks on the chart.

Feeling refreshed after our walk in the country we decide to put on some R&B tracks, like Studdard’s “Sorry 2004,” which is down nine spots from #22 to #31. An amusing thought crosses my mind as I ponder “What If,” which is another of Studdard’s singles, one that remains at #60 for another week.

Upon disembarking from the train, we find the residents of Singlesville mourning for Clay, whose “Solitaire/The Way” single has unfortunately been dethroned by JoJo’s “Leave (Get Out),” and has thus fallen to #2 on the Hot 100 Singles Sales chart for the first time since K-Lo’s “8th World Wonder” debuted at #1, 11 weeks ago.

For variety, we throw in some Adult Contemporary, such as Aiken’s “Solitaire,” which is stuck at #27 for the third straight week.

Totally Hits 2004 – containing Kelly Clarkson’s “The Trouble With Love Is,” Ruben’s “Sorry 2004,” and Clay Aiken’s “Invisible” – dropped from #32 to #37.

And finally, we have some concert news. As you probably already know, AI2 runner-up Clay Aiken will be touring on his own over the summer (as opposed to his earlier dual-headlining tour with AI1 winner Kelly Clarkson earlier this year). He will begin July 2 on Good Morning America and kick into high gear all the way through September 19.

Clay also sang “Measure of a Man” and the National Anthem before the NASCAR Nextel Cup race in Dover yesterday. Here is a list of tour dates that we know of right now – it includes a number of state and county fairs (including the Clay County fair in Iowa, of course):

July 2: New York (Bryant Park, Good Morning America)
July 6: Bismarck, N.D. (Bismark Civic Center)
July 8: Grand Forks, N.D. (Ralph Engelstad Arena)
July 9: Sioux Falls, S.D. (Sioux Falls Arena)
July 10: Appleton, Wis. (Fox Cities Stadium)
July 12: Lexington, Ky. (Rupp Arena)
July 13: Charleston, W.Va. (Charleston Civic Center)
July 14: Nashville (Gaylord Entertainment Center)
July 16: Greensboro, N.C. (Greensboro Coliseum)
July 17: Greenville, S.C. (Bi Lo Center)
July 18: North Charleston, S.C. (No. Charleston Coliseum)
July 20: Portsmouth, Va. (NTELOS Pavilion, Harbor Center)
July 21: Roanoke, Va. (Roanoke Civic Center)
July 23: Baltimore (First Mariner Arena)
July 24: Syracuse, N.Y. (OnCenter)
July 27: Harrington, Del. (Delaware State Fair)
July 29: Mashantucket, Conn. (Foxwoods Casino)
July 30-31: Atlantic City, N.J. (Caesars Atlantic City)
Aug. 1: Portland, Maine (Cumberland County Civic Center)
Aug. 3: Kingston, R.I. (Ryan Center at the University of Rhode Island)
Aug. 5: Gilford, N.H. (Meadowbrook Farm Musical Arts Center)
Aug. 6: Bethlehem, Pa. (Bethlehem Musicfest)
Aug. 7: Clearfield, Pa. (Clearfield County Fair)
Aug. 8: Albany, N.Y. (Pepsi Arena)
Aug. 11: Columbus, Ohio (Celeste Center)
Aug. 12: Jackson, Mich. (Jackson County Fair)
Aug. 13: Springfield, Ill. (Illinois State Fair)
Aug. 15: Des Moines, Iowa (Iowa State Fair)
Aug. 16: Indianapolis (Indiana State Fair)
Aug. 17: Knoxville, Tenn. (Thompson Boling Arena)
Aug. 19: Hamburg, N.Y. (Erie County Fair)
Aug. 20-21: Clio, Mich. (Clio Amphitheater)
Aug. 23: Rockford, Ill. (Rockford Metro Center)
Aug. 24: Cleveland (Scene Pavilion)
Aug. 26: St. Paul, Minn. (Minnesota State Fair)
Aug. 27: Milwaukee (U.S. Cellular Arena)
Aug. 28: Dayton, Ohio (Ervin J. Nutter Center)
Aug. 29: Fort Wayne, Ind. (Allen Co. Memorial Coliseum)
Aug. 31: Topeka, Kan. (Landon Arena)
Sept. 8: Dallas (Nokia Live)
Sept. 10: Hutchinson, Kan. (Kansas State Fair)
Sept. 11: Spencer, Iowa (Clay County Fair)
Sept. 15: Portsmouth, Va. (NTELOS Pavilion, Harbor Center)
Sept. 16: York, Pa. (York Fair)
Sept. 19: West Springfield, Mass. (Eastern States Exposition)
Oct. 18: Raleigh, N.C. (North Carolina State Fair)

Further down the Billboard 200, we have American Idol 2 winner Ruben Studdard’s Soulful, coming in at #140 with 8,386 copies sold this week for a grand total so far of 1,705,094 albums. American Idol 2 runner-up Clay Aiken’s Measure of A Man was 10 spots behind at #150, having sold 7,819 copies this week for a grand total so far of 2,566,362 albums.

Aiken’s “Solitaire/The Way” single dropped another spot to #3, after staying in the #2 spot for two weeks, having sold over 5,000 copies this week for a grand total of about 280,000 copies so far. The good news is that “Solitaire” climbed one spot from #24 to #23 on the Radio & Records Adult Contemporary National Airplay chart.

US TOP 20 SINGLES
FOR THE WEEK ENDING: JUNE 10 - JUNE 17, 2004

1.) No. 5 CLAY AIKEN SOLITAIRE/THE WAY

The big news this week is that Measure of A Man, the debut album by American Idol 2 runner-up Clay Aiken, bid adieu to the Billboard 200. Since Ruben Studdard, the AI 2 Winner, saw his debut album, Soulful, drop a whopping 60 spots to #200 this week, selling 5,560 copies (bringing his total to 1,710,655 albums sold to date), one can only deduce that Aiken sold fewer copies than that. This marks the end of Measure of A Man's 34-week run on the Billboard 200 and the end of an 11-week run (although it's probably longer than that) where Aiken's album outsold Studdard's by an almost consistent 2:1 margin. Now, since I can just visualize you Ruben fans out there torching my Inbox with flaming emails, allow me to prove it to you. I'm able to do so thanks to these figures that I received from an avid, chartwatching fan.

Weeks
Since
Release MOAM Sales Soulful Sales
16 25,180 23,259
17 30,119 18,039
18 43,664 19,933
19 21,930 12,586
20 16,620 10,472
21 17,217 8,599
22 20,722 10,422
23 24,222 7,490
24 20,114 6,321
25 16,965 8,937
26 19,262 8,386
27 11,239 5,560


Aiken's fall off the chart is not surprising. His album had a long, healthy run on the chart and without any new singles to spur it on, album sales took a natural (if somewhat large 50-spot) decline.

However, Aiken won't be lonely for long. At #200, Studdard already has one foot off the chart, although he's doing better on the Billboard R&B Albums chart where Soulful is at #48, having dropped 16 spots since last week.

Aiken's "Solitaire" remained in the same position as last week on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart, at #29.

On the Billboard Hot R&B Singles and Tracks chart, both of Studdard's singles were faring quite well. "Sorry 2004" remained at #44 for the second consecutive week, while his latest single, "What If," jumped seven spots from #54 to #47, recovering nicely from a one spot drop two weeks ago.

As far as singles sales are concerned, Aiken's "Solitaire slipped from #3 to #5.

Aiken's "Solitaire," wasn't as lucky, dropping one spot from #29 to #30 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.

Aiken's "Solitaire" dropped one spot to land at #6 selling 3,646 copies for a grand total so far of 286,846 copies on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales chart.

While Studdard was nowhere to be found on the Billboard 200, he is still doing well on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop chart, coming in at #73.

Studdard's "What If" climbed one spot from #54 to #53 on the Billboard R&B Singles/Tracks chart.

Billboard 200 Charts

As for compilation CDs, Totally Hits 2004 – a compilation that includes inaugural Idol Kelly Clarkson’s “The Trouble With Love Is,” American Idol 2 winner Ruben Studdard’s “Sorry 2004” and American Idol 2 runner-up Clay Aiken’s “Invisible” – dropped one spot to the #67 position.

In more good news, former American Idol Ruben Studdard’s Soulful regained a fifth of its 25-spot drop two weeks ago, climbing five spots from #73 to #68.

Rounding out the Top 12 is the release of Studdard’s new single “What If,” which debuted at #14 on the list of top-selling singles in the country. Considering its formidable competition, it’s hard to understand why this single was released on the same day as Fantasia’s highly-anticipated single, and not delayed by a week or so, especially in hindsight considering that Studdard only managed sales of 1,353 copies in the single’s first week of release.

Billboard R&B Singles & Tracks Chart

Ruben Studdard's “What If” single dropped six spots from #53 to #59.

The second-biggest selling single of the week is Clay Aiken’s “Solitaire,” which climbed back up the chart from #6 to #2 on the strength of 4,275 copies sold this week, bringing the total so far to 291,121 copies. If Aiken reaches #1 next week, he’ll become the first Idolalumnus to drop from #1 only to later regain it, a feat usually reserved for only a small number of veteran singers.

Aiken’s drop wasn’t as big. His single, “Solitaire,” failed to hold on to its #30 position, also known as the bottom rung on the Adult Contemporary chart, and thus fell off. The good news for Aiken is that the single is still on the Radio & Records Adult Contemporary chart, having dropped four spots to #29.

Billboard 200 Charts

Totally Hits 2004 — with Kelly Clarkson’s “Low,” Ruben Studdard’s “Sorry 2004,” and Clay Aiken’s “Invisible” — sank from #67 to #90.


Billboard R&B Albums Chart

The only album to actually climb a chart this week was America’s Velvet Teddy Bear and AI2 winner Ruben Studdard, proving that even though a new American Idol has been named, he’s still flying without wings. His Soulful album climbed an impressive seven spots from #68 to #61.


Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales Chart

Continuing on the roller coaster ride he’s been on the past few weeks, American Idol 2 runner-up Clay Aiken dropped back down to #6 this week, which is where he was two weeks ago before last week’s four-spot jump.

Ruben Studdard, whose album was the only one to climb this week, also had the biggest drop in singles sales. His latest single, “What If” traded in position #12 for #21, in its second week of release; a nine-spot drop.


Billboard R&B Singles Sales Chart

Ruben Studdard's “What If” is also #42.