Idol Notes: Taylor Hicks Plays B-Ball, Kimberley Locke on Don't Forget and Jordin Sparks On Tour With Alicia Keys

Here's a bit of an update on what some former Idol contestants are up to:

-Season 5 winner Taylor Hicks will participate in the All-Star/Celebrity Basketball game , which is taking place tonight. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

-Season 2 third place finisher Kimberley Locke will appear on a special celebrity version of Don't Forget the Lyrics. Locke, who will be competing for charity, will be on the show on a TBD date in March.

-Finally, Season 5 champ Jordin Sparks will go on tour with multi-platinum Grammy winner Alicia Keys. This will surely provide Jordin with exposure to a new audience.

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For the First Time in More Than Three Years There is No Idol in the Top 20 Album Chart

As the competition on season 7 of American Idol heats up, there's no Idol alum in the Top 20 on the Album Sales Chart this week for the first time in literally years. Uh oh!

At least one former Idol has been in the Top 20 since Kelly Clarkson's Breakaway was released in late 2004, with Daughtry and Carrie Underwood spending most of the past 2 years in the Top 20. Adding insult to injury to the Idol franchise, last year's champ, Jordin Sparks, has fallen out of the Top 50!

Daughtry is the highest charting representative from the show this week, coming in at #24 with sales of about 22K. Carrie Underwood is right behind at #29 with sales just under 20K.

Sparks, meanwhile, has fallen out of the Top 50 for the first time since her album debuted in December. It's a bit surprising, as her single "Tattoo" is still the #5 song on the Pop chart, and her duet with Chris Brown ("No Air") is quickly rising.

The top five spots on the chart this week belong to Alicia Keys (63K), the soundtrack to Juno (53K), the Grammy Nominees collection (52K), Bullets for My Valentine (51K) and Mary J Blige (48K).

Numbers courtesy of Hits Daily Double

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Daughtry and Underwood Swap Spots for the Third Straight Week on the Album Sales Chart

Chris Daughtry and Carrie Underwood continue to swap spots on the album sales chart, with Daughtry coming out on top this week. This is the third straight week the two Idol alumni have traded places.

Daughtry sold 21K albums this week, which put him at #19 on the chart, four spots higher than he was last week. Underwood, meanwhile, sold just under 20K albums, good enough for the #22 spot, a four spot drop from last week. Looks like this back-and-forth will continue for some time to come.

Jordin Sparks is still hangin' tough in the Top 50, selling 13K albums and falling two spots from last week.

This week's top 5 albums were the soundtrack to Juno (66K), Alicia Keys (59K), Natasha Bedingfield (50K), Mary J Blige (45K) and Radiohead (35K).

Numbers courtesy of Hits Daily Double

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Underwood Outsells Daughtry, as Sparks Hangs On in the Top 50 Album Sales Chart

There's quite a battle going on between Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry on the sales charts! Last week, Daughtry's album placed above Underwood's; this week Underwood grabbed the higher spot.

For the week ending January 20, Carrie sold 21K albums for the #18 spot, while Daughtry moved 19K albums for the #23 spot. Fellow Idol alumni Jordin Sparks sold 12,600 albums (almost identical to the number she sold last week), which put her at #44.

Alicia Keys once again grabbed the top spot on the chart, followed by the soundtrack to Juno, Mary J Blige, Raheem Devaughn and Radiohead.

Numbers courtesy of Hits Daily Double

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Underwood, Daughtry and Sparks Maintain Status Quo on Album Chart; Lewis Drops Out of Top 50

Not a whole lot of change on this week's album sales chart, with Carrie Underwood, Daughtry and Jordin Sparks each placing in the Top 50 despite recessed sales.

Underwood sold about 27K copies of Carnival Ride this week, which puts her at #18 on the chart. Daughtry continues to impress more than a year after his CD was released, moving 23K copies for the #25 spot, while Sparks sold about 16K copies of her debut CD, good for the #46 position.

Blake Lewis has dropped out of the Top 50 less than a month after his CD's release.

This week's Top 5 consists of Radiohead (116K), Alicia Keys (110K), Mary J Blige (80K), NOW 26 (51K) and Taylor Swift (45).

Numbers courtesy of Hits Daily Double


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Underwood, Daughtry and Sparks' Album Sales Increase, as Lewis' Plummet

There was good news for three former Idols on this week's album chart, and not-so-good news for one.

Both Carrie Underwood and Jordin Sparks saw sales increases this week -- Carrie jumped by 32% to sell 138K for the #9 spot, while Jordin's sales increased 16% to 60K, good enough for the #26 spot. Daughtry saw the week's biggest gain, improving 40% to 60K, which put him at #27.

Blake Lewis, meanwhile, who debuted last week in the Top 10, plummeted 44% to just 54K. That leaves him at #33 for the week.

Josh Groban, yet again, grabbed the chart's top spot, selling a whopping 666K copies of Noel. Alicia Keys (299K), The Eagles (239K), Mannheim Steamroller (193K) and NOW 26 (192K) round out the Top 5.

Source: Hits Daily Double

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American Idol's Blake Lewis Sells Less Than 100K for #9 Debut on Album Chart

Well this should make Jordin Sparks feel a little better.

American Idol runner-up Blake Lewis sold 98K copies of his new CD, debuting at #9 on this week's album chart. Click here to see how that holds up against the debuts of other Idol second place finishers.

Carrie Underwood moved 105K copies of her CD Carnival Ride, which placed her at #7. That was an increase of 15% over the previous week.

Sparks sold 52K discs, putting her at #24, while Daughtry, whose CD was released over a year ago, sold 43K CD's for the #33 spot.

The top spot on the album chart was, once again, held by Josh Groban, who moved a very impressive 569K copies of his Christmas CD. Wow, wow, wow.

The rest of the Top 5 was populated by Alicia Keys (234K), The Eagles (203K), Now 26 (159K) and Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus (136K).

Numbers courtesy of Hits Daily Double

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Jordin Sparks Sells Less CD's Than Any Other Idol Champ

Here's a funny irony -- Jordin Sparks' debut CD got probably the best critical reception of any American Idol winner. However, she sold less copies in the first week than any of her fellow champions. Hmmmm.

Sparks sold about 121K copies of her new CD, good enough for the #9 spot on this week's album chart. That is two positions lower than Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood, who moved 137K copies of her sophomore disc. Daughtry, riding a wave from the American Music Awards (where the band took home three trophies), nearly doubled sales from the week before, selling 43K CD's.

Josh Groban's Christmas album crossed the 400K mark, which earned him the top spot on this week's chart. He is followed by Alicia Keys (336K), Now 26 (232K), The Eagles (216K), and the soundtrack to High School Musical 2 (190K).

Numbers according to Hits Daily Double