The sales numbers for the first week of Clay Aiken's new holiday release are in, and it looks like the one-time American Idol runner-up is well on his way to his second straight platinum album.
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Clay's "Merry Christmas With Love," which was released a week before last Tuesday's release of American Idol 2 winner Ruben Studdard's "I Need An Angel" holiday CD and American Idol 3 winner Fantasia Barrino's "Free Yourself" debut album, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Holiday Albums chart with first week sales of 270,100 units.
The performance gave "Merry Christmas With Love" the biggest debut week sales figure for a Christmas album since the SoundScan era began in 1991. Additionally, the CD opened at No. 4 on The Billboard 200 (which tracks all album sales regardless of genre, etc.), giving "Merry Christmas With Love" the highest debut for a holiday album since Celine Dion's album of six years ago.
"Merry Christmas With Love" is Clay's first Christmas CD. The follow-up to his triple-platinum "Measure of a Man" debut album, the holiday set features classic Christmas songs like "Silent Night," "Winter Wonderland," "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)," and "Sleigh Ride," as well as some of Aiken's personal favorite tunes of the season, like "Don't Save It All for Christmas Day" and "Mary, Did You Know?" He also covers Sandi Patty "Merry Christmas With Love."
In addition to starring in his upcoming December 8 A Clay Aiken Christmas holiday special on NBC, Clay will also be appearing on NBC's Christmas in Rockefeller Center on November 30 and on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on December 6, The Today Show on December 8 and The View on December 9.
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"The Measure of a Man," Clay's debut album, was released in October 2003 and has gone multi-platinum, selling more than 2.6 million copies.