Crystal Bowersox appears to be on her way to beating ninth-season American Idol winner Lee Dewyze in their album sales re-match.
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While it debuted lower on The Billboard 200 album sales chart due to higher overall holiday sales, the Idol runner-up's "Farmer's Daughter" debut album post higher sales during its first week of release last week than Dewyze's poor-selling debut did when it hit stores in November.
The 24-year-old Bowersox outsold DeWyze by nearly 19,000 first-week units, as she sold 58,000 copies of her album to DeWyze's 39,000 copies of his "Live It Up" album. However, "Farmer's Daughter" landed at No. 28 on The Billboard 200 chart, while DeWyze's album debuted at No. 19 during its initial week of release according to Nielson Soundscan figures, USA Today reported Wednesday.
In just one week, "Farmer's Daughter" has reportedly already posted 69% percent of the total sales the ninth-season American Idol champ's debut album has posted since its November 16 release.
However, while Bowersox outsold DeWyze, her debut week sales still rank near the bottom of the list when compared with American Idol's prior runner-ups -- beating only first-season runner-up Justin Guarini, who sold only 57,000 copies, and third-season runner-up Diana Degarmo, who sold only 47,000 copies.
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Bowersox's sales mark the third time that an American Idol runner-up has posted higher first-week sales than the season's winner.
Last year, eighth-season runner-up Adam Lambert sold 198,000 copies of his debut album "For Your Entertainment," more than doubling winner Kris Allen's self-titled debut album, which only sold 80,000 copies. Lambert's album also debuted at No. 3 on The Billboard 200 chart in comparison to Allen's album, which only debuted at No. 11.
In addition, second-season American Idol winner Ruben Studdard and runner-up Clay Aiken both managed to debut on The Billboard 200 chart at No. 1 in 2003, but Aiken's "Measure of a Man" debut album sold almost 200,000 more copies than Studdard's "Soulful." Aiken sold 613,000 albums in its initial week of release, while Studdard sold 417,000 copies.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski