Nelly Furtado Hits #1, Busta Rhymes Falls

After a sexy switch in style that's already garnered her a huge summer hit with Timbaland in "Promiscuous", it seemed clear that Nelly Furtado's third CD, Loose, had a shot at number one. But could it topple last week's chart winner, The Big Bang by Busta Rhymes? Without much of a fight. In fact, Busta Rhymes fell all the way down to fifth place with a 67% drop. MTV News broke the chart-topping story about Nelly Furtado, "Sometimes you have to tank a bit to get your mojo back. After failing to grab fans with her second album, 2003's Folklore, Nelly Furtado is back on top with her third effort, Loose, which will debut at #1 on Billboard's albums chart, according to the latest SoundScan totals. Thanks to the ubiquitous Timbaland-produced hit "Promiscuous," Loose's week-one sales of 219,000 were more than enough to earn the singer her first #1 debut."

Loose marked Nelly Furtado's first #1 album, with her debut, Whoa, Nelly peaking at #24 and Folklore not even cracking the top thirty. Look what a hit single - "Promiscuous" sits at #2 right now - can do for you. But Nelly Furtado wasn't the only debut to make a mark this weekend and the other newcomer did it without the benefit of radio play or much recognition. The Washington Post fills us in on that part of the story, "Underoath's third full-length effort, "Define the Great Line," debuts at No. 2. Without the benefit of radio airplay, the Tooth & Nail album sold 98,000 copies in its first week. "Define the Great Line" is the highest-charting Christian album on the Billboard 200 since LeAnn Rimes' "You Light Up My Life -- Inspirational Songs" sat at No. 1 for three nonconsecutive weeks in 1997."

One of the clever ways Nelly Furtado almost ensured a high-charting debut was by targeting different singles from Loose to different markets. E Online had that fascinating part of the story, "For maximum effect, Loose features different radio singles directed at different markets. "Promiscuous" helped the album top the charts in the U.S. and Canada, while "Maneater" topped the charts in the U.K., Portugal and Luxembourg. A Spanish-language single, the reggaeton-flavored "No Hay Igual," has also been released. The strategy has paid off: Loose opened at number one in Germany and Switzerland and made a Top 10 bow in the U.K., Mexico and the Netherlands."

Of course, Nelly Furtado and Underoath can't claim all the chart glory, as Billboard also reported on the runner-ups, "The Dixie Chicks' "Taking the Long Way" (Columbia) slips 2-3 with 87,000 units, a 33% drop in sales from the previous week. Keane's second Interscope album, "Under the Iron Sea," moved 75,000 copies in its first week to open at No. 4. This far surpasses the U.K. rock trio's 2004 debut, "Hopes and Fears," which opened at No. 173 and eventually reached No. 45.

The rest of the top ten were filled out by Busta Rhymes in the fifth spot, the cast of High School Musical, Field Mob, Gnarls Barkley, AFI, and the soundtrack to the hit movie Cars.

Additional Sources: MTV, Washington Post, E Online, Billboard]