Publications
Partners
Los Angeles - Teen sensation Justin Bieber received a sweet kiss from fans on Wednesday when his album Under the Mistletoe debuted at No 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, edging out new entries from rapper Wale and country singer Miranda Lambert.
The album of festive singles sold just over 210 000 copies in its first week and is Bieber's third album to debut at No 1, following My World 2.0 and Never Say Never: The Remixes, from his documentary, Never Say Never.
Bieber, 17, who is currently fighting claims that he fathered a baby with a California woman after a brief backstage encounter last year, thanked his fans for supporting him on Twitter earlier this week and released an animated video for the single Santa Claus is Comin' to Town.
Drop for Coldplay
"So this past week and even today every rumour and lie about me possible has been coming out in the press. Just need to ignore it (...) my fans have been there for me" tweeted Bieber.
The album, which features collaborations with Mariah Carey, Busta Rhymes, Usher, The Band Perry and Boys II Men, also broke the record for the first Christmas album by a male artist to debut at the top position in the history of the Billboard 200 chart, reported Billboard.com.
Under the Mistletoe beat rapper Wale's Ambition, which sold 164 000 copies in its first week and landed at No 2. Country singer Miranda Lambert's Four The Record debuted at No 3 while Britain's Got Talent alumni Susan Boyle entered the charts at No 4 with her third album, Someone To Watch Over Me, forcing Adele's mega-hit 21 to slip to No 5.
British indie band Florence + The Machine entered the charts at No 6 with their highly anticipated second album, Ceremonials, while Coldplay's fifth album, Mylo Xyloto fell to No 7 from last week's top position.
The drop for Coldplay's album was foreseen by frontman Chris Martin, who recently told British newspaper The Guardian that maintaining the No 1 spot would be difficult this week.
"We have Justin Bieber and Adele to compete with and they're much younger than us," he said.
Twilight
The top 10 albums were rounded out by Michael Buble's holiday-themed Christmas at No 8, R&B singer Tyrese's Open Invitation at No 9, and Kelly Clarkson's Stronger dropping to No 10.
The singles chart held steady with Rihanna's We Found Love at No 1, LMFAO's Sexy and I Know It at No 2 and Adele's Someone Like You rounding out the top three.
Next week's chart may succumb to Twilight fever as the lead single from the movie's official Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 soundtrack, It Will Rain by Bruno Mars, jumped from No 17 to No 10 on the singles chart.
The music video for It Will Rain was released on Wednesday and the song and entire soundtrack are expected to climb steadily ahead of the film's release on November 18.
