Midweek Peek

YOUR MIDWEEK PEEK: Kenny Chesney still gets a very slight edge for the #1 spot on next week’s HITS Album Sales Chart, but the margin has tightened. As of this morning, the low end of Chesney’s projection overlaps with the high end of the Tony Bennett-Lady Gaga collaboration. Both have upcoming TV appearances (Chesney on Ellen, Bennett/Gaga on GMA) so it may come down to which one has the bigger impact. Looking solid for #3 is Barbra Streisand’s duets album, Partners, which is on track for a drop of less than 50% in its second week—a startling development given the aggressive first-week digital pricing of $7.99.

*Kenny Chesney (Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville) 120-130k
*Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga (Streamline/Columbia/Interscope) 115-125k
Barbra Streisand (Columbia) 100-110k

*Debuts

While it’s not even Halloween yet, could the above suggest that Partners will be a heavy holiday hitter? Next week will also be only the second time this year when the Top 3 albums have all sold more than 100k. Q4, we love you. (9/24p)