Republic’s Les Miserables soundtrack [is] a dark horse to consider with a Christmas day release amid plenty of Oscar buzz.

RED AHEAD!

Wiz Khalifa, Ke$ha and Florida Georgia Line Debut, as Swift Returns to the Top
Taylor Swift lives up to her name by returning to the #1 slot with Red, adding another 170k, up 26%, to a total now at 2.4 million, and well within reach of 3 million by year’s end.

She finishes ahead of the week’s top debut, Atlantic Pittsburgh Steeler fan Wiz Khalifa’s O.N.I.F.C., one of two Top 10 newcomers, which bows at #2 with 131k.

Verve’s Rod Stewart stocking stuffer Merry Christmas Baby holds steady at #3 with 126k, followed by Syco/Columbia U.K. teen heartthrobs One Direction’s Take Me Home (#4, +20%) and Reprise’s Michael Buble Christmas (#5, +47%).

Kemosabe/RCA diva Ke$ha returns with her sophomore effort Warrior to debut at #6, followed by last week’s chart-topping RCA diva Alicia Keys (#7), 19/Interscope’s Phillip Phillips (#8), Capitol Nashville’s Lady Antebellum (#9) and Warner Bros. Nashville’s Blake Shelton (#10, +30%), making it four holiday-themed albums in this pre-Christmas Top 10.

Big Machine/Republic’s Florida Georgia Line debuts at #11, while Verve’s Andrea Bocelli (#28), Capitol Nashville’s Eric Church (#39), Republic’s Of Monsters and Men (#45), New Elektra’s Grammy-nominated Ed Sheehan (#46), Manhattan’s Celtic Woman (#47) and American Gramaphone’s Mannheim Steamroller (#48) all return to the Top 50.

Capitol Nashville’s ACA-winning Luke Bryan is the week’s biggest gainer (#48-30, +96%), followed by Island/IDJ’s Justin Bieber with Believe (#28-18, +83%) and Under the Mistletoe (#44-38, +52%), Syco/Columbia’s One Direction debut Up All Night (#33-24, +61%) and Atlantic’s Hunter Hayes (#40-33, +60%).

Hitting retail this week are New Elektra’s Bruno Mars, Interscope’s The Game, Columbia’s Glee Christmas album, Def Jam/IDJ’s Big Boi and Reprise’s Green Day. Atlantic’s T.I. and Def Jam/IDJ’s The-Dream follow on Dec. 18, with Republic’s Les Miserables soundtrack a dark horse to consider with a Christmas day release amid plenty of Oscar buzz.

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