THE SHOW MUST GO ON

Despite all the pre-release hassles, Eminem did more than Show up for his first full week on retail shelves. The Aftermath/Interscope rap superstar avoided having his brand-new release get caught in the Net, with second-week sales of 1.4 million and a chart victory of Laker-like proportions over his closest competitor, P. Diddy (Bad Boy/Arista).

For those of you counting, that gives Marshall plenty of reason to be mellow. In fact, he’s made in the Shady, with a combined 1.7 million for The Eminem Show’s first 10 days on the streets—comparing favorably to the 1.8 million in debut-week sales The Marshall Mathers LP, his previous album, did upon its release in May 2000.

Virgin Entertainment Group retail eminence Vince Szydlowski took some time out from acquiring a vowel on eBay to comment: "The Eminem proved a great record that really captures the interest of the nation will sell, no matter what the state of the marketplace and in spite of the rampant downloading. Now, how do I download this KaZaA software?"

The increased traffic in the record stores brought in the all-important adult demographic along with the kids. A&M/Interscope artist Sheryl Crow continued steady at #6, thanks in large part to a well-publicized performance at the Ground Zero memorial in NYC last weekend, along with that ubiquitous American Express commercial featuring her hit single, "Soak Up the Sun."

Added Szzydlwzzksi: "Sheryl Crow is showing some real staying power. Like me on Viagra."

Rounding out the Top Five are Murder Inc./IDJ’s Ashanti (#3), Columbia’s Marc Anthony (#4) and Epic’s Celine Dion (#6).

Meanwhile, climbing the upscale-market ladder are Blue Note’s Norah Jones (24-18) and Columbia’s John Mayer (27-20), each showing strong gains behind touring, word-of-mouth and developing radio stories.

Next week, look for new releases from Donell Jones, Totally Hits 2002 and DJ Quik along with newcomers Avril Lavigne and Dirty Vegas.