SCHOOLING THE COMPETITION

It’s still High on the chart, and will remain in the top spot for at least another week.

Walt Disney’s High School Musical 2 continues to dominate, with yet another turn at #1, as it goes over 1 million sold, adding another 195k to its total. That’s three weeks and counting for the blockbuster soundtrack.

Reunion Christian phenoms Casting Crowns, thanks to huge numbers at Christian bookstores, bows at #2, with Bad Boy/Atlantic rapper Yung Joc (#3), Hollywood’s Atreyu (#7) and Virgin’s Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals (#10) also scoring Top 10 debuts.

Disney’s Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley soundtrack lands at #4, with a double-digit 14% increase, giving Bob Cavallo’s red-hot Disney Music Group three in the Top 10.

A&M/Interscope’s Fergie (#5), New Line’s Hairspray soundtrack (#6), UTV/UMe’s Now 25 (#8) and Roadrunner’s Nickelback (#9) round out the elite 10.

Featured on both High School Musical 2 and Hairspray, Hollywood’s newest star, Zac Efron, has two in the top 6…and you don’t, so eat your heart out.

Other chart newcomers include Lost Highway/IDJ’s Lyle Lovett (#25), while SRC/Universal Motown’s Akon (#21), Interscope’s Gwen Stefani (#45) and Lyric Street’s Rascal Flatts (#49) return to the Top 50.

Reprise’s Michael Buble (#30-20, +14%) and Universal Republic’s Colbie Caillat (#39-30, +11%) are the only other double-digit gainers aside from Hannah Montana. Other gainers include Fergie (+4%), Big Machine’s Taylor Swift (#19-14, +1%), A&M/Octone’s Maroon 5 (#21-17, +3%), RCA/RMG’s Daughtry (#32-28, +1%), Curb’s Tim McGraw (#34-29, +2%) and Jive/ZLG’s Justin Timberlake (#36-31, +4%).

And then things quiet down until Super Tuesday (Sept. 11), when IDJ’s Kanye West and Shady/Aftermath/ Interscope’s 50 Cent, both of whose albums have already leaked on the Internet, take on SBMG Nashville’s country superstar Kenny Chesney in what should be a three-way race to #1. We’ll keep our eyes on it as D-day approaches.