Susan Boyle dominates the albums chart yet again; Mary J. Blige scores a solid debut

Just in case there was any shred of doubt remaining (there wasn’t), the Susan Boyle train is still confidently charging onward as we head into 2010. Her I Dreamed a Dream sold another 510,000 copies in its fifth week, according to Nielsen SoundScan, keeping it comfortably at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 yet again. That brings her up to just shy of three million sold since arriving in stores last month. Depending on how many CDs she ends up selling in the present final half-week of 2009, she has a shot at unseating Taylor Swift’s Fearless as the year’s best seller. Even if that doesn’t happen, she’s already earned another record that might be even more impressive: I Dreamed a Dream is now the first debut album ever to bow at No. 1 and stay there for five weeks in a row since Billboard started keeping score in the 1950s.

Boyle isn’t the only belter in town this week, though. Mary J. Blige secured the No. 2 position with 330,000 copies sold of her new Stronger With Each Tear — a solid number, though it’s quite a drop from the 629,000 and 727,000 that Blige’s previous two albums respectively bowed with. Alicia Keys, meanwhile, took No. 4 by moving 280,000 copies of The Element of Freedom in its second week.

Down at No. 9, Lil Wayne’s Young Money crew debuted with 142,000 units moved of their group album We Are Young Money. Those aren’t exactly Carter III numbers, shall we say, but they’re not too bad for a spin-off project like this.

And that was it for top 20 debuts this week. Any surprises in there? Who, if anyone, do you think will eventually topple Susan Boyle’s chart reign? Sound off in the comments.

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