'Idol's' Scotty McCreery tops chart

Proving that "American Idol" can still flex some sales muscle, the Fox competish's 2011 champ Scotty McCreery took the No. 1 slot on the U.S. album chart last week. The 18-year-old singer's Mercury Nashville/19/Interscope debut "Clear as Day" shifted 197,000 units its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures for the week ending Oct. 9. McCreery is the youngest male and the first country performer to arrive at No. 1 with his first album. After years of comparatively tepid sales by "Idol" winners, McCreery has become the first "Idol" to bow with a No. 1 collection since the second season's Ruben Studdard managed the feat in 2003. Of course, instant chart success has been no guarantee of career longevity for "Idol" stars. Studdard was dropped by his label, now-defunct J Records, after three albums; his last album, released independently, peaked at No. 36. Last week, RCA confirmed that it had dropped 2010 champ Lee DeWyze after just one album. Rest of the week's top five comprises familiar titles: Adele's "21" (No. 2, 112,000 sold, down just 5%), Tony Bennett's "Duets II" (No. 3, 71,000, off 22%), Lady Antebellum's "Own the Night" (No. 4, 58,000, down 23%) and previous week's No. 1, J. Cole's "Cole World: The Sideline Story" (No. 5, 54,000, off 75%). Coming in behind Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter IV: (No. 6, 53,000, off 22%) and ahead of Blink-182's "Neighborhoods" (No. 10, 31,000, off 80%), three other new releases made subdued debuts. Feist's "Metals" (Interscope) arrived at No. 7 with 38,000 sold. Canadian singer and former Broken Social Scene member Leslie Feist's first album in four years has been garnering strong print reviews. Rodney Atkins' "Take a Back Road" (Curb) entered at No. 8 with a 35,000-unit debut week. Knoxville-bred singer's fourth studio album climbed into the top 10 on the back of its like-titled No. 1 country single. Jack's Mannequin sneaked into the top 10 at No. 9 with "People and Things" (Warner Bros.), moving 31,000. Set is one slot off the Orange County band's best performance, set by 2008's No. 8 title "The Glass Passenger." The coming week's chart will likely see renewed "Idol" action: 2011 runner-up Lauren Alaina's debut album reached stores this week. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com