The Georgia native becomes the first 'American Idol' winner to have his coronation single, which debuted at No. 2 on the Digital Songs chart, on the Top 10 of the Hot 100 chart in four years.
- May 31, 2012
AceShowbiz - "American Idol" might see its ratings dropping to an all-time low, but its recently-crowned winner Phillip Phillips is storming the Billboard charts. With his coronation single, "Home", the 21-year-old secures the No. 10 position on the Hot 100 chart, and makes his debut at second place on the Digital Songs chart.
The Georgia native, whose "Journey to the Finale" compilation ranked No. 11 on Hot 200, becomes the first "Idol" champion in the past four years to have his victory single breaking through the Top 10 on Hot 100. The last winner from the singing competition reaching the Top 10 was David Cook of Season 7, whose single, "The Time of My Life", peaked at No. 3 in 2008.
Selling 278,000 downloads since its release on May 23, "Home" also helps Phillips to have the second-best digital sales week for any "Idol" contestant following Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You" that debuted with 280,000 downloads. It also scores the biggest sales week for any "Idol" winner's coronation single since SoundScan began tracking downloads in 2003.
Back when CDs were still the predominant format for buying songs, only season 2's Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard had larger sales weeks than Phillips with their season-finale singles. Aiken's "This Is the Night" sold 393,000 units in its first full week of sales, while Studdard's "Flying Without Wings" sold 286,000.
Topping this week's Hot 100, in the meantime, is Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know". Holding firm to its No. 1 position for its seventh week, the single becomes this year's longest-ruling title. As for the Digital Songs chart, Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" sits comfortably on the top for a second frame as it sells 301,000 downloads.
