Rihanna Opens Her "Umbrella" At #1

This week both the Billboard Hot 100 Singles and Top 200 Albums charts mirror their counterparts in the U.K., as Rihanna's "Umbrella" flies up 40 spots to become her second U.S. #1 single, and Maroon 5's It Won't Be Soon Before Long takes the top album slot. Following Timbaland's "Give It To Me," it's only the second time this year both countries have shared the same song at #1. Billboard notes that with sales of 277,000, "Umbrella" scores the highest debut week sum since paid digital downloads started being tracked by Nielsen SoundScan back in 2003.

Elsewhere in the Top 10, Fergie swaps out unoriginally-titled "Glamorous" for unimaginitively-titled "Big Girls Don't Cry," and Kelly Clarkson rebounds with "Never Again," moving up from #17 to #9.

This brings us to last week's American Idol winner and runner-up, Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis, whose EPs were immediately available on iTunes to tie in with the finale.

It remains to be seen whether either will become steady radio and chart staples, though the trend tends to show that won't be likely. Ruben Studdard, Justin Guarini, Diana DeGarmo, Bo Bice, Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee could probably use a little company in the unemployment line, anyway.

This week, at least, Sparks' "This Is My Now" is the Hot Shot Debut at #15, while Blake enters at #18 with his cover of Bon Jovi's "You Give Love A Bad Name." One can only guess that two years from now, when Jordin is MC-ing karaoke championships in Boise, Blake will be bending over for rent money and a 30-second spot on the TV Guide Channel.

That said, I did always want to get into television programming...

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "Umbrella" - Rihanna feat. Jay-Z *1 week*
2. "Party Like A Rockstar" - Shop Boyz *airplay gainer*
3. "Makes Me Wonder" - Maroon 5
4. "Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin')" - T-Pain feat. Yung Joc
5. "Home" - Daughtry
6. "Summer Love" - Justin Timberlake
7. "Girlfriend" - Avril Lavigne
8. "Big Girls Don't Cry" - Fergie *sales gainer*
9. "Never Again" - Kelly Clarkson
10. "Pop, Lock & Drop It" - Huey