Beyonce's Big Start Kicks Up 2006 Sales

By GEOFF MAYFIELD, Reuters

Turns out Beyonce's birthday is not just a celebration for the singer, but for the whole music industry. The No. 1 bow by her second solo album, "B'Day," also signals the first time in four months that album sales beat those of the comparable 2005 sales week.

Released Sept. 5, the day after her 25th birthday, it opens with 541,000 copies, 59 percent more than the 317,000 first-week sales that greeted her first solo album, "Dangerously in Love," in 2003.

There was only one period in the seven-album career of her group, Destiny's Child, when she had a larger sales week: Third set "Survivor" began at 663,000 in May 2001.

The improvement over her first solo album's start is no surprise. With this record arriving just a few months before her starring role in "Dreamgirls" hits screens in December, Beyonce's celebrity has never been greater, fetching beaucoup ink in magazines and newspapers.

Her Aug. 31 performance at MTV's Video Music Awards set the stage for "B'Day." The video for second single "Ring the Alarm" was MTV's most-played clip during release week (29 plays) and also was among the 10 most-played videos at BET and VH1 Soul. The song enters the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 12, her highest debut either solo or with Destiny's Child.

Beyonce's opening sum is the best Nielsen SoundScan week by any solo artist this year. It is the third-largest total by any 2006 album, exceeded only by Rascal Flatts' "Me and My Gang" (722,000) and Tool's "10,000 Days" (564,000).

"B'Day" is the fifth album in 2006 to start in the half-million-plus club, compared with four during the first 36 sales weeks of 2005. Read more...

MCR Soar, Justin Gets Sexy As Surprise Early Winners Take VMAs

At the midway point of the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, the big story is less who's won than who hasn't.

Kanye West and Shakira, two of the night's most-honored artists, have gone mostly empty-handed (although Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" did win a tech award during the pre-show ceremony).

West lost Best Male Video to James Blunt (whose "You're Beautiful" took the prize) and Best Hip-Hop Video (to the Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps"). And Shakira's hips must be totally bumming: She's lost out to Kelly Clarkson in the Best Female Video and the Pussycat Dolls for Best Dance Video.

In fact, when you consider those upsets — then factor in the unwashed charm of host Jack Black and house band the Raconteurs, plus a show-stopping, treadmill-enabled performance by viral-video darlings OK Go — it looks like the 2006 VMAs just might be a night for the underdogs.

In fact, at the moment, a couple of less famous artists — James Blunt and Gnarls Barkley — remain the evening's big winners, with two Moonmen each. Pink just got on the board, besting Christina Aguilera, Nelly Furtado and Madonna for Best Pop Video (and then apparently mocking Paris Hilton in her gum-smacking acceptance speech). And Houston's Chamillionaire shocked just about everyone when his "Ridin' " took the Moonman for Best Rap Video.

Performance-wise, the biggest names have definitely shined. Justin Timberlake kicked off the show with a pumping, pop-and-lockin' performance of "SexyBack." Beyoncé delivered an, er, arresting version of "Ring the Alarm," complete with police in riot gear and blaring sirens. And T.I. left the crowd clamoring for more with a raw, rugged performance of "What You Know."

Earlier — during the "Red Carpet on the Rock" preshow — My Chemical Romance (most certainly outsiders themselves) rocked a black-clad audience from atop Rockefeller Center's Top of the Rock with the world premiere of "Welcome to the Black Parade," the first single from their upcoming The Black Parade album. And Fergie bumped through a version of "London Bridge," the lead single from her album, The Dutchess.

Also in the preshow, Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" won Moonmen for Best Direction and Best Editing, seven-time nominees the Red Hot Chili Peppers scored their first (and so far, only) shiny spaceman of the evening, as their "Dani California" won for Best Art Direction, Blunt's "You're Beautiful" clip scored for Best Cinematography and Missy Elliott's "We Run This" won for Best Special Effects.

COMPLETE WINNERS LIST:

VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Panic! at the Disco: "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"

BEST MALE VIDEO
James Blunt: "You're Beautiful"

BEST FEMALE VIDEO
Kelly Clarkson: "Because of You"

BEST GROUP VIDEO
The All-American Rejects: "Move Along"

BEST RAP VIDEO
Chamillionaire: "Ridin' "

BEST R&B VIDEO
Beyoncé f/ Slim Thug: "Check on It"

BEST HIP-HOP VIDEO
Black Eyed Peas: "My Humps"

BEST DANCE VIDEO
Pussycat Dolls f/ Snoop Dogg: "Buttons"

BEST ROCK VIDEO
AFI: "Miss Murder"

BEST POP VIDEO
Pink: "Stupid Girls"

BEST NEW ARTIST IN A VIDEO
Avenged Sevenfold: "Bat Country"

VIEWER'S CHOICE
Fall Out Boy: "Dance, Dance"

MTV2 AWARD
30 Seconds to Mars: "The Kill"

RINGTONE OF THE YEAR
Fort Minor: "Where'd You Go"

BEST DIRECTION IN A VIDEO
Gnarls Barkley: "Crazy" (Director: Robert Hales)

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY IN A VIDEO
Shakira f/ Wyclef Jean: "Hips Don't Lie"

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS IN A VIDEO
Missy Elliott: "We Run This"

BEST ART DIRECTION IN A VIDEO
Red Hot Chili Peppers: "Dani California"

BEST EDITING IN A VIDEO
Gnarls Barkley: "Crazy"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A VIDEO
James Blunt: "You're Beautiful"

BEST VIDEO GAME SOUNDTRACK
"Mark Ecko's Getting Up" (Atari)

BEST VIDEO GAME SCORE
"Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" (Jeremy Soule)