UPDATE! CHART PREVIEW:
GREEN DAY, RAY’S GRAMMYS = GENIUS, IDIOT AT THE TOP

(Update revises sales projections throughout.)

Looks like the Genius will top the Idiot on this week’s album chart.

As the numbers continue to come in and be crunched and the chart slowly falls together, Ray Charles’ Genius Loves Company (Concord), looks like it's headed for a weekly sales total of 215-220k, representing a post-Grammy spike of around 190%.

Green Day’s American Idiot (Reprise), meanwhile, is expected to see a gain of around 60% to 210-215k, meaning the two are still battling it out for #1.

These numbers (as well as those to follow) are significantly lower than those previously projected, but the latter half of the week turned soft, and, well, stuff happens.

Other major Grammy spikes to watch include megaseller Usher’s Confessions (LaFace/ZLG), which is shaping up for a 26% gain to around 110-115k, and the Grammy Nominees 2005 set (Capitol), up 45% to around 110k-115k.

Also: Maroon 5, up around 35% to 75-80k; Alicia Keys, up around 50% to 70-75k; Gwen Stefani, up around 11% to 63-65k; John Mayer, up around 94% to 60-62k; U2, up around 45% to 56k; Los Lonely Boys, up around 100% to 53k; Kanye West, expected to rise a whopping 200% to 46-47k; and Tim McGraw, up around 33% to 48k.

The one thing you can count on amid all these numbers, of course, is that they're all still likely to change. Thank you.