BARRY DANCES BACK TO THE TOP

He may not have written these songs, but Barry Manilow doesn't care because his Arista Records release, Love Songs of the '50s looks like it'll go #1 on next week's HITS Top 50 Album chart, and seems a shoo-in for a Grammy nod next year in the Traditional Pop Album category. As of this moment, he's slated to sell in the 140-150k area, which he hasn't done since the heyday of "Mandy" and "Copacabana." To add to the heat, the man is singing three songs on tonight's smash ABC series Dancing With the Stars. Wonder if he can get us invites to Clive's pre-Grammy shindig.

Meanwhile, Mary J. Blige's appearance this past Wednesday on Oprah has given her album The Breakthrough a huge boost to the 125-130k range, which should nail the #2 slot. That's more of a hike than Jamie Foxx, who'll be #3 next week with between 95-100k sold for his Unpredictable blockbuster, got from two prime-time NBC specials.

Here's a very early look at what could be next week's Top 10 albums...

Manilow: 140-150k
Blige: 125-130k
Foxx: 95-100k
Il Divo: 85-90k
Headley: 80-85k
Bocelli: 80-85k
Eminem: 70-75k
Carrie Underwood: 70-75k
James Blunt: 60-65k
High School Musical: 50-55k

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.