CHART OFFERS PASSAGE TO INDIA.ARIE AND DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL

Postponed 24 hours by the fact we were busy setting off M80s from a cliff in La Jolla, the HITS Top 50 nevertheless reveals a pair of debuts at the top of the chart.

Universal Motown’s India.Arie scores a #1 album for her Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationships, which racks up 162k in first-week sales to top Vagrant’s Dashboard Confessional, who sells an impressive 140k to finish at #2 with Dusk & Summer.

Geffen’s Nelly Furtado is third after her chart-topping debut last week, scoring 97.4k, followed by Open Wide/Monument/Columbia’s Dixie Chicks at #4 and Def Jam/IDJ’s Rihanna at #5, with a 14% gain to 63k.

The rest of the leader board includes Lyric Street’s Rascal Flatts at #6, Downtown/Atlantic’s Gnarls Barkley at #7, Aftermath/Interscope’s Busta Rhymes at #8, and Disney’s High School Musical and Cars soundtracks at #9 and #10, respectively, as Buena Vista Music Group’s Bob Cavallo continues with three in the Top 10.

This week’s chart newcomers number Def Jam/IDJ’s Shawnna (#13, 46.3k), Curb’s Hank Williams Jr. (#16, 40.3k), Mercury Nashville’s Julie Roberts (#25, 30.7l), Koch’s Tha Dogg Pound (#28, 29.4k), Columbia’s Lostprophets (#31, 27.9k), Roc La Familia/Def Jam’s reggaeton ruler Hector Bambino “El Father” (#38, 24.7k) and Ghet-O-Vision/Sony Urban gangsta rapper Ray Cash (#41, 22.9k).

Other major gainers includes a trio of acts undoubtedly boosted by last week’s televised BET awards ceremony, including A&M’s Pussycat Dolls (#19, +17%), Def Jam/IDJ’s Ne-Yo (#21, +41%) and Geffen’s Mary J. Blige (#37, +34%).

Next week, look for the Rick Rubin-produced Johnny Cash album on American/Lost Highway, American V: A Hundred Highways, to vie with India.Arie and the Dixie Chicks for the top spot, with sales in the 70k range. Also scheduled to debut: Geffen punks Rise Against and Disney Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack are the other two notable releases for the week.