IL DIVO IS NUMERO UNO AS JOSH TURNER BOWS AT #2

Simon Cowell discovery Il Divo debuts at the top of the charts this week with their Columbia album Ancora, selling 150k-plus for the first big debut of 2006. Somewhere, a fat lady with Viking horns is singing.

MCA Nashville country star Josh Turner’s sophomore album Your Man sidled up to the #2 slot with 97k, beating out last week’s #1 finisher Jamie Foxx’s J Records album Unpredictable (#3) and Geffen R&B diva Mary J. Blige’s The Breakthrough (#4). Capitol rockers Yellowcard broke into the Top 5 with 87k album sold for their sophomore effort, Lights and Sounds, the follow-up to their 1.6 million-selling debut, one of five debuts in the Top 10.

UTV’s Now #1s, which bowed at #6, and Atlantic’s SoCal Christian rap-rockers P.O.D., which came in at #9, were the other newcomers to the Terrific 10.

The holdovers include Arista/RMG Idol country crossover queen Carrie Underwood (#7), newly re-betrothed Shady/Aftermath/Interscope rapper Eminem (#8) and Roadrunner/IDJ Canadian rock mainstays Nickelback (#10).

Other chart newcomers are Sony’s 2006 Grammy Nominees collection (#13), Walt Disney Records’ High School Musical soundtrack from the Disney Channel cable movie (#24), Capitol’s broasted chicken king Kenny Rogers with 21 Number Ones (#33) and Panic! At the Disco’s debut on red-hot indie label Fueled by Ramen (#41).

Among those registering major increases are Custard/Atlantic’s James Blunt, who went #9-11, but boasted an 11% increase, thanks in large part to “You’re Beautiful” being featured on a Hilton TV spot. Also climbing are Lyric Street’s country-popsters Rascal Flatts (#21, +16%), A&M/Interscope’s rising star Keyshia Cole (#21, +24%), Epic’s Hasidic toastmaster general Matisyahu (#38-27, +19%) and Jive/ZLG urban phenom T-Pain (#48-40, +14%).

Next week, look for chart debuts from Barry Manilow, Train, She Wants Revenge, Andrea Bocelli and Heather Headley.