Michael Buble steals Rihanna thunder on U.S. album chart (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Michael Buble's album "Christmas" topped the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday, against stiff competition from new releases by Nickelback, Rihanna, Daughtry and Mary J. Blige.

Buble's "Christmas" was released in late October ahead of the holiday season. But it saw a rise in sales over the Thanksgiving weekend, outselling "Here And Now," the seventh studio album by fellow Canadians Nickelback, by a mere 419 units to reach No. 1, with Nickelback at No. 2.

Buble's resurgence to the top spot from last week's No. 2 position may be replicated by other releases from earlier this year, ahead of Wednesday's Grammy nominations concert.

"With the Grammy nominations concert airing live tonight, there should be renewed interest in some of the top releases from earlier this year, as well as current and upcoming new recordings, taking us through December," said Jim Donio, president of the National Association of Recording Merchandisers.

Despite Rihanna's album topping the iTunes chart even before its release last week, "Talk That Talk" debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, while the album's first single, "We Found Love" featuring Calvin Harris, dropped to No. 2 in the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Last week's chart topper Drake fell to No. 4 with "Take Care," while Mary J. Blige's "My Life II: The Journey Continues, Act I" entered at No. 5, while Justin Bieber's "Under The Mistletoe" fell to No. 6 despite a gain in sales from last week.

Adele's "21" dropped to No. 7, the first the time album has dropped out of the top 5 since it entered 40 weeks ago. The rest of the top 10 are rounded out by Daughtry's new release, "Break the Spell," at No. 8, Scotty McCreery's "Clear As Day" at No. 9 and Coldplay's "Mylo Xyloto" at No. 10.

LMFAO's "Sexy And I Know It" edged out Rihanna for the top spot on the Hot 100 singles chart, while Bruno Mars's "It Will Rain" from the "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1" soundtrack held steady at No. 3 as the film broke the $500 million worldwide box office benchmark earlier this week.

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111130/music_nm/us_charts_michaelbuble

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