Lady Antebellum Debut At #1 On Billboard Albums Chart With “Need You Now”

Lady Antebellum Debut

Lady Antebellum earned their first #1 album on the Billboard 200 Albums chart with their sophomore effort, “Need You Know.” The set debuts with over 481,000 copies sold, the biggest country album debut since Taylor Swift opened at 592,000 copies with “Fearless”. Lady Antebellum’s debut week is the also biggest debut of 2010 so far, on the strength of their #1 country single “Need You Now.” The track is currently climbing up pop radio, while its follow-up, “American Honey,” is moving up on country. Their self-titled debut bowed and peaked at #4 with 43,000 in May of 2008. The “Hope For Haiti Now” compilation, the digital exclusive featuring live cuts from Christina Aguilera, U2, and Shakira, is at #2 this week with 143,000 copies. The biggest single from the album, Justin Timberlake and Matt Morris’ version of “Hallelujah,” is at #5 on the digital singles sales chart. Lady Gaga is at #3 for another week with “The Fame,” which sells 68,000 copies this week. Susan Boyle’s “I Dreamed a Dream” drops down two spots to #4 with 59,000 copies. Debuting at #5 is Barry Manilow’s latest, “The Greatest Love Songs of All Time.” The set, which includes his versions of romance classics like “The Look of Love” and “I Only Have Eyes for You,” bows with 57,000 copies sold. Jumping up to #6 from #17 its previous week is Michael Jackson with “This Is It,” selling 55,000 on the strength of its release on DVD and Blu-ray. Corinne Bailey Rae’s sophomore album, “The Sea,” debuts at #7 with 53,000 copies. At #8 is the “2010 Grammy Nominees” compilation, which features music from Zac Brown Band and Kings of Leon. It moved down three spots in its second week and sold 45,000 copies. At #9 is a debut from Celtic Woman’s “Songs From the Heart,” which moves 42,000 its first week. At #10 are the Black Eyed Peas with “The E.N.D.,” which sells 40,000 copies this week.

Billboard Top 200 Albums Week Ending February 13th, 2010

1. Need You Know, Lady Antebellum

2. Hope For Haiti Now, Various Artists

3. The Fame, Lady Gaga

4. I Dreamed A Dream, Susan Boyle

5. The Greatest Love Songs of All Time, Barry Manilow

6. This Is It, Michael Jackson

7. The Sea, Corinne Bailey Rae

8. 2010 Grammy Nominees, Various Artists

9. Songs From the Heart, Celtic Woman

10. The E.N.D., The Black Eyed Peas

Conan O’Brien Officially Signs ridiculous high amount $45 Million Exit Contract With NBC

What's Conan O Brien donating to haiti?

This can only happen in the US.

Now it’s official. Conan O’Brien has signed aridiculous high amount $45 million deal with NBC to leave the “Tonight Show.” Jay Leno will be taking over the show again as O’Brien and his staff exit the peacock network. The new deal sees Coco getting hold of a cool $33 million for himself and an additional $12 million for his crew. It’s a lot more than the first reported $32.5 million for the redhead funnyman and only $7.5 million for the nearly 200 employees, who relocated from New York to California for “Tonight.” Our source added that unlike the previous draft, O’Brien would get the severance pay in whole regardless of whether he gets another hosting gig or not. The catch: the contract includes a non-disparagement clause, meaning he may not bash NBC anymore. He will also not be able to host another show with a competing network until this fall. His last “Tonight” gig will be on Friday, with Robin Williams and Barry Manilow scheduled for guesting on Thursday and Tom Hanks and Will Ferrell slated for Friday’s appearance. Leno will be taking over “Tonight” again starting March 1 after the peacock network wraps up its Winter Olympics coverage.

NBC could pay O’Brien more than $30 million to exit “Tonight,”.

Conan O’Brien

Conan O’Brien says he doesn’t expect to return as “Tonight Show” host after Friday, but as long as he’s still with NBC he’ll do whatever he wants and the network “has to pay for it.” “For the rest of the week we’re going to introduce comedy bits that aren’t so much funny as they are crazy expensive,” the “Tonight Show” host said on Wednesday. One example: a blue Bugatti Veyron sports car (“the most expensive car in the world,” O’Brien quipped) outfitted with whiskers to look like a mouse and accompanied on the air by the Rolling Stones’ original master recording of “Satisfaction.” Total price tag for the character: $1.5 million “Does (the music) add anything at all to this comedy bit?” O’Brien asked while standing next to the “mouse.” “No it doesn’t. Is it crazy expensive to play on the air, not to mention the rights to re-air this clip on the Internet? Hell yes.” Off the air, O’Brien is also set to extract serious coin from his employer. NBC could pay O’Brien more than $30 million to exit “Tonight,” which would pave the way for Jay Leno’s return to the 11:35 p.m. time-slot, according to The Associated Press. With O’Brien and network executives reportedly still locked in negotiations on Wednesday, the comedian continued to joke about career options and hammer his bosses, as he has since last week. “Hello, I’m Conan O’Brien — sorry if I’m a little late,” O’Brien said to kick off his monologue. “I had a job interview at Lady Foot Locker. “Over the past week, ratings for the ‘Tonight Show’ are up by 50 percent,” he added. “When NBC executives heard this they told me, ‘See, you really don’t fit in around here.’” In the surest signal yet of O’Brien unlikely to return as “Tonight” host after next week’s planned hiatus, the comic urged viewers to keep tuning in because “this will probably be a very significant week.” “It’s looking like it could be our last week,” he said at one point. NBC has not confirmed O’Brien’s final end date on “The Tonight Show,” but MSNBC.com reported Wednesday evening that “Tonight” staffers have not booked any celebrity guests on the program after this Friday. Robin Williams and Barry Manilow have been booked for Thursday’s show with Tom Hanks and Will Ferrell set to close out the week. Incidentally, Ferrell was O’Brien’s first guest when he took over “Tonight” in Los Angeles nearly seven months ago. “In our circles, it’s understood that the show ends on Friday,” a late-night television source told MSNBC entertainment reporter Courtney Hazlett. “This whole experience has been so surreal,” O’Brien said on Wednesday. “I never thought I’d be jealous of the long, illustrious run that NBC gave ‘Joey.’” In other late-night news, Jay Leno blasted CBS funnyman David Letterman Wednesday for saying he caused NBC’s latest crisis by sticking with the network after learning he would lose “Tonight” six years ago. “Hey Kev, you know the best way to get Letterman to ignore you?” Leno asked band leader Kevin Eubanks. “Marry him. He will not bother you. He won’t look you in the eye.