NEW YORK (CKX, Inc./ www.ckx.com) - As reported online last week by Hits Magazine, American Idol stars Carrie Underwood, Bo Bice and Kelly Clarkson ruled the charts with three of the top ten spots on Billboard’s Top 200 album chart the week before Christmas, historically one of the best selling weeks of the year for the music industry.

In addition, American Idol and Pop Idol artists, Clarkson and Will Young, also took two of the top fifteen spots in the weekly sales chart in the United Kingdom. The Idol franchise was created by 19 Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CKX, Inc.Idol artists in the U.S. and U.K. are signed to recording agreements with 19 Recordings, also a wholly-owned subsidiary of CKX.

“Some Hearts,” the debut album by American Idol 4 winner Carrie Underwood, rose from Number 5 to Number 2 on the chart with more than 271,000 units sold for the week. “Some Hearts” was certified platinum, with over one million albums sold, within just five weeks of its November 15, 2005 release.

American Idol 4 finalist Bo Bice’s debut album, “The Real Thing” entered the chart this week at Number 4, with more than 226,000 albums sold. In addition, Bice’s hit single “Inside Your Heaven/Vehicle” was number three on the Billboard Singles Chart.

American Idol 1 winner Kelly Clarkson’s most recent album “Breakaway” moved back into the Top 10 to Number 8, with more than 180,000 units sold for the week. “Breakaway” has remained in the Top 20 since its release on November 30, 2004, for a total of for 55 consecutive weeks and has been certified 4X platinum in the United States, with over 4 million units sold in the U.S. and well over 7 million copies sold worldwide.

In the United Kingdom, Ms. Clarkson’s “Breakaway” album was the number 8 selling album for the week, and Pop Idol 1 winner Will Young’s album, “Keep On” rose to number 12 on the U.K. chart, with over 300,000 units sold to date in the U.K. alone.