Grammy winner Bruno Mars lands No. 1 spot on Billboard 200

PanARMENIAN.Net - Grammy Award-winning crooner Bruno Mars finally lands his sophomore album "Unorthodox Jukebox", which was released in December 2012, at the top of the Billboard 200. With a little help from Amazon MP3, the "Locked Out of Heaven" singer scores his first No. 1 ever in the albums chart, selling 95,000 copies for a 96% increase, almost doubling its sales last week, AceShowbiz said.

Mars' "Jukebox" and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' "The Heist" both got a boost from Amazon MP3 sales as the two, along with other albums, were put on a one-day $1.99 sale by the digital retailer. This greatly improved their sales for the week ending March 3, according to figures tallied by Nielsen SoundScan.

Thanks to the boost from Amazon MP3, Mars almost doubles his strongest contender's output, Atoms For Peace's "Amok", which debuts at No. 2 with 50,000 units. Since a No. 1 debut for the electronic/rock act is derailed by Mars, Thom Yorke and his super group couldn't help but be content for now with bagging the top spot in other charts for Rock Albums, Independent Albums and Dance/Electronic Albums.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' recent performance on "Saturday Night Live" may have also helped the rap duo's entry in the top ten, climbing from No. 16 to No. 4 this week with 42,000, up by a staggering 89%. However, it falls short of overtaking last week's No. 1, Mumford & Sons' "Babel" which narrowly edges them out with their 43,000 total despite a 31% drop from last week's sales.

Another debut this week is Hillsong United at No. 5 with "Zion", entering the top albums chart with 34,000 and bowing at the top of the Christian Albums chart. Meanwhile, the albums in the No. 6 to No. 8 spots have already been in the top ten from previous weeks, managing to stay in the fold despite declines in their sales.

The "Now 45" album drops from No. 4 to No. 6 with 33,000 while The Lumineers' self-titled album moves two places down from No. 5 to No. 7 with 30,000, both posting a 13% decrease. The biggest decline this week is posted by Josh Groban's "All That Echoes" which dives to No. 8 from No. 3 with 29,000, down by 29%.

Keeping steady at No. 9 is Rihanna's "Unapologetic" which maintains its No. 9 ranking with an almost identical 29,000 records sold. Rounding up the top ten this week is another top 10 re-entry, Adele's "21", which climbs from No. 14 to No. 10 with its 27,000 sales for a 17% increase, which may have benefited from her recent Oscars performance.