Weird Al Yankovic’s "Mandatory Fun" debuts atop Billboard 200July 24, 2014 - 16:48 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - After more than 30 years working on his music, Weird Al Yankovic finally has his first No. 1 album on Billboard 200. The singer/songwriter has his newest LP "Mandatory Fun" debuted at the chart's top spot after selling 104,000 copies in its first week, AceShowbiz said citing Nielsen SoundScan. Powered by parodies of hits like Pharrell Williams' "Happy" and Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines", the record marks the first comedy album to hit No. 1 since 1963's "My Son, the Nut" by Allan Sherman. "Mandatory Fun" also logs the biggest sales week for a comedy set since 1994, when "The Beavis & Butt-Head Experience" opened in with 118,000. Running closely behind Yankovic is Jason Mraz, whose fifth studio effort "Yes!" arrives at No. 2 with 102,000. This is Mraz's second album to have landed at the runner-up slot. His previous project, "Love Is a Four Letter Word", also debuted (and peaked) at No. 2 back in 2012. The third and fourth places are occupied by new entries Rise Against's "The Black Market" and Kidz Bop Kids' "Kidz Bop 26". The two records come with 53,000 and 46,000 copies respectively. At No. 5 is the soundtrack to Disney's "Frozen (2013)", which falls from last week's No. 2 and is currently spending its 30th consecutive week in the top 5 after selling additional 43,000. Sam Smith's "In the Lonely Hour" slips from No. 3 to No. 6 with 35,000. Fellow British singer Ed Sheeran's "X" is at No. 7 with 24,000. Closing out the top 10 are the "Now 50" album which slips one rung to No. 8 with 23,000, Trey Songz's "Trigga" that plunges to No. 9 with 23,000 and Blake Shelton's "Based on a True Story..." that jumps from No. 63 with 22,000 thanks to the discount on iTunes. Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | European Parliament to discuss repression in Azerbaijan The European Parliament will discuss repression of civil society in Azerbaijan on April 24 PACE wants concessions from Azerbaijan to accept Baku back A PACE co-rapporteur said that Azerbaijani authorities must make certain concessions so that the country can return to PACE. Cyprus parliament honors Armenian genocide victims Acting House President Zacharias Koulias noted that April 24 marks the “black anniversary” of the Armenian genocide. Armenia PM, France envoy discuss regional matters Issues related to the consistent development of Armenia-France cooperation were discussed. |