Shania Twain
Photo: Jon Kopaloff/ FilmMagic

While we now know that Jessica Simpson will not be appearing as a guest judge on "American Idol" — and the return of Paula Abdul remains a far-off, tantalizing possibility — we know for certain the identity of another of the reality competition's temp critics: country star Shania Twain.

People first reported on Monday the possibility that Twain would join Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi. Now, it's official. Twain will become the third pop luminary to appear on "Idol" following the departure of Paula Abdul. She'll take her seat at the judges' table in Chicago on August 30 and 31.

Mary J. Blige has already turned up for an appearance in Atlanta, and Victoria Beckham took on the role in Boston. Katy Perry is also set for a turn as a judge this season.

At a press conference earlier this month, Fox Entertainment Chairman Peter Rice said that "Idol" will eventually replace Abdul with a permanent fourth judge, but will use guest celebrities until the right candidate can be selected.

"What we need to find is someone who has great chemistry," Rice said. "It's really a casting job. ... There are multiple right answers and there are multiple wrong answers. Our job in the next four to five months is to really consider what makes this the most fun and the most entertaining."

Despite Rice's earlier assertions that he didn't expect Abdul to return at the last minute, TMZ reported on Monday that Abdul might in fact come back if the show acquiesces to her earlier contract demands for $10 million per season.

Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

• 'American Idol' In 60 Seconds

• "American Idol" Season 8: Memorable Moments

• Shania Twain

Jessica Simpson
Photo: Jeffrey Mayer/ Getty Images

On Monday (August 17), it was rumored that Jessica Simpson would be the next celebrity to join Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell and Kara DioGuardi at the judges' table on "American Idol." But it turns out the only reality show Simpson will be on is her upcoming VH1 show "The Price of Beauty."

Simpson's rep shot down the New York Post report that she'd be one of the guest judges for the upcoming season of the show. "There is absolutely no truth to this," her rep told Us Weekly.

The report also said that it is her dad and manager, Joe Simpson, who was pushing to get Simpson a slot on the program, a claim he denied on his Twitter page. "So, I am in Thailand ... But, of course, the Post says I am in town trying to get [Jess] to be the replacement for Paula Abdul ... Do the lies ever stop????"

Meanwhile, People magazine is reporting that country star Shania Twain is in talks to be a guest judge. She could be one of the judges when the show makes a stop in Chicago on August 30 and 31, the mag reports.

If Twain does sign on, she'd be joining Mary J. Blige, who will guest-judge when the show stops in Atlanta. Katy Perry and Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham have also been confirmed as guest judges for this season, hoping to fill the void left by Paula Abdul's surprising exit.

The permanent solution for filling Abdul's empty chair has yet to be announced. Earlier this month, Peter Rice, chairman of entertainment at Fox, told Reuters that they'll be coming up with a replacement "between now and January. ... Obviously, there is going to be a different dynamic, [and] there is something exciting about that."

Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

• Paula Abdul Decides To Leave 'American Idol'
• Relive 'American Idol': Season Eight

• "American Idol" Season 8: Memorable Moments
• 'American Idol' Judges Show Team Spirit At New York Auditions

• Jessica Simpson
• Shania Twain
• Paula Abdul

Lil Wayne and Kid Rock perform at the 2008 CMAs in Nashville on Wednesday
Photo: Doug Pensinger/ Getty Images

The best rapper alive never got around to rapping Wednesday night in Nashville.

As he did at the VMAs in September, Lil Wayne joined Kid Rock onstage for a performance of the remix of Rock's "All Summer Long" at the Country Music Association Awards. But this time there was no verse from Weezy — in fact, he barely made a sound at all. He just acted as part of the band, bringing out his guitar and strumming the strings inaudibly alongside Kid Rock's guitarist.

Not having the New Orleans Fireman rhyme was a curious move, considering that Weezy's people put out a press release late Wednesday afternoon trumpeting the fact that Wayne was the first hip-hop act ever to perform on the CMAs.

A source close to the situation told MTV News on Thursday that Wayne didn't rap in order to keep things fresh — that the duo did not want to copy what they had done at the VMAs and figured Weezy playing guitar was a fly new take on their collaboration.

Watching on TV, you didn't even see Wayne until somewhere around the song's two-minute mark, when Kid came over and gave him five. Both performers wore Tennessee Titans jerseys: Kid with the number two on his, but instead of Rob Biranos' name on the back, Rock had his own name; Wayne sported a #28 Chris Johnson Jersey.

Big CMT winners included Kenny Chesney (who took home his fourth Entertainer of the Year award, tying Garth Brooks for the most wins in the category), George Strait (Single and Album of the Year, making him the biggest award-winner in CMA history) and Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland (the group won Vocal Duo of the Year, and Nettles won Song of the Year for Sugarland's "Stay").

The show was hosted by Carrie Underwood (who won Female Vocalist of the Year for the third consecutive time) and Brad Paisley. Taylor Swift performed her hit "Love Story" (and borrowed Miley Cyrus' boyfriend for the performance), and Shania Twain made her first major public appearance after a long absence.

• Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Kid Rock, More At 2008 Country Music Awards

• Lil Wayne
• Kid Rock
• Sugarland
• Garth Brooks
• Carrie Underwood

Eminem (file)
Photo: Interscope

Despite spending the majority of 2004 baiting everyone from Michael Jackson to George W. Bush, it looks like Eminem still found a way to make it onto Santa's "nice" list.

His Encore album benefited the most from the Christmas-week sales surge, moving more than 429,000 copies to land the #1 spot on next week's Billboard albums chart, according to SoundScan. It's the third time in the past six weeks that Em has topped the chart, and thanks to all those frantic last-minute shoppers, sales of Encore have now moved past the 3 million mark.

Also benefiting from the holiday spend-a-thon was Now 17, which sold more than 356,000 copies to hold steady at #2 for a second week, proving once and for all that if you don't know what to buy your kid sister, a compilation of radio hits will do just fine. Or you could get her some socks ... kids love socks.

The sales gap between the #3 and #4 albums is tighter than Ebenezer Scrooge's wallet, as U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb edges out Destiny's Child's Destiny Fulfilled by fewer than 1,000 copies (350,000 to 349,000). Bomb has proven to be anything but, having now sold more than 2 million copies. And Fulfilled continues to work its way up the chart (after a #19 debut back in November), posting an impressive 30 percent sales increase.

Shania Twain's Greatest Hits moves up one spot to #5, selling more than 346,000 copies, while 2004's just-crowned champ, Usher (see "Usher's Confessions The Most Shipped Album Of 2004"), jumps three to #6, selling more than 315,000 copies of the aforementioned Confessions.

The top 10 is rounded-out by permanent resident Toby Keith, whose Greatest Hits 2 sold more than 282,000 copies to land at #7; the dynamic duo of Jay-Z and Linkin Park, who sold more than 282,000 copies of Collision Course to check in at #8; Green Day's American Idiot at #9 (also with sales of more than 282,000 copies); and Ludacris' Red Light District, which sold more than 258,000 copies.

Loyal to the Game, the album that scored the late Tupac Shakur his third posthumous #1 a week ago, was one of the few albums to suffer the Christmas blues. Sales of Game dropped by 33 percent — from more than 330,000 to just over 218,000 — and the album falls to #13.

The most notable debut on the chart is Cash Money Records' Mannie Fresh, whose The Mind of Mannie bows at #59.

Cha-Chingle Bells

The holiday season is — surprise! — the most profitable time of year for the recording industry. Traditionally, the week in which Christmas falls usually features some of the year's most gaudy numbers (the week following Grammy nominations is also a big one). And this year was no exception: Shoppers scooped up more than 14 million albums in the Billboard 200, and every album from #1 all the way down to #38 (Clay Aiken's Merry Christmas With Love) sold more than 100,000 copies. This was up from Christmas week '03, when albums in the top 200 sold more than 12 million copies and every artist from Outkast at #1 to B2K at #34 sold more than 100,000.

Blue Christmas

How rare was Tupac's Christmas-week sales dip? Just 15 other artists in the entire top 200 saw their sales drop, and only one — poor Xzibit — suffered a bigger slip in sales, percentagewise. Sales of X-to-the-Z's fifth album, Weapons of Mass Destruction, fell by 73 percent, and the LP continues to freefall down the chart, from #43 to #81. Strangely enough, four of the week's biggest losers happened to be Christmas albums, including Aiken's With Love (which saw a 30 percent drop) and Jessica Simpson's Rejoyce: The Christmas Album (an 18 percent sales dip). Ho, ho, ho.

• Eminem
• U2
• Destiny's Child
• Usher
• Shania Twain

Linkin Park's Chester Bennington and Jay-Z (file)
Photo: Warner Bros.

Jay-Z will make his second trip to the top of the Billboard albums chart this year, and he's brought Linkin Park along for the ride.

Collision Course — the mash-up album that blends Jigga's rhymes and beats with the grinding guitars, explosive choruses and anguished lyrics of the nu-metal band — will come in at #1 on next week's chart, with first-week sales totaling more than 368,000 copies, according to SoundScan. The LP, which stems from MTV's "Ultimate Mash-Ups" show, follows the #1 debut by Jay and R. Kelly's Unfinished Business in November, and marks the rapper's seventh chart-topping debut overall.

For Linkin Park, the CD/DVD set, which also includes live footage of the two artists performing together in July, counts as their second #1 debut, following 2003's Meteora.

Collision Course will handily knock the previous top album, U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, down to #2. The band's latest album sold more than 288,000 copies last week for a two-week total of more than 1.1 million.

Former "American Idol" champ Kelly Clarkson will return to the top 10 with her second album, Breakaway. Her follow-up to last year's Thankful sold more than 250,000 copies.

Nas did much better in the first week with his new double album, Street's Disciple, than he did with its 2002 predecessor. The Queensbridge rapper's latest sold more than 231,000 copies last week to take the #5 spot, while God's Son moved just 156,000 after an abbreviated opening week due to online leakage.

A troubled year, complete with jail time, was little more than a stumbling block for rapper T.I., who bounced back into the top 10 with his third album, Urban Legend. If anything, being a fugitive helped the Southern rhymer's first-week sales: Where Urban Legend will come in at #7 with more than 192,000 copies sold, last year's Trap Music debuted higher but sold about 84,000 fewer copies.

The rest of next week's top 10 will find Eminem's Encore slipping two spots to #4 (with more than 248,000 copies sold); Shania Twain's Greatest Hits dipping three places to #6 (195,000); Now That's What I Call Music! 17 dropping a pair to #8 (168,000); Destiny's Child's Destiny Fulfilled sliding from #4 to #9 (164,000); and Toby Keith's Greatest Hits 2 losing five places to #10 (141,000).

Being an American Idol, or even an almost-Idol, isn't what it used to be.   As the televised talent show gets ready to vault into its fourth season, past winners and runners-up haven't packed the punch that they once did at retail. While Kelly Clarkson's Breakaway did better than every new album except one last week, it couldn't top her debut. Not only did last year's Thankful take the top slot after week one, it even beat out the mighty 50 Cent to get there. Amid the 50 frenzy, when Get Rich Or Die Tryin' was still in the top five, the pop singer sold 50,000 copies more than the rapper's CD/DVD set The New Breed — and that wasn't even during the inflated, holiday shopping season.

Clarkson's not the only Idol to have her follow-up land further down the chart than her debut. Season-two winner Ruben Studdard, a.k.a the Velvet Teddy Bear, suddenly isn't as cuddly anymore. Where once Rube topped the chart with Soulful, selling more than 416,000 copies in its first week, Studd's second effort, I Need An Angel, placed at #20. Next week, the soul goes south, down to #43, a 57 percent drop-off.

Most recent Idol Fantasia was the first winner not to have a #1 debut. Her Free Yourself bowed in at #8, and will fall to #21 in its second week.

Despite his lovably large ears and good-boy mannerism, folks aren't achin' for Clay like they used to, either. Aiken's Merry Christmas With Love has been on a steady decline since it debuted at #4 three weeks ago. Next week it falls to #13, while other non-pop holiday offerings from Mannheim Steamroller and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra both improved in both chart position and weekly sales.

On the Move After just one week, Gwen Stefani's Love, Angel, Music, Baby will vacate the top 10, a surprising slip for the No Doubt singer, considering the media attention heaped upon the star-studded solo album. It slides eight spots down to #15. By comparison, No Doubt's last effort, The Singles 1992-2003, spent its first two weeks at #2 and #8.

Precious Metal The Recording Industry Association of America issued 13 multi-platinum, 11 platinum, and 25 gold albums for certified sales shipments last month (gold = 500,000 copies sold; platinum = 1,000,000). Nelly scored on both the Sweat and Suit fronts, with the former earning a gold and platinum award, and the latter lauded for its gold, platinum, and double-platinum status.

JoJo's self-titled debut was certified platinum, while Alter Bridge's One Day Remains and Finger Eleven's eponymous LP both crossed the half-million threshold. More than two years after its release, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot earned Wilco their first gold record.

• Jay-Z
• Linkin Park
• U2
• Kelly Clarkson
• Nas

Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne at the American Music Awards Monday night
Photo: Kevin Winter/ABC/ImageDirect

Eminem would have walked away from Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium with the most American Music Awards Monday night, had he walked in to begin with.

The rapper led all other artists with four wins at the 30th annual event (see photos from the red carpet), making good on the four categories in which he was nominated: Favorite Male Artist, Pop/Rock; Favorite Male Artist, Hip-Hop/R&B; Favorite Album, Pop/Rock and Favorite Album, Hip-Hop/R&B. The last two wins stemmed from his latest album, The Eminem Show, which was the best-selling LP of 2002.

Actor Mekhi Phifer accepted the Favorite Hip-Hop/R&B album award for his "8 Mile" co-star, who said that even though Eminem wasn't there, he was there in spirit ... or at least on the celly.

"Hey y'all, this is Eminem on the phone," Phifer said from the podium with his mobile in hand.

Eminem wasn't the only VIP that was MIA. Two-time winners Creed and the Dixie Chicks were also absent from the ceremony. The rockers nabbed trophies for Favorite Band, Duo or Group in the Pop/Rock category, and Favorite Artist in the Alternative Music class; while the country trio wound up with wins for Favorite Band, Duo or Group and Favorite Album (Home) in the country category.

Of the attendees, Ashanti, who began the evening with the most nominations — five — stole the glory with her two wins: for Favorite New Hip-Hop/R&B Artist and New Pop Artist.

The event was hosted by the Osbourne family, who stamped their trademark cursing on the evening. Daughter Kelly served double duty by performing her single "Shut Up," while papa Ozzy observed from the wings.

Christina Aguilera performed "Impossible" and "Beautiful" from her album Stripped, and Ja Rule and Bobby Brown performed "Thug Lovin'," which appears on Ja's The Last Temptation. Other performances were given by Mariah Carey, Shania Twain, Missy Elliott, Matchbox Twenty, and Tim McGraw and Elton John, who opened the show with a duet of John's "Tiny Dancer."

The winners of the 30th annual American Music Awards:

• Favorite Male Artist - Pop or Rock: Eminem
• Favorite Female Artist - Pop or Rock: Sheryl Crow
• Favorite Band, Duo or Group - Pop or Rock: Creed
• Favorite Album - Pop or Rock: Eminem, The Eminem Show
• Favorite New Artist - Pop or Rock: Ashanti
• Favorite Male Artist - Hip-Hop/R&B: Eminem
• Favorite Female Artist - Hip-Hop/R&B: Mary J. Blige
• Favorite Band, Duo or Group - Hip-Hop/R&B: Outkast
• Favorite Album - Hip-Hop/R&B: Eminem, The Eminem Show
• Favorite New Artist - Hip-Hop/R&B: Ashanti
• Favorite Male Artist - Country: Tim McGraw
• Favorite Female Artist - Country: Martina McBride
• Favorite Band, Duo or Group - Country: Dixie Chicks
• Favorite Album - Country: Dixie Chicks, Home
• Favorite New Artist - Country: Carolyn Dawn Johnson
• Favorite Artist - Alternative Music: Creed
• Favorite Artist - Adult Contemporary Music: Celine Dion
• Favorite Artist - Latin Music: Enrique Iglesias
• Favorite Artist - Contemporary Inspirational Music: Avalon
• Favorite Soundtrack: "Spider-Man"
• Fan's Choice Award: Nelly
• Coca-Cola New Music Award: Moe Loughran

• Eminem
• Creed
• Dixie Chicks
• Kelly Osbourne
• Ozzy Osbourne

Eminem
Photo: Eli Reed

A new year, the same old Billboard albums chart.

The soundtrack to "8 Mile" will remain #1 on next week's chart, which represents sales that occurred in the first week of 2003. The album sold more than 119,000 copies, according to SoundScan, less than half of what it sold the previous week, when it first made its return to the top slot.

The current figures represent the first week of sales following the holiday shopping surge, and it shows. Only one album in the top 200 significantly increased its sales total from the previous week. The double-album soundtrack to "XXX," which features cuts from Queens of the Stone Age and Moby on the rock disc and Nelly and N.E.R.D. on the hip-hop disc, sold more than 15,000 copies last week, up from just under 10,000 the week prior. The bump, likely caused by the Vin Diesel flick's home video release, allowed the album to re-enter the top 200 at #85.

Of the albums that took a dive in weekly sales, Shania Twain's Up! dove deepest. While Up!'s sales were down by more than 180,000 copies, it still managed to maintain a spot in the top 10. After spending five consecutive weeks at #1 after it was first released in November, the country crossover star's first album in five years fell to #2 last week and will currently sit at #8.

Media predictions of who would get Grammy nods when the nominations were announced Tuesday may have allowed two albums to maintain the position they held last week and one album to advance five spots, the largest leap of any album in the top 10. Norah Jones, who wound up the focal point of the Grammy nominations, will jump from #7 to #2, after Come Away With Me sold more than 118,000 copies, 100,000 fewer than the week before.

Avril Lavigne's Let Go (113,000) and the Dixie Chicks' Home (96,000) will maintain their spots at #3 and #4, respectively, as many predictions proved accurate. Lavigne tied Jones and six other artists with a pack-leading five nominations, while the country trio nabbed four (see "Eminem, Avril Lavigne, Nelly, Norah Jones Nab Most Grammy Noms" 1459402).

The remainder of next week's top 10 will find Christina Aguilera's Stripped rising three spots to #5 (95,000); Jennifer Lopez's This Is Me ... Then falling a spot to #6 (94,000); Justin Timberlake's Justified taking a step back to #7 (86,000); Aaliyah's I Care 4 U moving a spot ahead to #9 (80,000); and Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 11 taking two steps forward to #10 (78,000).

The #11-#20 slots will be bookended by extremes. Missy Elliott's Under Construction will take eight steps forward to #11 (75,000) by selling roughly half of last week's total; while Tim McGraw & the Dancehall Doctors two-steps 11 places back to #20 (55,000).

No album that was released in the last week of 2002 managed to crack the top 200.

• Eminem
• Shania Twain
• Avril Lavigne
• Dixie Chicks
• Christina Aguilera

No Doubt's Gwen Stefani
Photo: Tim Mosenfelder/ImageDirect

This year, the NFL is throwing a whole lot of girl power into the Super Bowl, signing up No Doubt, Shania Twain and the Dixie Chicks to perform during the live TV broadcast.

Easily one of the most high-profile gigs an artist can land, this year's Super Bowl is expected to draw an audience of 130 million viewers in the U.S. and 800 million viewers worldwide. To kick off the game, the Dixie Chicks will join the ranks of Whitney Houston, Jewel, the Backstreet Boys and last year's singer, Mariah Carey, to sing the national anthem.

"Anyone who tells you there's no pressure to sing the national anthem live to one of the biggest television audiences on the planet is not telling the truth," Dixie Chick Emily Robison said in a statement released Wednesday (January 8). "Sure, I'm a little nervous, but we're all also very excited and honored."

"It will be the first appearance we've done since Emily had her baby in November," Dixie Chick Martie Maguire pointed out in the statement. "With Emily's new baby and Natalie [Maine]'s toddler, our biggest challenge for this event might be trying to find good babysitters on Super Bowl Sunday!"

The NFL also announced earlier this week that Twain would be one of the performers for this year's halftime show, which will again be produced by Interscope Geffen A&M Records chairman Jimmy Iovine and director-producer Joel Gallen, whose credits include the telethon "America: A Tribute to Heroes," "Not Another Teen Movie" and numerous MTV Video Music Awards shows. Gallen's Tenth Planet Productions said No Doubt will also perform at halftime, while the NFL announced on Thursday that Celine Dion will be on hand to perform "God Bless America" before the game.

Super Bowl XXXVII will take place January 26 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, and will air live on ABC at 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET.

• No Doubt
• Shania Twain
• Dixie Chicks
• Whitney Houston
• Jewel

Eminem
Photo: Bob Marshak

It's fitting that the best selling artist of 2002 rode out the year by returning to the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart.

The Eminem-spiked "8 Mile" soundtrack returns to #1 after selling more than 312,000 copies last week, ousting Shania Twain's Up! from the slot it held since its November 19 release. Twain's five-week run tied Eminem's The Eminem Show for longest streak at #1 this year. The country-pop star's follow up to 1997's Come on Over drops to #2, having sold more than 263,000 copies last week, according to SoundScan figures released Thursday (December 2).

Little changed in the chart positions of the top 20 LPs, though sales were universally down from the previous week. Avril Lavigne's Let Go steps up a spot to #3 (262,000); the Dixie Chicks' Home takes a step back to #4 (259,000); Jennifer Lopez's This Is Me ... Then holds at #5 (233,000); Justin Timberlake's Justified skips ahead two places to #6 (222,000); Norah Jones' heralded Come Away With Me takes four steps forward to #7 (217,000); Christina Aguilera's Stripped moves up two to #8 (207,000); and Tim McGraw & the Dancehall Doctors slips three to #9 (195,000)

The only album in the top 10 yet to sell over a million copies is also the one that made the most headway. Aaliyah's I Care 4 U moves from #17 to #10, having sold more than 187,000 copies. In three weeks, the LP has sold more than 689,000 copies.

Another posthumous release, Tupac's Better Dayz, the fifth album released since the rapper died in 1996, moves up eight to #15.

Further down, Good Charlotte's The Young & the Hopeless continues its gradual ascension. The pop-punk quintet's second album has climbed from #40 to #36 to #27 over the past three weeks, selling more than 814,000 copies since its October 1 release. The group's 2000 self-titled debut, by comparison, sold just over half that amount.

Among the few albums seeing a sales increase last week, Sum 41's Does This Look Infected? (#46) enjoyed a 3,500 bump, and Baby a.k.a. the #1 Stunna's Birdman rises 28 spots after selling 6,000 more copies than the week before. Other gainers include Queens of the Stone Age's Songs For the Deaf (#60), Busta Rhymes' It Ain't Safe No More (#69), Mudvayne's The End of All Things to Come (#80), Sean Paul's Dutty Rock (#94) and Simple Plan's No Pads, No Helmet ... Just Balls (#98).

Sixteen albums made a return to the top 200 thanks to increased holiday spending. Albums that were either bought as gifts or as a result of spending checks and gift certificates include Seether's Disclaimer (#147), the Vines' Highly Evolved (#151), Trick Daddy's Thug Holiday (#157), Trina's Diamond Princess (#158), Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's Thug World Order (#160), the Donnas' Spend the Night (#162), the "Drumline" soundtrack (#164) and 50 Cent's Guess Who's Back? (#165).

Reports of slumping CD sales are ubiquitous this time of year, and if there was a need for any more proof, consider that albums comprising the top 200 for the last week of 2001 collectively sold more than 223.3 million copies. Compare that with last week's top 200 totals of 187.2 million and something is most certainly awry.

• Eminem
• Shania Twain

Shania Twain
Photo: Universal

Maybe Santa's become less discriminatory about rewarding good boys and girls and punishing the bad ones, because this year he — or maybe it was last-minute shoppers — gave even controversial figures like Eminem, Christina Aguilera and Nas sizable holiday sales boosts.

Artists in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200 albums chart sold an average of 41.1 percent more copies last week, with pop acts faring best. Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera enjoyed gains of 58 and 59 percent, respectively, and Jennifer Lopez sold 57 percent more than the previous week.

Although Shania Twain's Up! saw only a 22 percent gain, it sold more than 455,000 copies to hold onto the #1 slot for a fifth straight week. That ties her with Eminem for the most weeks at #1 this year.

Em, however, continues to bark at Shania's heels, landing at #2 with his "8 Mile" soundtrack after selling more than 405,000 copies. Meanwhile, The Eminem Show is a little farther down, at #16 after selling another 222,000 copies. The Dixie Chicks, last week's #2, drop to #3 after selling nearly 401,000 copies of Home.

Avril Lavigne refuses to loosen her grip on the top 10 a full 29 weeks after Let Go entered the chart; she climbs two places to #4, shifting more than 363,000 units. Jennifer Lopez's This Is Me ... Then scrambles up three places to #5 after selling more than 345,000 copies. Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 11 hangs tight at #7 in its fifth week on the chart, providing support for the argument that consumers are far more interested in singles these days than in albums.

In its seventh week on the chart, Timberlake's Justified slithers into the #8 position with almost 295,000 copies sold, and in its eighth week, Aguilera's Stripped tops off the top 10 by selling nearly 268,000 copies. Country acts Tim McGraw and Faith Hill land at #6 and #9, respectively, after selling almost 327,000 copies of Tim McGraw & the Dancehall Doctors and more than 275,000 copies of Cry.

Aaliyah's posthumous greatest-hits LP, I Care 4 You, saw one of the week's biggest plummets, dipping from #3 to #17 in its second week. Even so, the disc sold almost 222,000 copies — not too shabby for a best of. Whitney Houston's Just Whitney falls 21 spots to #30, and B2K's Pandemonium! drops from #10 to #25. In just its third week on the chart, Mariah Carey's Charmbracelet skids four spots to #18.

Big climbers, meanwhile, include Santana's Shaman, which levitates five slots to #19; Bruce Springsteen's The Rising, which climbs 19 spots to #48; and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' By the Way, which rises 18 places to #52.

Since most big releases were issued in time for the Christmas season, few albums came out last week, and none induced consumers to rush to the record store. Lil' Romeo had the highest debut with Game Time, which bows at #33 after moving more than 124,000 copies. Source Presents: Hip Hop Hits, Vol. 6 debuts at #60, Tyrese's I Wanna Go There takes the #69 spot and Dashboard Confessional's MTV Unplugged charts at #114.

• Shania Twain
• Eminem
• Christina Aguilera
• Nas

Are These The "American Idol" Season Nine Guest Judges?

• Jonas Brothers
• Jessica Simpson
• Shania Twain
• Mary J. Blige
• Katy Perry

Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, More At "Walk The Line" Premiere

• Shania Twain
• LeAnn Rimes