Where The Hell Is David Archuleta's "Crush" On The Upcoming 'American Idol' Greatest Hits LP?

Today the official American Idol site announced that the series would be issuing its first greatest hits album, American Idol 10th Anniversary - The Hits. But the dubious tracklisting seems a bit lackluster, despite the announcement touting the "mega-hit singles" included.

The one good thing the powers that be seem to have done is slap Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" on there first. (Clearly they took a quick glance at Chart Rigger's Top 40 Singles Of The '00s list and saw that it placed at #1).

But, really—where the hell is AI Season 7 runner-up David Archuleta's "Crush," a multi-platinum #2 hit on Billboard's Hot 100 and one of the best songs to ever come out of this televised dog-and-pony act? Or Season 5 runner-up Katharine McPhee's "Over It," a Top 40 single with ten times more merit than Taylor Hicks' dire "Takin' It To The Streets"?

And while Jordin Sparks' "No Air" was indeed a smash, her duet partner Chris Brown was not an American Idol contestant. Wouldn't it have made more technical sense to include one of her other Top 10 singles, like "Tattoo" or "Battlefield"? Christ, just put on two Jordin Sparks songs and cut Lee DeWyze!

Oh, well. Below is the tracklist for American Idol 10th Anniversary - The Hits along with the Hot 100 chart positions of the singles included. Personally I'm just gonna hold out for Kelly Clarkson's greatest hits.

1. Kelly Clarkson - “Since U Been Gone” (#2)
2. Ruben Studdard - “Superstar” (B-side, #2)
3. Clay Aiken - “Invisible” (#37)
4. Fantasia – “When I See U” (#32)
5. Carrie Underwood – “Before He Cheats” (#8)
6. Taylor Hicks – “Takin’ It To The Streets” (#69)
7. Daughtry – “Home” (#5)
8. Jordin Sparks (duet with Chris Brown) – “No Air” (#3)
9. David Cook – “Light On” (#17)
10. Kris Allen – “Live Like We’re Dying” (#18)
11. Adam Lambert – “Whataya Want From Me” (#10)
12. Lee DeWyze – “Sweet Serendipity” (failed to chart on Hot 100)

Chart Rigger just turned 6! Fill out the fun pop blogiversary questionnaire.

US Chart Roundup: The Results Of The Britney Vs. Avril Lavigne Vs. Kanye & Jay-Z Battle

We've already gone through this twice this week, so no need to ramble on about Britney Spears debuting at #1 with "Hold It Against Me," thereby giving her a fourth chart-topping single and producer/God Max Martin his 10th, etc. So let's move ahead...

Avril Lavigne's "What The Hell" enters the Billboard Hot 100 at #13, which shows the power of radio airplay—something Britney's single was aided by, but Avril clearly was not. For a few days after being released, "What The Hell" was just beneath Britney at #2 on iTunes. But then she flip-flopped with Kanye West and Jay-Z's "H.A.M." (which enters at #23). In the end, both of those singles got barreled over at radio in lieu of Britney and slid down the digital store's song chart.

Now that the holiday craziness has settled for good, Edward Maya's "Stereo Love" is able to jump back up to its previous peak position of #16. Another climber: Pink's "Fuckin' Perfect," which moves up 27 positions to #30 and is the Hot 100's "airplay gainer" this week. If we're to include the collaborative 2001 cover of "Lady Marmalade," this now gives Pink a total of 17 Top 40 singles in the U.S.

One of my guilty pleasure jams from last year, Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson's "Don't You Wanna Stay," is at #43 this week. That's just a good old-fashioned duet, like something you'd expect Peter Cetera to have cranked out with some broad in the '80s.

On a final note, album sales really appear to be in the dumpster (more so than usual) in 2011. Cake's Showroom Of Compassion debuts at #1, but has posted the worst returns (44,000 copies) for a top album in Nielsen SoundScan history. It seems like only yesterday when the Dreamgirls soundtrack set the record low, with 60,000 copies. Alas, folks, that was exactly four years ago this month.

Meanwhile, Cake...

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "Hold It Against Me" - Britney Spears *new* *1 week*
2. "Grenade" - Bruno Mars  
3. "Firework" - Katy Perry
4. "What's My Name" - Rihanna feat. Drake
5. "Black And Yellow" - Wiz Khalifa
6. "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" - Enrique Iglesias ft. Ludacris & DJ Frank E 
7. "We R Who We R" - Ke$ha 
8. "Raise Your Glass" - Pink  
9. "The Time (Dirty Bit)" - The Black Eyed Peas
10. "Just The Way You Are" - Bruno Mars

Kelly Clarkson's Album Sales Figures To Date

While the Pop Chyldryn graw their hands off and sit on Barbie doll legs in anticipation for Britney Spears' new single "Hold It Against Me", let us not forget that the First Lady of American Idol, Kelly Clarkson, also has new music coming this year, supposedly sooner rather than later.

It was only a mere 24 months ago that "My Life Would Suck Without You" topped the U.S. chart, "Already Gone" arrived on a wave of controversy and "I Do Not Hook Up" proved to be an able—if not slightly snoozy—lite FM radio staple.

I guess what I'm saying is that Kelly seems to have become more of a singles artist, post-Breakaway. Check these to-date sales figures for her albums that USA Today's Idol Chatter blog published today:

* Thankful (2.745 million total)
* Breakaway (6.160 million)
* My December (815,000)
* All I Ever Wanted (908,000)

Granted, it's no secret that sales figures for albums in general are in the dumpster these days. (Check the 10 best-selling albums of 2010.)

Here's hoping Kelly's upcoming LP—which she's said to have worked with Greg Kurstin, Max Martin and Howard Benson on—has some decent enough jams on it to compete with Lady Gaga, Beyonce and Weaveney Spears' new material.