By Stacey Willets
TicketNews.com releases its exclusive weekly Top Tens today. Read on for a sneak peek of this week’s hot events.
Yesterday marked the unofficial start of summer. Folks are digging their shorts out of storage, purchasing new swimsuits, packing their beach bags, and, strangely enough, buying hockey tickets.
You may remember the NHL disappeared from the TicketNews Top Tens with the elimination of the New York Rangers from the playoffs. The apathy is over. This week the Stanley Cup Finals put hockey back in the spotlight. The Ottawa Senators take number four on the Overall Top Events chart and the Anaheim Mighty Ducks debut at number ten, providing the ice to cool down our first sips of (almost) summer. Refreshing.
If hockey could be equated with the ice cubes in a tropical summer drink, baseball is the little paper umbrella . . . things just wouldn’t seem right without it. The MLB retains a stronghold on the Top Sports Chart, assuming six of the ten positions. Ottawa and Anaheim break into the rankings with some hard-hitting checks, getting the Senators past the Cubs and the Yankees to claim the number two spot while the Ducks dislodge Ultimate Fighting Championship from the chart and take number five . . .
The Top Theatre charts show a great deal of consistency. The big mover in both sets of rankings is Mamma Mia!, which reappears on the Top Theatre chart at number eight and the Top New York Theatre chart at number seven. Legally Blonde, in contrast, seems to be slipping away. It ranks at number ten on the Top New York City Theatre chart and doesn’t rank at all on the Top Theatre chart this week.
American Idols Live! still heads up the Top Concerts chart. Sales may be strengthened by last week’s announcement of Jordin Sparks as the 2007 Idol, or simply because diehard fans have only the tour to tide them over until next season’s television premier.
John Mayer, who was bumped out of the rankings last week, returns to the chart in the number six spot. The sudden influx of sales might be attributed to the media buzz about his tumultuous relationship with Jessica Simpson. No doubt there are plenty of sympathetic female fans who would lend a shoulder to cry on.
Rush also reappears on the Top Concerts chart. The band claims the number eight spot after a two week hiatus. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s Soul2Soul tour moves up two positions to number seven. Roger Waters drops three positions from number six to fill the open slot at number nine.
This week’s Vegas Top Tens lose a Cirque show and pick up an almost Cirque show. Le Rêve, created by the same man whose credits include “O”, Mystère, Alegría, and Quidam, takes the number six spot this week. Cirque Du Soleil productions “O,” LOVE, and KÀ remain in the same positions as last week — two, three, and nine, respectively.
With Cirque and Céline dominating the Vegas chart, Rush fighting their way back onto the Concerts chart, and the Ottawa Senators aiming for the apex of the Sports and Overall Top Events charts, it’s a good week for Canadians.
To see this week’s rankings, check out the press release in the Daily Buzz section of TicketNews.com.
