By Stacey Willets
Concerts fill more than half of the Top Events chart this week, yet despite their dominance, musicians ultimately play second fiddle to a musical. Wicked wins the day by clinching the top spot. Hannah Montana ranks at two, failing to reach number one even with the addition of more instantly sold-out shows. The big mover this week is the team of country music star Keith Urban and 2005 American Idol winner Carrie Underwood. The pair debut on the chart at number five. They are followed by George Strait at six, Bruce Springsteen at seven, Bon Jovi at eight, and Van Halen at nine. The BCS Championship Game plummets from its former ranking of two to number ten as LSU season ticket holders complain that the best place to come by the coveted tickets at this point is to know a Louisiana legislator. When fans find they’re not on a Louisiana state lawmaker’s Christmas card list, some interest may be renewed for last minute ticket sales on the secondary market.
This week’s Top Concerts make the rankings after a generous helping of onsales. Eight of the ten events released tickets for purchase by the general public over the weekend, including the much-anticipated additional Hannah Montana tour dates. For those artists not involved with a Disney dynasty, doubling-up appeared to be key. The duo of Keith Urban & Carrie Underwood jumps eight spots to number two, while Chris Brown & Bow Wow make their debut on the chart at number ten.
After they occupied nine of the ten top spots last week, the Top Sports chart has had its fill of Bowl games. This week only the BCS Championship Game remains, holding onto the number one position. The uniformity of last week gives way to variety this week with representatives from the NBA, NFL, NHL, and NASCAR taking to the charts. Even the MLB gets back in the game as spring training tickets for the Boston Red Sox go on sale. Reports put first day primary sales at over 27,000 tickets. Secondary sales put the 2007 World Series Champions at number five in the rankings.
Holiday-themed theatre sales begin to taper with Christmas around the corner and closing nights just weeks away. The Top NYC Theatre rankings show Radio City Christmas Spectacular losing ground to Wicked, which regains the top spot. Wintuk sees a slight slip from three to four. Nutcracker appears only on the Top Theatre chart, where it drops from eight to ten. Meanwhile, Grinch steals away from both charts.
It’s been a titanic forty-five-week run at number one for Céline Dion, the unequivocal ruler of the Las Vegas show rankings, but tomorrow brings a new day. Well, actually, it doesn’t. Dion’s five-year A New Day . . . extravaganza came to an end Saturday, leaving the top spot up for grabs next week. Bette Midler, second in the rankings this week, may aspire to take Dion’s place on the chart as well as on the stage. She will have to contend not only with best-selling Cirque du Soleil shows “O” and LOVE, but also with Elton John, who reappears in the rankings at number four with 2008 dates for his Red Piano show now set.
To see this week’s rankings, check out the press release in the Daily Buzz section of TicketNews.com.
(The image accompanying this story is from People.com)
