She may not be cool with critics but the public loves her

From Slate

Alicia Keys’ new album, Element of Freedom, did well enough but didn’t stand a chance next to the British behemoth.

Keys had an impressive first week, selling 417,000 copies, which most other weeks would have easily put her on the No. 1 spot. But not this time. Susan Boyle’s I Dreamed a Dream continues at No. 1 for the fourth consecutive week and saw an increase of 14 percent in sales over last week. And Reuters reports that it’s likely Boyle will also block Mary J. Blige from reaching No. 1 this week. So far, Boyle has sold a total of 2.46 million copies, which means she could be on the verge of overtaking Taylor Swift’s Fearless, which has sold 2.93 million this year, as the best-selling album of the year.

Yes, it’s not quite a fair comparison, because Fearless was released late last year and has sold 5 million copies so far. If Boyle does manage to overtake Swift, it would mark the first time a debut album has been the year’s biggest seller since 2001, when Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory won the slot, notes the Los Angeles Times. Regardless of who actually wins, the fight between Swift and Boyle for the No. 1 spot means that 2009 will be the first time the year’s two biggest sellers are women since 1996, when Alanis Morisette and Celine Dion were on top.