THE GRAMMY EFFECT--UH, MAYBE

Between the “Grammy Effect” and Valentine’s Day (historically a big sales booster) both being next Tuesday, sales are expected to jump for next week’s chart. The biggest Grammy winners will presumably be nearer the top of the chart than not, being that they have a larger pre-existing sales base from which to start.

Take Mary J. Blige, for example. The R&B diva is already seeing big gains from a retail circulars last Sunday and, coupled with a performance last night with U2, should have enough to take over top chart honors next week, possibly in the 160k-170k range.

Jamie Foxx’s airtime should push him back over the 100k mark; but could he go as high as 120-130k? Mariah Carey, who sold just over 50k last week, could rise up to 70k-100k. And although Kelly Clarkson is currently selling in the 40k range, her two wins plus performance could vault her back into the Top 10 at 60k-80k.

Other big winners such as U2, Kanye West and John Legend are also in line to see huge gains, but are starting at much lower sales bases: 4.5k, 20k, and 5.8k, respectively. The big Valentine's Day winner looks to be Barry Manilow, who could remain almost flat in his second week in the streets, with Andrea Bocelli and Il Divo seeing nice bumps.

Tune in tomorrow, when we might actually have some real Thursday numbers on which to base these projections, rather than just our vivid imaginations.