Congratulations to Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, both of whom won awards at this week’s AMA Music Awards ceremony. Carrie won for breakthrough artist of the year and had a chance to perform a medley of her hit singles. Kelly won for pop/rock female and adult contemporary artist. Her awards were not televised. Taylor Hicks, Katharine McPhee, and Clay Aiken served as presenters. Idols are everywhere!

Carrie Underwood’s Some Hearts remained in the top 20 this week, ending up at #13 on the Billboard 200. The album remained #3 on the Country chart. Kellie Pickler’s Small Town Girl dropped again. It was #47 on the Billboard 200 and #8 on the Country chart. Miranda Lambert’s Kerosene was #70 on the Country chart.

Andrea Bocelli’s Under Desert Sky featuring a duet with Katharine McPhee ("Can’t Help Falling in Love") was #31 on the Billboard 200.

She’s not an Idol, but as winner of America’s Got Talent, Bianca Ryan deserves a mention. Her self-titled album debuted at #57 on the Billboard 200 this week. Watch out for Bianca. She’s only 12 years old, but her voice already has impressive seasoning and texture. I think she’s going to be around for a long time.

Here’s how the rest of the Idol-related albums charted this week:

• Clay’s A Thousand Different Ways was #147 on the Billboard 200. Merry Christmas with Love was #26 on the Holiday chart.
• Ruben’s The Return dropped off the Billboard 200 and was #26 on the R&B/Hip-Hop list.
• Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose with a track featuring Jennifer Hudson ("The Future Ain’t What it Used to Be") was #60 on the Billboard 200.
• Kelly Clarkson’s Breakaway dropped off the Billboard 200 after an impressive 102-week run and 5+ million copies sold in the U.S. alone. We’ll be watching for the next one.
• Now That’s What I Call Music #22 (Now 22) featuring Kelly Clarkson’s "Walk Away," along with Nick Lachey’s "What’s Left of Me," Teddy Geiger’s (from The New Partridge Family) "For You I Will (Confidence)," Daniel Powter’s "Bad Day," and K.T. Tunstall’s "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" was #105 on the Billboard 200 and #7 on the Compilation chart.
• Now That’s What I Call Music #21 (Now 21) featuring Kelly Clarkson’s "Because of You" was #13 on the Compilation chart.
• Wow Gospel 2006 featuring George Huff’s "Brighter Day" was #20 on the Gospel listing.
• The Gospel featuring Tamyra Gray’s "Now Behold the Lamb" was #37 on the Gospel chart.
• Body + Soul Gospel featuring Ruben Studdard’s "I Need an Angel" was #35 on the Gospel chart. I just bought this one and it’s pretty good! Love Smokey Robinson’s "Pray on It."

This Week’s Idols’ Singles’ Charts

Fantasia’s "Hood Boy" moved up to #50 from #65 on both the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles chart and was #47 on the R&B Airplay Charts. She’s just finished shooting the video for this single and calls it "gritty!" Fantasia’s CD drops December 12.

Carrie’s single, "Before He Cheats," remained #1 on the country chart, and was #19 on the Hot 100, #24 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, #36 on the Pop 100, #18 on Hot Digital Tracks, and #19 on Hot Digital Songs.

Kellie Pickler’s "Red High Heels" was up five spots to #25 on the Country chart. Josh Gracin’s "I Keep Coming Back" was #46 on the same list.

Ruben’s single, "Change Me," was up seven spots to #62 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart. It was #18 on both the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles and Airplay Charts and #2 on the R&B Adult airplay list.

Katharine’s "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" / "My Destiny" rose two spots to #4 on the Single Sales chart this week, and Taylor’s "Do I Make You Proud" / "Takin’ it to the Streets" remained at #7. Kelly Clarkson’s "Because of You" was #9 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Mario Vazquez’s "Gallery" continues its decline down the charts. It was #57 on the Hot 100, #48 on the Hot 100 Airplay, #26 on the Pop 100, and #20 on the Pop 100 Airplay chart.

Upcoming Idol Releases

Next week, look for first week numbers for Daughtry. Hits Daily Double is predicting it will sell 270,000 or so and battle for second place with Snoop Dogg’s Tha Blue Carpet Treatment. Jay-Z’s Kingdom Come appears to have a lock on the top spot based on early numbers and has already charted on the Digital sales charts. We’ll also be looking for numbers for Rockstar Supernova’s CD.

Taylor fans are buzzing over this week’s preview of three new songs from his upcoming album - "The Runaround," "Dream Myself Awake," and my personal favorite, "The Right Place." You can listen to the songs at his official website, his myspace page, and on Gray Charles site . Rumor has it that "The Runaround" will be the first single, but that’s not been confirmed. "The Right Place" was written by Bryan Adams for Ray Charles but never recorded. It’s Taylor at his soulful best, and I think it may well be the best Idol song ever.

"The Runaround" was written by Loren Goldberg and James Renald. Renald was responsible for Mandy Moore’s "Cry," but I can’t find anything on Goldberg other than a link to pop singer Tiffany. Despite these dubious credits, the song is pretty good and has a drumline and a good brass section in it. Rob Thomas of matchbox twenty and Santana’s "Supernatural" fame wrote "Dream Myself Awake." I’m not as sold on this one. Taylor’s CD drops on December 12.